Ivan Ivanovich Polzunov ( 1728 – May 27, 1766 n.s.) was a Russian inventor. He created the first

steam engine A steam engine is a heat engine that performs Work (physics), mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a Cylinder (locomotive), cyl ...

in Russia and the first two-cylinder engine in the world.

Minor planet According to the International Astronomical Union (IAU), a minor planet is an astronomical object in direct orbit around the Sun that is exclusively classified as neither a planet nor a comet. Before 2006, the IAU officially used the term ''minor ...

1978SP7 is named in his honor, as is a crater on the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...

Biography

Ivan Polzunov was born in the family of a soldier of peasant origin in the town

Turinsk Turinsk () is a town and the administrative center of Turinsky District of Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia, located on the right bank of the Tura River midway between Verkhoturye and Tyumen, near its confluence with the Yarlynka, northeast of Yeka ...

(currently

Sverdlovsk Oblast Sverdlovsk Oblast ( rus, Свердловская область, Sverdlovskaya oblastʹ, p=svʲɪrdˈlofskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ) is a federal subject (an oblast) of Russia located in the Ural Federal District. Its administrative center is the c ...

region, Russia). After graduating in 1742 from ''Mining school'' (Горнозаводская Школа) in

Ekaterinburg Yekaterinburg (, ; ), alternatively Romanization of Russian, romanized as Ekaterinburg and formerly known as Sverdlovsk ( ; 1924–1991), is a city and the administrative centre of Sverdlovsk Oblast and the Ural Federal District, Russia. The ci ...

he worked as a ''mechanic's apprentice'' for the Chief Mechanic of Ural Plants ''Nikita Bakharev''. Beginning in 1748 he worked in

Barnaul Barnaul (, ) is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and administrative centre of Altai Krai, Russia, located at the confluence of the Barnaulka and Ob (river), Ob rivers in the West Siberian Plain. As of the Russian Censu ...

. In the library of Barnaul plant he found works of

Mikhail Lomonosov Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov (; , ; – ) was a Russian polymath, scientist and writer, who made important contributions to literature, education, and science. Among his discoveries were the atmosphere of Venus and the law of conservation of ...

, that he studied by himself as well as the descriptions of contemporary steam machines by Johann Schlatter. In 1763 he proposed an original 1.8 h.p. (1.2 kW) steam machine. The design used two cylinders on the same

shaft Shaft may refer to: Rotating machine elements * Shaft (mechanical engineering), a rotating machine element used to transmit power * Line shaft, a power transmission system * Drive shaft, a shaft for transferring torque * Axle, a shaft around whi ...

that allowed its operations completely independently from water power even on dry places or in mountains. This design was a great step forward from contemporary steam machines that used

hydropower Hydropower (from Ancient Greek -, "water"), also known as water power or water energy, is the use of falling or fast-running water to Electricity generation, produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by energy transformation, ...

to return the pistons and so could not be used if the hydropower was not available. The project was sent to Empress

Catherine II Catherine II. (born Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst; 2 May 172917 November 1796), most commonly known as Catherine the Great, was the reigning empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796. She came to power after overthrowing her husband, Peter III ...

. She awarded him 400 rubles and promotion two ranks (to captain-poruchik) but did not seem to appreciate the new technology, as she recommended hydropower be used to return the pistons ''as done in Britain''. In 1765 Polzunov designed a large 32 h.p. steam machine for

air pump An air pump is a pump for pushing air. Examples include a bicycle pump, pumps that are used to aerate an aquarium or a pond via an airstone; a gas compressor used to power a pneumatic tool, air horn or pipe organ; a bellows used to encoura ...

s for steel furnaces. The director of Barnaul plants general Porshin agreed to use Polzunov's two-cylinder design as Barnaul steel mills were in a very dry area and in summer they often did not have any hydropower at all. The machine was assembled in the winter and spring of 1766; the machine hall had very thin walls and a lot of draughts. Ivan Polzunov's

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

became much worse, he coughed blood but still worked. He died on May 27, 1766, at the age of 37, three days before the machine was finished. The machine worked three months, then was disassembled and replaced by convenient hydropower, despite paying off its costs in those three months. A working model of the steam machine made by Ivan Polzunov is in the museum of

and is still in an operational condition.

References

* * * * * Lutz Schmadel, "Dictionary of Minor Planet Names", Springer, 2003, , pg. 227

External links

Engines of our Ingenuity – Ivan Polzunov
– ''(

'')'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Polzunov, Ivan 1728 births 1766 deaths Inventors from the Russian Empire