Ivan Ivanovich Polzunov (russian: link=no, Иван Иванович Ползунов 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 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. This pushing force can be trans ...

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 is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...

Biography

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

Turinsk Turinsk (russian: Туринск) 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 Yarlyn ...

(currently

Sverdlovsk Oblast Sverdlovsk Oblast ( rus, Свердловская область, Sverdlovskaya oblast) is a federal subject (an oblast) of Russia located in the Ural Federal District. Its administrative center is the city of Yekaterinburg, formerly known as S ...

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

Ekaterinburg Yekaterinburg ( ; rus, Екатеринбург, p=jɪkətʲɪrʲɪnˈburk), alternatively romanized as Ekaterinburg and formerly known as Sverdlovsk ( rus, Свердло́вск, , svʲɪrˈdlofsk, 1924–1991), is a city and the administrat ...

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

Barnaul Barnaul ( rus, Барнау́л, p=bərnɐˈul) 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 Rivers in the West Siberian Plain. As ...

. In the library of Barnaul plant he found works of

Mikhail Lomonosov Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov (; russian: Михаил (Михайло) Васильевич Ломоносов, p=mʲɪxɐˈil vɐˈsʲilʲjɪvʲɪtɕ , a=Ru-Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov.ogg; – ) was a Russian Empire, Russian polymath, s ...

, that he studied by himself as well as the descriptions of contemporary steam machines by ''I. Shlatter''. 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 to return the pistons and so could not be used if the hydropower was not available. The project was sent to Empress

Catherine II , en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes , house = , father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst , mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp , birth_date = , birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anha ...

. 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 encourage ...

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) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

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 it still works.

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 Russian inventors