Steam engine

Steam engine- heat engine external combustion, which converts the energy of water vapor into mechanical work the reciprocating movement of the piston, and then into the rotational movement of the shaft. In a broader sense, a steam engine is any external combustion engine that converts steam energy into mechanical work.

The first steam engine was built in the 17th century. Papen in 1690 and represented a cylinder with a piston, which was raised by the action of steam and lowered by atmospheric pressure after condensation of the exhaust steam. On the same principle, the steam engines of Severi and Newcomen were built in 1705 to pump water from mines. The final improvements to the steam engine were made by James Watt in 1769.

Invention and development

engine steam watt manufactory

The first known device powered by steam was described by Heron of Alexandria in the first century. Steam escaping tangentially from the nozzles attached to the ball caused the latter to rotate. The actual steam turbine was invented much later, in medieval Egypt, by the 16th-century Turkish astronomer, physicist and engineer Takiyuddin al-Shami. He proposed a method of rotating a spit by means of a stream of steam directed to blades attached to the rim of a wheel. A similar machine was proposed in 1629 by the Italian engineer Giovanni Branca for rotating a cylindrical anchor device, which alternately raised and released a pair of pestles in mortars. Steam flow in these early steam turbines was not concentrated, and most of its energy was dissipated in all directions, resulting in significant energy losses.

However, further development of the steam engine required economic conditions in which engine developers could take advantage of their results. Such conditions did not exist either in ancient times, or in the Middle Ages, or in the Renaissance. The first machine was created by the Spanish inventor Hieronimo Ayans de Beaumont, whose inventions influenced T. Severi's patent. The principle of operation and use of steam engines was also described in 1655 by the Englishman Edward Somerset. In 1663 he published a design and installed a steam-powered device for lifting water onto the wall of the Great Tower at Raglan Castle (the recesses in the wall where the engine was installed were still visible in the 19th century). However, no one was willing to risk money on this new revolutionary concept, and the steam engine remained undeveloped. One of the experiments of the French physicist and inventor Denis Papin was to create a vacuum in a closed cylinder. In the mid-1670s in Paris, he collaborated with the Dutch physicist Huygens on a machine that forced air out of a cylinder by exploding gunpowder in it. Seeing the incompleteness of the vacuum created by this, Papen, after arriving in England in 1680, created a version of the same cylinder, in which he obtained a more complete vacuum using boiling water, which condensed in the cylinder. Thus, he was able to lift a weight attached to the piston by a rope thrown over a pulley. The system worked only as a demonstration model: to repeat the process, the entire apparatus had to be dismantled and reassembled. Papin quickly realized that to automate the cycle, the steam had to be produced separately in the boiler. Therefore, Papin is considered the inventor of the steam boiler, thus paving the way for Newcomen's steam engine. However, the design of the current steam engine he didn't offer. Papin also designed a boat propelled by a wheel with reactive power in a combination of the concepts of Taqi al-Din and Severi; he is also credited with inventing many important devices eg a safety valve.

None of the devices described have actually been used as a means of solving useful problems. The first steam engine used in production was the “fire engine”, designed by the English military engineer Thomas Savery in 1698. Severi received a patent for his device in 1698. It was a piston steam pump, and obviously not very efficient, since the heat of the steam was lost each time during cooling of the container, and quite dangerous to operate, since due to high pressure steam tanks and engine pipelines sometimes exploded. Since this device could be used both to rotate the wheels of a water mill and to pump water out of mines, the inventor called it “the miner’s friend.”

Then the English blacksmith Thomas Newcomen demonstrated his " naturally aspirated engine". This was an improved Severi steam engine, in which Newcomen significantly reduced operating pressure pair. The first use of the Newcomen engine was to pump water from a deep mine. In a mine pump, the rocker arm was connected to a rod that went down into the shaft to the pump chamber. The reciprocating movements of the thrust were transmitted to the pump piston, which supplied water upward. It was the Newcomen pump that became the first steam engine to receive widespread practical use.

In 1781, James Watt patented a steam engine that produced a continuous rotational movement of a shaft (unlike Newcomen's steam pump). Watt's engine, power ten Horse power, it became possible, with the availability of coal and water, to install and use anywhere for any purpose. The beginning of the industrial revolution in England is usually associated with Watt's engine.

Russia's first two-cylinder vacuum steam engine was designed by mechanic I.I. Polzunov in 1763 and built in 1764 to drive bellows at the Barnaul Kolyvano-Voskresensky factories.

A further increase in efficiency was the use of high-pressure steam (American Oliver Evans and Englishman Richard Trevithick). Trevithick successfully built industrial high-pressure single-stroke engines known as "Cornish engines". They operated at a pressure of 50 pounds per square inch, or 345 kPa (3.405 atmospheres). However, with increasing pressure, there was also a greater danger of explosions in machines and boilers, which initially led to numerous accidents. From this point of view, the most important element high pressure machine was safety valve, which released excess pressure. Reliable and safe operation began only with the accumulation of experience and standardization of procedures for the construction, operation and maintenance of equipment.

French inventor Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot demonstrated the first working self-propelled steam vehicle in 1769: the "fardier à vapeur" (steam cart). Perhaps his invention can be considered the first car. Self-propelled steam tractor turned out to be very useful as a mobile source of mechanical energy that set in motion other agricultural machines: threshers, presses, etc. In 1788, a steamboat built by John Fitch was already providing regular service along the Delaware River between Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) and Burlington (New York). York). It carried 30 passengers on board and sailed at a speed of 7-8 knots. On 21 February 1804, the first self-propelled railway steam locomotive, built by Richard Trevithick, was demonstrated at the Penydarren Ironworks in Merthyr Tydfil in South Wales.

Exactly 245 years ago - January 5, 1769 - James Watt received a patent for the steam engine he invented. Why not remember the history of the creation of the steam engine from ancient times?

Actually the patent itself and its owner -

The history of the creation of a steam engine begins with the fact that the first description of a device that was driven by steam dates back to the first century and belongs to Heron of Alexandria.

Steam came out tangentially from the nozzles, which were attached to the ball, and forced it to rotate.

A real steam turbine was designed already in medieval Egypt, by the 16th century engineer, astronomer and philosopher Arab Taqi ad-Din Muhammad. The history of the creation of the steam engine continued. He invented a technique for rotating a spit using steam. It was directed at the blades fixed along the rim of the wheel.

Italian engineer Giovanni Branca proposed similar car in 1629. It was designed to rotate a cylindrical anchor device in mortars, which in turn raised and lowered a pair of pestles in mortars. Such steam engines the steam flow was not concentrated, and this led to big losses energy, because a significant part of the steam energy was dissipated in all directions.

For further development The history of the creation of a steam engine - a steam device - needed an economic environment in which engine developers could take advantage of its results. But in the ancient era, as in the Middle Ages, and even in the Renaissance, such conditions did not exist. It was only towards the end of the 17th century that steam units were created, but so far as isolated curiosities. The first machine was created by the Spanish inventor Hieronimo Ajans de Beaumont. His inventions had a significant influence on T. Severi's patent.

The Englishman Edward Somerset in 1655 described the basic principle of operation of steam engines and the range of their applications. In 1663 he printed the design and installed a device at Raglan Castle for raising water onto the wall of a large tower. This device it was driven by steam (even in the 19th century one could see the recesses in the wall where the engine was located). But there were no people willing to risk money for this invention, and therefore further development of the steam engine turned out to be impossible. French physicist and inventor Denis Papin also contributed to the history of the creation of the steam engine - he worked on creating a vacuum in a closed cylinder.

Collaborating with the Dutch physicist Huygens, in the 1670s he worked on a device that would expel air from a cylinder by explosion.

Papin saw the incompleteness of the vacuum produced by an explosion, so after arriving in Britain in 1680, he developed the same cylinder, but using boiling water, which formed condensation in the cylinder, he achieved a more complete vacuum.

So with this unit, he was able to lift the load attached to the piston using a rope thrown over a pulley. But the machine worked only to demonstrate its capabilities, and for re-work I had to completely disassemble it and then reassemble it first. Then the inventor realized that to automate the cycle, it was necessary to produce steam in a separate boiler. Due to this, Papen is considered the inventor of the steam boiler, and thus he paved the way for Newcomen's steam engine.

But he didn't offer complete structure functioning steam engine. Papin made a huge contribution to the history of the creation of the steam engine by working on the design of a boat that was driven by a wheel with reaction force, combined with the inventions of Severi and Taqi ad-Din. He is also credited with the invention of a number of other important devices, one of them a safety valve.

Of all the devices described for solving necessary and useful problems, not a single one has found actual application. The first steam engine (in the entire history of the creation of a steam engine) that brought real benefits was developed by a military engineer from England, Thomas Savery, in 1698. This design is a “fire installation”. In 1698, Severi received a patent for it. In general it was a piston pump, but rather inefficient because the heat of the steam was lost during cooling of the container. Due to the high steam pressure, pipelines and engine tanks sometimes exploded, so it was extremely dangerous in operation. This unit was used in other industries, in water mills to rotate wheels, and in mines it was used to pump out water. Therefore, the inventor gave the design another name: “miner’s friend.”

In 1712, an English blacksmith presented his invention - the “atmospheric engine”.

It was an improved model of Severi's steam engine, only Newcomen significantly reduced the working steam pressure. This engine was first used to pump liquid from a deep mine. In this pump, the rocker arm is connected to a draft descending to the pump chamber into the shaft. The reciprocating movements of the thrust passed to the pump piston, which supplied water upward. This Newcomen steam engine became the first engine in the history of the creation of a steam engine, which was widely used in practice. It is with the invention of this engine that the beginning of the industrial revolution in Great Britain is associated.

In 1763, the first vacuum two-cylinder steam engine was developed in Russia.

It was designed by mechanic I.I. Polzunov, and already in 1764 it was built.

They used it at the Barnaul Kolyvano-Voskresensky factories in order to bring working condition blower bellows.

The next people who increased the efficiency of steam engines and made a huge contribution to the history of the creation of the steam engine were the Englishman Richard Trevithick and the American Oliver Evans. Trevithick built single-cycle industrial engines high pressure.

They are known to many as "Cornish engines". Their operating pressure was 50 pounds per square inch, or 345 kPa (3.405 atmospheres). But the increase in pressure led to an increase in the danger of explosions in boilers and machines, and this in turn led to multiple accidents. Therefore, one of the main parts on steam engines was considered a safety valve. Its purpose is to release excess pressure. Safe and reliable operation The development of these units began with the accumulation of experience and after the standardization of construction, operation and maintenance operations.

Steam engine- an external combustion heat engine that converts steam energy into mechanical work of the reciprocating movement of the piston, and then into the rotational movement of the shaft. In a broader sense, a steam engine is any external combustion engine that converts steam energy into mechanical work.

Horizontal stationary two-cylinder steam engine for driving factory transmissions. End of the 19th century Exhibit of the Museum of Industrial Culture. Nuremberg

The importance of steam engines

Steam engines were used as a driving engine in pumping stations, locomotives, on steam ships, tractors, steam cars and other vehicles. Steam engines contributed to the widespread commercial use of machines in enterprises and were the energy basis of the industrial revolution of the 18th century. Later steam engines were supplanted by engines internal combustion, steam turbines and electric motors, whose efficiency is higher.

Steam turbines, formally a type of steam engine, are still widely used to drive electricity generators. Approximately 86% of the world's electricity is generated using steam turbines.

Operating principle

To drive a steam engine, a steam boiler is required. Expanding steam presses on the piston or blades steam turbine, whose movement is transmitted to others mechanical parts. One of the advantages of external combustion engines is that, due to the separation of the boiler from the steam engine, almost any type of fuel can be used - from dung to uranium.

Invention and development

The first known device powered by steam was described by Heron of Alexandria in the first century. Steam escaping tangentially from the nozzles attached to the ball caused the latter to rotate. The actual steam turbine was invented much later, in medieval Egypt, by the 16th-century Arab philosopher, astronomer and engineer Taghi al-Dinome. He proposed a method of rotating a spit by means of a stream of steam directed to blades attached to the rim of a wheel. A similar machine was proposed in 1629 by the Italian engineer Giovanni Branca for rotating a cylindrical anchor device, which alternately raised and released a pair of pestles in mortars. The steam flow in these early steam turbines was not concentrated and much of its energy was dissipated in all directions, resulting in significant energy losses.

However, further development of the steam engine required economic conditions in which engine developers could take advantage of their results. Such conditions did not exist either in ancient times, or in the Middle Ages, or in the Renaissance. It was only at the end of the 17th century that steam engines were created as one-off curiosities. The first machine was created by the Spanish inventor Jeronimo Ayans de Beaumont, whose inventions influenced T. Severi's patent (see below). The principle of operation and application of steam engines was also described in 1655 by the Englishman Edward Somerset. In 1663 he published a design and installed a steam-powered device for lifting water onto the wall of the Great Tower at Raglan Castle (the recesses in the wall where the engine was installed were still visible in the 19th century). However, no one was willing to risk money on this new revolutionary concept, and the steam engine remained undeveloped. One of the experiments of the French physicist and inventor Denis Papin was to create a vacuum in a closed cylinder. In the mid-1670s in Paris, he collaborated with the Dutch physicist Huygens on a machine that forced air out of a cylinder by exploding gunpowder in it. Seeing the incompleteness of the vacuum created by this, Papen, after arriving in England in 1680, created a version of the same cylinder, in which he obtained a more complete vacuum using boiling water, which condensed in the cylinder. Thus, he was able to lift a weight attached to the piston by a rope thrown over a pulley. The system worked as a demonstration model, but to repeat the process the entire apparatus had to be dismantled and reassembled. Papin quickly realized that to automate the cycle, the steam had to be produced separately in the boiler. Therefore, Papin is considered the inventor of the steam boiler, thus paving the way for Newcomen's steam engine. However, he did not propose the design of a functioning steam engine. Papin also designed a boat propelled by a wheel with reactive power in a combination of Taghi-al-Din and Severi's concepts; he is also credited with the invention of many important devices, such as the safety valve.

None of the devices described have actually been used as a means of solving useful problems. The first steam engine used in production was the “fire engine”, designed by the English military engineer Thomas Savery in 1698. Severi received a patent for his device in 1698. It was a piston steam pump, and obviously not very efficient, since the heat of the steam was lost each time during cooling of the container, and quite dangerous to operate, since due to the high steam pressure, the containers and engine pipelines sometimes exploded. Since this device could be used both to rotate the wheels of a water mill and to pump water out of mines, the inventor called it “the miner’s friend.”

Then the English blacksmith Thomas Newcomen demonstrated his “atmospheric engine” in 1712. It was an improved Severi steam engine, in which Newcomen significantly reduced the operating steam pressure. The first use of the Newcomen engine was to pump water from a deep mine. In a mine pump, the rocker arm was connected to a rod that went down into the shaft to the pump chamber. The reciprocating movements of the thrust were transmitted to the pump piston, which supplied water upward. It was Newcomen's engine that became the first steam engine to receive widespread practical use, with which the beginning of the industrial revolution in England is usually associated. Russia's first two-cylinder vacuum steam engine was designed by mechanic I. I. Polzunov in 1763 and built in 1764 to drive blowers at the Barnaul Kolyvano-Voskresensk factories. A further increase in efficiency was the use of high-pressure steam (American Oliver Evans and Englishman Richard Trevithick). R. Trevithick successfully built industrial high-pressure single-stroke engines known as "Cornish engines". They operated at a pressure of 50 pounds per square inch, or 345 kPa (3.405 atmospheres). However, with increasing pressure, there was also a greater danger of explosions in machines and boilers, which initially led to numerous accidents. From this point of view, the most important element of the high-pressure machine was the relief valve, which released excess pressure. Reliable and safe operation began only with the accumulation of experience and standardization of procedures for the construction, operation and maintenance of equipment. French inventor Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot demonstrated the first working self-propelled steam vehicle in 1769: the fardier à vapeur (steam cart). Perhaps his invention can be considered the first car. The self-propelled steam tractor turned out to be very useful as a mobile source of mechanical energy that drove other agricultural machines: threshers, presses, etc. In 1788, a steamboat built by John Fitch was already providing regular service along the Delaware River between Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) and Burlington (New York State). It carried 30 passengers and traveled at a speed of 7-8 miles per hour. On 21 February 1804, the first self-propelled railway steam locomotive, built by Richard Trevithick, was on display at the Penydarren Ironworks in Merthyr Tydfil in South Wales.

Reciprocating steam engines

Reciprocating engines use steam power to move a piston in a sealed chamber or cylinder. The reciprocating action of the piston can be mechanically converted into linear motion piston pumps or in rotational motion to drive rotating parts of machine tools or wheels of vehicles.

Vacuum machines

Engraving of Newcomen's engine. This image is copied from a drawing in Desagliers's A Course in Experimental Philosophy, 1744, which is a modified copy of an engraving by Henry Beaton dated 1717. This is probably Newcomen's second engine, installed around 1714 at Grief Colliery in Warkshire.

Early steam engines were first called "fire engines" and also Watt's "atmospheric" or "condensing" engines. They worked for vacuum principle and therefore also known as " vacuum motors" Such machines worked to drive piston pumps, in any case, there is no evidence that they were used for other purposes. When operating a vacuum-type steam engine at the beginning of the steam stroke low pressure enters the working chamber or cylinder. Inlet valve After this, it closes and the steam cools, condensing. In a Newcomen engine, cooling water is sprayed directly into the cylinder and the condensate drains into a condensate collector. This creates a vacuum in the cylinder. Atmospheric pressure at the top of the cylinder presses on the piston and causes it to move downward, that is, the working stroke.

The piston is connected by a chain to the end of a large rocker arm, which rotates around its middle. The pump under load is connected by a chain to the opposite end of the rocker arm, which, under the action of the pump, returns the piston to the top of the cylinder by gravity. This is how the reverse happens. The steam pressure is low and cannot counteract the movement of the piston.

Constantly cooling and reheating the working cylinder of the machine was very wasteful and inefficient, however, these steam engines made it possible to pump water from greater depths than was possible before their introduction. In 1774, a version of the steam engine appeared, created by Watt in collaboration with Matthew Boulton, the main innovation of which was the removal of the condensation process into a special separate chamber (condenser). This chamber was placed in a bath of cold water, and was connected to the cylinder by a tube closed by a valve. A special small vacuum pump(a prototype of a condensate pump), driven by a rocker arm and used to remove condensate from the condenser. The resulting hot water was supplied by a special pump (a prototype of the feed pump) back to the boiler. Another radical innovation was the closure upper end working cylinder, in the upper part of which there was now low pressure steam. The same steam was present in the double jacket of the cylinder, supporting it constant temperature. As the piston moved upward, this steam was transferred through special tubes to the lower part of the cylinder in order to undergo condensation during the next stroke. The machine, in fact, ceased to be “atmospheric”, and its power now depended on the pressure difference between the low-pressure steam and the vacuum that could be obtained.

Watt's version of the steam engine

In Newcomen's steam engine, the piston was lubricated with a small amount of water poured on top of it; in Watt's machine, this became impossible, since there was now steam in the upper part of the cylinder; it was necessary to switch to lubrication with a mixture of grease and oil. The same lubricant was used in the cylinder rod seal.

Vacuum steam engines, despite the obvious limitations of their efficiency, were relatively safe and used low-pressure steam, which was quite consistent with the general low level of boiler technology in the 18th century. The power of the machine was limited by low steam pressure, the size of the cylinder, the rate of fuel combustion and evaporation of water in the boiler, as well as the size of the condenser. The maximum theoretical efficiency was limited by the relatively small temperature difference on both sides of the piston; it did vacuum machines, intended for industrial use, are too large and expensive.

Around 1811, Richard Trevithnick needed to improve Watt's machine in order to adapt it to the new Cornish boilers. The steam pressure above the piston reached 275 kPa (2.8 atmospheres), and it was this that provided the main power to complete the working stroke; In addition, the capacitor was significantly improved. Such machines were called Cornish machines, and were built until the 1890s. Many old Watt machines have been restored to this level. Some of Cornish's cars were quite large.

High pressure steam engines

In steam engines, steam flows from the boiler into the working chamber of the cylinder, where it expands, exerting pressure on the piston and making useful work. The expanded steam can then be released to the atmosphere or supplied to a condenser. An important difference between high-pressure machines and vacuum machines is that the pressure of the exhaust steam exceeds or is equal to atmospheric pressure, that is, a vacuum is not created. The exhaust steam usually had a pressure above atmospheric pressure and was often discharged into the chimney, which made it possible to increase the boiler draft.

The importance of increasing steam pressure is that it becomes more high temperature. Thus, a high pressure steam engine operates at bigger difference temperatures than what can be achieved in vacuum machines. After high-pressure machines replaced vacuum ones, they became the basis for the further development and improvement of all reciprocating steam engines. However, the pressure that was considered high in 1800 (275-345 kPa) is now considered very low - the pressure in modern steam boilers is tens of times higher.

An additional advantage of high pressure machines is that they are much smaller for a given power level and therefore significantly less expensive. In addition, such a steam engine could be light and compact enough to be used on vehicles. The resulting steam transport (steam locomotives, steamboats) revolutionized commercial and Passenger Transportation, military strategy, and generally affected almost every aspect of public life.

Diagram of a horizontal single-cylinder high-pressure steam engine, double acting. Power take-off is carried out by the drive belt:

1 - Piston
2 - Piston rod
3 - Slider
4 - Connecting rod
5 - Crankshaft
6 - Eccentric for valve drive
7 - Flywheel
8 - Spool
9 - Centrifugal regulator.

Double acting steam engines

The next important step in the development of high-pressure steam engines was the appearance of double-acting machines. In single-acting machines, the piston moved in one direction by the force of expanding steam, but it returned back either under the influence of gravity or due to the moment of inertia of a rotating flywheel connected to the steam engine.

In double-acting steam engines, fresh steam is alternately supplied to both sides of the working cylinder, while the spent steam on the other side of the cylinder is released to the atmosphere or to a condenser. This required creating enough complex mechanism steam distribution. The double-acting principle increases the machine's operating speed and improves smoothness.

The piston of such a steam engine is connected to a sliding rod extending from the cylinder. A swinging connecting rod is attached to this rod, driving the flywheel crank. The steam distribution system is driven by another crank mechanism. The steam distribution mechanism may have a reverse function so that you can change the direction of rotation of the machine flywheel.

A double-acting steam engine is approximately twice as powerful as a conventional steam engine, and can also operate with a much lighter flywheel. This reduces the weight and cost of the machines.

Most reciprocating steam engines use precisely this principle of operation, which is clearly seen in the example of steam locomotives. When such a machine has two or more cylinders, the cranks are installed at a 90-degree offset to ensure that the machine can be started in any position of the pistons in the cylinders. Some paddle steamers had a single-cylinder, double-acting steam engine, and on them it was necessary to ensure that the wheel did not stop at dead center, that is, in a position in which starting the machine is impossible.

Russia's first two-cylinder vacuum steam engine was designed by mechanic I.I. Polzunov in 1763 and built in 1764 in Barnaul. James Watt, who was a member of the commission for accepting Polzunov's invention, received a patent for a steam engine in London in April 1784 and is considered its inventor!

Polzunov, Ivan Ivanovich

- mechanic who built the first steam engine in Russia; the son of a soldier of the Yekaterinburg mountain companies, he was ten years old and entered the Yekaterinburg Arithmetic School, where he graduated from the course with the title of mechanical student. Among several young people, Polzunov was sent to Barnaul to state-owned mining factories, where in 1763 he was a charge master. While engaged in the construction of machines with water engines used in smelters and mines, Polzunov drew attention to the difficulty of constructing such machines in areas remote from rivers, and settled on the idea of ​​​​using steam as an engine. There is some evidence that suggests that this idea did not come to him independently, but under the influence of Schlatter’s book: “Detailed instructions for mining” (St. Petersburg, 1760), in the tenth chapter of which the first description of a steam engine, namely a machine, was published in Russian Newcomen. Polzunov energetically set about implementing his idea, began to study the power and properties of water vapor, drew up drawings, and made models. Having become convinced, after lengthy research and experiments, of the possibility of replacing the driving force of water with the power of steam and proving this on models, Polzunov in April 1763 turned to the head of the Kolyvan-Voskresensk factories, Major General A. I. Poroshin, with a letter in which , outlining the motives that prompted him to find new strength, asked for funds to build the “fire machine” he had invented. Polzunov’s project was reported to Her Majesty’s Cabinet with a request to release the amount needed for the construction of the machine. According to the report of the Cabinet, a decree of Catherine II followed, by which she, “for greater encouragement,” granted Polzunov to the mechanics with a salary and the rank of engineering captain-lieutenant, and ordered 400 rubles as a reward. and indicated, “if he is no longer needed at the factories, send him to St. Petersburg, with silver,” for two to three years to the Academy of Sciences, to supplement his education. But the authorities did not let Polzunov go and asked to cancel his sending to the Academy of Sciences for a while, “because there is an extreme need for him here, to bring that steam-powered machine into practice.” In view of this, Polzunov had to stay in Siberia until the end of the case. Until then, the issuance of the above-mentioned 400 rubles was also postponed. According to the estimate he submitted, he was given the necessary amounts and materials, and he was given the opportunity to begin construction. On May 20, 1765, Polzunov already reported that preparatory work completed, and that the machine would be put into operation in October of the same year. But the car was not ready by this time. A host of unforeseen difficulties and the inexperience of the workers slowed down the progress of the work. In addition, many of the materials needed to build the machine could not be obtained in Siberia. I had to order them from Yekaterinburg and wait for delivery for several months. In December 1765, Polzunov completed the machine, spending 7,435 rubles on it. 51 kopecks However, he was unable to see his invention in action. The test of the machine was scheduled in Barnaul for May 20, 1766, and on May 16 of the same year Polzunov had already died “from severe laryngeal bleeding.” Polzunov’s machine, under the leadership of his students Levzin and Chernitsin, melted 9,335 points of Zniznogorsk ores in Barnaul within two months, but soon its operation in Barnaul was terminated “as unnecessary,” and there is no information whether it was used on those that did not have water-powered engines Zmeinogorsk plant and Semenovsky mine, where it was originally intended by the inventor himself and his superiors. In 1780, “the machine and the structure, built by Polzunov, operated in pairs, and the structure were broken.” The Barnaul Mining Museum has a model of Polzunov's machine. Polzunov cannot be credited, as some do, with the honor of inventing the first steam engine. Nevertheless, Polzunov’s machine was indeed the first steam engine built in Russia, and not imported from abroad; the use of a steam engine in 1765 not for lifting water, but for another industrial purpose, should be considered an independent invention, since in England the first use of a steam engine for pumping air was made only in 1765.

The possibilities of using steam energy were known at the beginning of our era. This is confirmed by a device called the Heronian aeolipile, created by the ancient Greek mechanic Heron of Alexandria. The ancient invention can be attributed to the steam turbine, the ball of which rotated due to the force of jets of water vapor.

It became possible to use steam to operate engines in the 17th century. This invention was not used for long, but it made a significant contribution to the development of mankind. In addition, the history of the invention of steam engines is very fascinating.

Concept

The steam engine consists of heat engine external combustion, which creates from the energy of water vapor mechanical movement piston, which in turn rotates the shaft. The power of a steam engine is usually measured in watts.

History of invention

The history of the invention of steam engines is connected with the knowledge of ancient Greek civilization. For a long time No one used the works of this era. In the 16th century, an attempt was made to create a steam turbine. The Turkish physicist and engineer Takiyuddin al-Shami worked on this in Egypt.

Interest in this problem reappeared in the 17th century. In 1629, Giovanni Branca proposed his own version of a steam turbine. However, inventions were lost a large number of energy. Further developments required appropriate economic conditions, which would appear later.

Denis Papin is considered to be the first to invent a steam engine. The invention was a cylinder with a piston that rises due to steam and falls as a result of its condensation. The devices of Savery and Newcomen (1705) had the same principle of operation. The equipment was used to pump water out of workings during mining.

Watt managed to finally improve the device in 1769.

Inventions of Denis Papin

Denis Papin was a physician by training. Born in France, he moved to England in 1675. He is famous for many of his inventions. One of them is a pressure cooker, which was called “Papen’s cauldron”.

He was able to identify the relationship between two phenomena, namely the boiling point of a liquid (water) and the resulting pressure. Thanks to this, he created a sealed cauldron, inside of which the pressure was increased, which caused the water to boil later than usual and increased the processing temperature of the products placed in it. This increased the speed of cooking.

In 1674, a medical inventor created a gunpowder engine. Its work consisted in the fact that when the gunpowder ignited in the cylinder, the piston moved. A weak vacuum formed in the cylinder, and atmospheric pressure returned the piston to its place. The gaseous elements formed in this case exited through the valve, and the remaining ones were cooled.

By 1698, Papen managed to create a unit using the same principle, working not on gunpowder, but on water. Thus, the first steam engine was created. Despite the significant progress that the idea could lead to, it did not bring significant benefits to its inventor. This was due to the fact that earlier another mechanic, Savery, had already patented a steam pump, and by that time no other application had yet been invented for such units.

Denis Papin died in London in 1714. Despite the fact that he invented the first steam engine, he left this world in need and loneliness.

Inventions of Thomas Newcomen

The Englishman Newcomen turned out to be more successful in terms of dividends. When Papin created his machine, Thomas was 35 years old. He carefully studied the work of Savery and Papin and was able to understand the shortcomings of both designs. From them he took all the best ideas.

Already by 1712, in collaboration with glass and plumbing master John Culley, he created his first model. This is how the history of the invention of steam engines continued.

The created model can be briefly explained as follows:

• The design combined a vertical cylinder and a piston, like Papin's.
• The creation of steam took place in a separate boiler, which worked on the principle of the Savery machine.
• The tightness in the steam cylinder was achieved due to the leather with which the piston was covered.

Newcomen's unit raised water from mines using atmospheric pressure. The machine was large in size and required a large amount of coal to operate. Despite these shortcomings, Newcomen's model was used in mines for half a century. It even allowed the reopening of mines that had been abandoned due to groundwater flooding.

In 1722, Newcomen's brainchild proved its effectiveness by pumping water out of a ship in Kronstadt in just two weeks. A windmill system could do this in a year.

Due to the fact that the machine was created on the basis of earlier versions, the English mechanic was unable to obtain a patent for it. Designers tried to use the invention for movement vehicle, but unsuccessfully. The history of the invention of steam engines did not stop there.

Watt's invention

First to invent equipment compact sizes, but powerful enough, James Watt. The steam engine was the first of its kind. A mechanic from the University of Glasgow began repairing Newcomen's steam unit in 1763. As a result of the repair, he realized how to reduce fuel consumption. To do this, it was necessary to keep the cylinder in a constantly heated state. However, Watt's steam engine could not be ready until the problem of steam condensation was solved.

The solution came when a mechanic was passing by the laundries and noticed clouds of steam coming out from under the boiler covers. He realized that steam is a gas, and it needs to move in a cylinder with reduced pressure.

Having achieved tightness inside steam cylinder With the help of hemp rope soaked in oil, Watt was able to abandon atmospheric pressure. This was a big step forward.

In 1769, a mechanic received a patent, which stated that the temperature of the engine in a steam engine would always be equal to the temperature of the steam. However, things did not go as well as expected for the unlucky inventor. He was forced to pawn the patent for debts.

In 1772, he met Matthew Bolton, who was a wealthy industrialist. He bought and returned Watt's patents. The inventor returned to work, supported by Bolton. In 1773, Watt's steam engine was tested and showed that it consumed significantly less coal than its counterparts. A year later, production of his cars began in England.

In 1781, the inventor managed to patent his next creation - a steam engine for driving industrial machines. Over time, all these technologies will make it possible to move trains and steamships using steam. This will completely change a person's life.

One of the people who changed the lives of many was James Watt, whose steam engine accelerated technological progress.

Polzunov's invention

The design of the first steam engine, which could power a variety of working mechanisms, was created in 1763. It was developed by the Russian mechanic I. Polzunov, who worked at the Altai mining plants.

The head of the factories was familiarized with the project and received the go-ahead to create the device from St. Petersburg. Polzunov's steam engine was recognized, and the work on its creation was entrusted to the author of the project. The latter wanted to first assemble the model in miniature in order to identify and eliminate possible shortcomings that were not visible on paper. However, he was ordered to begin construction of a large, powerful machine.

Polzunov was provided with assistants, two of whom were mechanically inclined, and two were required to perform auxiliary work. It took one year and nine months to create the steam engine. When Polzunov's steam engine was almost ready, he fell ill with consumption. The creator died a few days before the first tests.

All actions in the machine took place automatically; it could work continuously. This was proven in 1766, when Polzunov's students conducted latest tests. A month later, the equipment was put into operation.

The machine not only recouped the money spent, but also provided a profit to its owners. By autumn, the boiler leaked and work stopped. The unit could be repaired, but the factory management was not interested in this. The car was abandoned, and a decade later it was dismantled as unnecessary.

Operating principle

A steam boiler is required to operate the entire system. The resulting steam expands and presses on the piston, resulting in the movement of mechanical parts.

The principle of operation can be better studied using the illustration below.

Without going into details, the work of a steam engine is to convert the energy of steam into the mechanical movement of a piston.

Efficiency

The efficiency of a steam engine is determined by the ratio of useful mechanical work in relation to the expended amount of heat contained in the fuel. The energy released in the environment as heat.

The efficiency of a steam engine is measured as a percentage. Practical efficiency will be 1-8%. If there is a condenser and the flow path is expanded, the figure can increase up to 25%.

Advantages

The main advantage of steam equipment is that the boiler can use any heat source, both coal and uranium, as fuel. This significantly distinguishes it from an internal combustion engine. Depending on the type of the latter, a certain type of fuel is required.

The history of the invention of steam engines has shown advantages that are still noticeable today, since nuclear energy can be used for the steam equivalent. A nuclear reactor itself cannot convert its energy into mechanical work, but it is capable of generating large amounts of heat. This is what is used to generate steam, which will set the car in motion. Solar energy can be used in the same way.

Locomotives running on steam perform well in high altitude. The efficiency of their work does not suffer from low atmospheric pressure in the mountains. Steam locomotives are still used in the mountains of Latin America.

In Austria and Switzerland, new versions of steam locomotives running on dry steam are used. They are showing high efficiency thanks to many improvements. They do not require maintenance and consume light petroleum fractions as fuel. In terms of economic indicators, they are comparable to modern electric locomotives. At the same time, steam locomotives are much lighter than their diesel and electric counterparts. This big advantage in mountainous conditions.

Flaws

The disadvantages include, first of all, low efficiency. To this should be added the bulkiness of the design and low speed. This became especially noticeable after the advent of the internal combustion engine.

Application

It is already known who invented the steam engine. It remains to find out where they were used. Until the mid-twentieth century, steam engines were used in industry. They were also used for railway and steam transport.

Factories that operated steam engines:

• sugar;
• match;
• paper mills;
• textile;
• food enterprises (in some cases).

Steam turbines also belong to this equipment. Electricity generators still operate with their help. About 80% of the world's electricity is generated using steam turbines.

At one time they were created different kinds transport powered by a steam engine. Some did not take root due to unresolved problems, while others continue to work today.

Steam powered transport:

• automobile;
• tractor;
• excavator;
• airplane;
• locomotive;
• vessel;
• tractor.

This is the history of the invention of steam engines. Let us briefly consider a successful example of racing car Serpollet, created in 1902. It set a world speed record of 120 km per hour on land. That is why steam cars were competitive with electric and gasoline counterparts.

Thus, in the USA in 1900, the most steam engines were produced. They were found on the roads until the thirties of the twentieth century.

Most of this type of transport became unpopular after the advent of the internal combustion engine, whose efficiency is much higher. Such cars were more economical, while being light and fast.

Steampunk as a trend of the era of steam engines

Speaking about steam engines, I would like to mention a popular trend - steampunk. The term consists of two English words- “steam” and “protest”. Steampunk is a type of science fiction that tells the story of the second half of the 19th century in Victorian England. This period in history is often referred to as the Age of Steam.

All works have one distinctive feature- they tell about the life of the second half of the 19th century, the style of narration is reminiscent of H.G. Wells’s novel “The Time Machine”. The stories describe city landscapes, public buildings, and technology. A special place is given to airships, vintage cars, bizarre inventions. All metal parts were fastened with rivets, since welding had not yet been used.

The term "steampunk" originated in 1987. Its popularity is associated with the appearance of the novel " Difference machine" It was written in 1990 by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling.

At the beginning of the 21st century, several famous films were released in this direction:

• "Time Machine";
• "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen";
• "Van Helsing".

The forerunners of steampunk include the works of Jules Verne and Grigory Adamov. Interest in this trend is manifested from time to time in all spheres of life - from cinema to everyday clothing.