Papin's piston-and-cylinder steam engine proposal
Propuesta del motor de pistón y cilindro de vapor (Papin)
- Date
- 1690 · confidence high
- Place
- Marburg, Hesse, Germany
- Credited to
- Denis Papin
- Field
- Matter & energy
What it is
In Acta Eruditorum Papin proposed heating water in a cylinder until steam pushed up a piston, then letting it cool so atmospheric pressure drove it back down. It is the first piston steam engine scheme.
Papin never built a practical engine; he built models and later proposed a paddle boat driven by steam (1707).
What it led to
- inspired Savery and Newcomen
- the idea of converting heat into mechanical work with a piston