Makarev, Tikhon
Makar’ev, Tikhon Fedorovich
Born Sept. 19 (Oct. 1), 1870, in the village of Volovo, in present-day Volovo Raion, Lipetsk Oblast; died Apr. 29, 1945, in Leningrad. Soviet scientist; specialist in heat engineering.
Makar’ev graduated from the St. Petersburg Institute of Technology in 1896. In 1899 he began working at an electric power plant in St. Petersburg. Later, he worked for the Lenenergo system. He became a professor in 1926. Makar’ev invented a chain-shaft furnace for burning lump peat. (The first furnaces of this type were built at the Petrograd tramway station in 1921 and at the temporary Shatura station in 1922.) This invention, a highly efficient alternative to using large boiler units to burn peat, made possible the construction of electric power plants operating on peat combustion. Makar’ev published several works on peat mining and on the construction of various furnace installations for peat and shale-oil combustion. He took part in putting the GOELRO plan into practice (State Commission for the Electrification of Russia). Makar’ev was awarded the Order of Lenin.