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Water wheel
A water wheel is a machine for converting the kinetic energy of flowing or falling water into useful forms of power, often in a watermill. A water wheel consists of a large wheel (usually constructed from wood or metal), with numerous blades or buckets attached to the outer rim forming the drive mechanism. Water wheels were still in commercial use well into the 20th century, although they are no longer in common use today. Water wheels are used for milling flour in gristmills, grinding wood into pulp for papermaking, hammering wrought iron, machining, ore crushing and pounding fibre for use in the manufacture of cloth.
Some water wheels are fed by water from a mill pond, which is formed when a flowing stream is dammed. A channel for the water flowing to or from a water wheel is called a mill race. The race bringing water from the mill pond to the water wheel is a headrace; the one carrying water after it has left the wheel is commonly referred to as a tailrace.
Waterwheels were used for various purposes from things such as agriculture to metallurgy in ancient civilizations spanning the Near East, Hellenistic world, China, Roman Empire and India. Waterwheels saw continued use in the post-classical age, like in medieval Europe and the Islamic Golden Age, but also elsewhere. In the mid- to late 18th century John Smeaton's scientific investigation of the water wheel led to significant increases in efficiency, supplying much-needed power for the Industrial Revolution. Water wheels began being displaced by the smaller, less expensive and more efficient turbine, developed by Benoît Fourneyron, beginning with his first model in 1827. Turbines are capable of handling high heads, or elevations, that exceed the capability of practical-sized waterwheels.
The main difficulty of water wheels is their dependence on flowing water, which limits where they can be located. Modern hydroelectric dams can be viewed as the descendants of the water wheel, as they too take advantage of the movement of water downhill.
Water wheels come in two basic designs:
The latter can be subdivided according to where the water hits the wheel into backshot (pitch-back), overshot, breastshot, undershot, and stream-wheels. The term undershot can refer to any wheel where the water passes under the wheel but it usually implies that the water entry is low on the wheel.
Overshot and backshot water wheels are typically used where the available height difference is more than a couple of meters. Breastshot wheels are more suited to large flows with a moderate head. Undershot and stream wheel use large flows at little or no head.
There is often an associated millpond, a reservoir for storing water and hence energy until it is needed. Larger heads store more gravitational potential energy for the same amount of water so the reservoirs for overshot and backshot wheels tend to be smaller than for breast shot wheels.
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Water wheel AI simulator
(@Water wheel_simulator)
Water wheel
A water wheel is a machine for converting the kinetic energy of flowing or falling water into useful forms of power, often in a watermill. A water wheel consists of a large wheel (usually constructed from wood or metal), with numerous blades or buckets attached to the outer rim forming the drive mechanism. Water wheels were still in commercial use well into the 20th century, although they are no longer in common use today. Water wheels are used for milling flour in gristmills, grinding wood into pulp for papermaking, hammering wrought iron, machining, ore crushing and pounding fibre for use in the manufacture of cloth.
Some water wheels are fed by water from a mill pond, which is formed when a flowing stream is dammed. A channel for the water flowing to or from a water wheel is called a mill race. The race bringing water from the mill pond to the water wheel is a headrace; the one carrying water after it has left the wheel is commonly referred to as a tailrace.
Waterwheels were used for various purposes from things such as agriculture to metallurgy in ancient civilizations spanning the Near East, Hellenistic world, China, Roman Empire and India. Waterwheels saw continued use in the post-classical age, like in medieval Europe and the Islamic Golden Age, but also elsewhere. In the mid- to late 18th century John Smeaton's scientific investigation of the water wheel led to significant increases in efficiency, supplying much-needed power for the Industrial Revolution. Water wheels began being displaced by the smaller, less expensive and more efficient turbine, developed by Benoît Fourneyron, beginning with his first model in 1827. Turbines are capable of handling high heads, or elevations, that exceed the capability of practical-sized waterwheels.
The main difficulty of water wheels is their dependence on flowing water, which limits where they can be located. Modern hydroelectric dams can be viewed as the descendants of the water wheel, as they too take advantage of the movement of water downhill.
Water wheels come in two basic designs:
The latter can be subdivided according to where the water hits the wheel into backshot (pitch-back), overshot, breastshot, undershot, and stream-wheels. The term undershot can refer to any wheel where the water passes under the wheel but it usually implies that the water entry is low on the wheel.
Overshot and backshot water wheels are typically used where the available height difference is more than a couple of meters. Breastshot wheels are more suited to large flows with a moderate head. Undershot and stream wheel use large flows at little or no head.
There is often an associated millpond, a reservoir for storing water and hence energy until it is needed. Larger heads store more gravitational potential energy for the same amount of water so the reservoirs for overshot and backshot wheels tend to be smaller than for breast shot wheels.