Table of Contents
waterwheel, mechanical device for tapping the energy of running or falling water by means of a set of paddles mounted around a wheel. The force of the moving water is exerted against the paddles, and the consequent rotation of the wheel is transmitted to machinery via the shaft of the wheel.
How do water wheels work?
A waterwheel is a type of device that takes advantage of flowing or falling water to generate power by using a set of paddles mounted around a wheel. The falling force of the water pushes the paddles, rotating a wheel. This creates a special channel known as a mill race from the pond to the waterwheel.
Why was the water wheel made?
The first reference to a water wheel dates back to around 4000 BCE. Vitruvius, an engineer who died in 14 CE, has been credited with creating and using a vertical water wheel during Roman times. The wheels were used for crop irrigation and grinding grains, as well as to supply drinking water to villages.
How does a water wheel generate electricity?
Water wheel generators essentially work the same way as wind turbines, but they use flowing water instead of blowing wind. The water passes through the water wheel, causing it to spin. The axle of the wheel is connected to a dynamo that turns that kinetic energy into electricity that your home can use.
What is the most common use of water wheel?
The most common use of the water wheel was to mill flour in gristmills, but other uses included foundry work and machining, and pounding linen for use in paper. A water wheel consists of a large wooden or metal wheel, with a number of blades or buckets arranged on the outside rim forming the driving surface.
What are the advantages of water wheel?
Advantages of waterwheel: Waterwheels have a simple hydraulic design and construction. They are suitable for small, highly alternating water quantities. Well constructed water wheels have up to 80% rate of efficiency. They have low maintenance expenditures, are very easy to repair, and have a long lifespan.
Are water wheels efficient?
Water wheels are cost-effective hydropower converters, especially in rural areas. Water wheels are low head hydropower machines with 85% maximum efficiency. Modern results should be used for their design to support old empirical equations.
Can a water wheel power a house?
The reason water wheels are not a great source of power is that they are large and cumbersome and so do not rotate rapidly enough to generate much energy. If done correctly however, a well-placed and built water wheel could generate enough electricity to power a house or small farm.
What is another name for a water wheel?
A horizontal wheel with a vertical axle. Commonly called a tub wheel, Norse mill or Greek mill, the horizontal wheel is a primitive and inefficient form of the modern turbine.
What are the three types of water wheels?
The three types of waterwheels are the horizontal waterwheel, the undershot vertical waterwheel, and the overshot vertical waterwheel. For simplicity they are simply known as the horizontal, undershot, and overshot wheels. The horizontal waterwheel is the only one that rotates around a vertical axle (confusing!).
What energy does a water wheel use?
A waterwheel is a simple turbine—a device with buckets, paddles or blades that is rotated by moving water, converting the kinetic energy of water into mechanical movement. Hydroelectric power plants use huge and more complex turbines to generate electricity.
How much power do water wheels make?
How much electricity does a water wheel produce? Microhydropower systems usually generate up to 100 kilowatts of electricity. Most of the hydropower systems used by homeowners and small business owners, including farmers and ranchers, would qualify as microhydropower systems.
Who invented water wheel?
They were first made by the ancient Greeks over 3,000 years ago. They spread across Europe and were widely used by medieval times. Separately, the horizontal waterwheel was invented in China sometime in the 1st century C.E.
What is the most important use of wheels?
Wheels can be used for transportation. For example, before the wheel was invented, people had to walk, carry very heavy things, and had to use a boat to get over seas. Now we have cars, bicycles, wagons, dollies and airplanes! First of all, wheels can get you from place to place.
Are water mills still used today?
Contemporary Uses Water mills are still used for processing grain throughout the developing world. Although the availability of cheap electricity in the early 20th century rendered water mills virtually obsolete, some historic water mills continue to operate in the United States.
What are the pros and cons of a water wheel?
PROS AND CONS OF HYDROPOWER Pro: Hydropower is renewable. Con: Hydropower is effected by droughts. Pro: Hydropower is clean. Con: Hydropower leads to carbon dioxide and methane emissions. Pro: Hydropower is cost competitive. Con: Hydropower is expensive to get going. Pro: Hydropower can promote recreation and tourism.
What are the disadvantages of water wheel?
Disadvantages of water wheels are the heavy weight and large space requiement, as well as the losses with overshot wheels due to height and suspension. The rotational speed should be as low as possible to avoid premature emptying of the scoops due to the greater centrifugal forces created at higher rotational speeds.
How did the water wheel change the world?
The waterwheel was perhaps the earliest source of mechanical energy to replace that of humans and animals, and it was first exploited for such tasks as raising water, fulling cloth, and grinding grain.
How fast do water wheels turn?
But how fast will it turn? The most efficient energy transfer occurs when the wheel speed is at 93% of the water speed. For our example, the spouting velocity is 11.35 feet per second. So 93% of that is around 10 feet per second, which is the same as 600 feet-per-minute.
How much does it cost to make a water mill?
Watermill Express has a franchise fee of up to $150,000, with a total initial investment range of $138,200 to $206,900.
