Renewable Energy Resources and Rural Applications in the Developing World by Norman L Brown

Author:Norman L Brown [Brown, Norman L]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Political Science, General
ISBN: 9781000237757
Google: 5h-eDwAAQBAJ
Goodreads: 52371060
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2019-06-18T00:00:00+00:00

6

Small Hydraulic Prime Movers for Rural Areas of Developing Countries: A Look at the Past

Joseph J. Ermenc

Historical Perspective

The two hydraulic prime movers which have been important instruments of change in rural areas of developing nations in the past, are the waterwheel and the small water turbine which superseded it during the +19C.

The basic difference between the two is that there is a contrived flow of water with respect to the energy conversion elements (blades/vanes/buckets) of the water turbine and not of the waterwheel.

The waterwheel was the first prime mover used extensively (other than persons and animals). It dominated the power scene for about 2000 years. It was at first integrated with traditional hand-craft methods which led to changing patterns of making and doing things and with revolutionary increases of goods and services. But the power limitations of the waterwheel (less than 20 horsepower) essentially limited the size of these operations. Its use was therefore characterized by a diffusion of mills throughout rural areas. In Europe and the United States this was the prelude to their Industrial Revolutions; Mumford has called this the Eotechnic Phase of a developing country based on wood as a material of machine construction, water as a source of power, and the native craftsman as the dominant technological figure.(1)

During the Roman Empire all species of waterwheels appear in rural areas. They were used primarily for grain and saw mills. A three horsepower (2.2 kilowatts) waterwheel powered grain mill near Cassino, Italy was capable of supplying the flour needs of about 400 people. A conglomerate of 16 waterwheels at Barbegal in southern France supplied power to produce up to 28 tons of flour per day for the

GALL0- ROMAN FLOUR MILL AT BARBEGAL, NEAR ARLES, PRODUCING 28 TONS OF FLOUR PER DAY. A.D. 308-16. TWO SERIES OF EIGHT WHEELS; EACH 6.9 FT (220 CM) DIA. AND 28 IN. (70 CM) WIDTH.

TOTAL HORSEPOWER C 170; HEAD - 65 FT(20M) (1515, 38, 1947-48) FIG.1

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