Abstract

Since ancient times and for hundreds of years, grain mills, hammers, sawmills, spinning mills, and hemp rollers have been powered by water wheels. In the nineteenth century there were hundreds of thousands of mills in all of Europe. It is an enormous historical and cultural heritage of inestimable value, which is for the most part, abandoned today. Recently, there is a renewed interest in their reuse, both for their widespread diffusion in the territory and for the excellent environmental integration and intrinsic sustainability. Even when, for economic reasons, their recovery for the original tasks is not suitable, the conversion into mini plants for the production of electricity can be advantageous. In the paper, analyzing some typical examples of the old water mill of the Piemonte region, in North-West of Italy, the mechanical architecture of old water mill, from water wheels to millstones, is described and the functional details of various mechanisms are provided. In fact, by knowing only the specifics of the ancient mills, it is possible to enhance their potential and restore them from the perspective of a renewed high quality production, or reconvert them in mini-plants for the production of electricity.

Highlights

  • The history of water mills matches the development of prime movers

  • The horizontal water wheel was normally used as the prime mover mechanical energy occurs with low efficiency

  • Beyond the historical value of the work, the authors believe that the knowledge of the functional

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Summary

Introduction

The history of water mills matches the development of prime movers. In general, the aim is to make more energy available for a community, in particular more concentrated in space and time. The horizontal water wheel was normally used as the prime mover mechanical energy occurs with low efficiency. The horizontal water wheel was normally used as the ofprime small mover grain mills, suitable formills, a modest production of flour of the order of few quintals a day,of typical of small grain suitable for a modest production ofaflour of the order a few ofquintals highland family farming. Concluding, the usefulness of the development of a device devoted to the experimental characterization of the efficiency of the mill transmission, from the water wheel to the load, is discussed For this purpose, two old mills, the Riviera mill and the Forno mill, are analyzed in detail. GWWs rotate around a horizontal axis while in an Archimedes and hydrostatic (HPCs) exploit water hydrostatic force.

The low breastshot of the theForno
The gear ratioconsists ω
11. The upstream water wheel power transmission:
C Several
Regulation
20(Figures and
21. Feeding
Conclusions
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