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Water management and technology
Published in Jill L. Baker, Technology of the Ancient Near East, 2018
It is said that Archimedes (ca. 287–212 bce) invented the water screw (ca. 241–220 bce) as a way to remedy irrigation problems in Egypt. One of its first non-agrarian uses was as a bilge pump for large grain ships. Scholars speculate that Hieron II King of Syracuse (308–210 bce) loaned Archimedes’ services to the Ptolemies of Egypt to help with the engineering problem. The water screw consisted of a large, solid, cylindrical axle around which a double or triple helix made of wood strips (sometimes bronze) were fixed. The axle and helix were inserted into a barrel casing to facilitate water flow. When the axle and helix were turned, the helix collected water in the spaces between the threads of the screw, thus moving the water up the cylinder. Vitruvius provides a description of a water screw in his work, On Architecture X, 6.1–7 (Morgan 1960:295–297; Oleson 2000b). Originally intended to move water, Archimedes’ screw proved useful for moving grain, rubble, and dirt, and for olive and wine presses. Recent scholarship suggests that Sennacherib (ca. 704–681 bce) may have used a bronze screw to deliver water to the Hanging Gardens of Babylon (Dalley 2013). If this interpretation is accurate, the screw would have been invented and utilized about 350 years before Archimedes developed his screw.
Historical development of the science of water
Published in Amithirigala Widhanelage Jayawardena, Fluid Mechanics, Hydraulics, Hydrology and Water Resources for Civil Engineers, 2021
Amithirigala Widhanelage Jayawardena
The development of fluid mechanics started with the contributions made by Archimedes (285–212 BC), who postulated the well-known Archimedes principle of buoyancy. This principle was applied to determine the gold content of the crown of King Hiero I of Greece. Archimedes is also credited for the development of the Archimedes Screw, which has been used to lift water from a low level to a higher level. At about the same time, the Romans built an extensive network, better known as Roman aqueducts, to transport fresh water from snowmelt Alps to cities in the valleys below. These include the first aqueduct, the ‘Aqua Appia’, built in 312 BC and the last, ‘Aqua Alexandrina’ built in 226 AD. Over a period of 500 years, 11 aqueducts, some below ground surface and some elevated have been built. Roman aqueducts consisted of infiltration galleries, steep chutes or drop shafts, settling tanks, tunnels, covered trenches, bridges to support the aqueduct, siphons and a distribution system at the destination. Pre-historic developments of irrigation canals also have taken place in Mexico circa 500 BC. Other significant waterworks of the time include the use of water wheels to power mills in Greece, the invention of the Egyptian water wheel known as Noria, the installation of a weather vane in Acropolis in Greece, the invention of conical valve and the introduction of early automatic controls in fluid mechanics by Banu Mūsā (circa 800–860) in Iran, the application of experimental scientific methods to fluid statics such as determining the specific weights by Abu Rayhan Biruni (circa 973–1048) in Iran, and the contributions by Al-Khazini (circa 1115–1130), also in Iran.
Measurement of fill level and effects of overflow in power-generating Archimedes screws
Published in Journal of Hydraulic Research, 2019
Kathleen J. Songin, William D. Lubitz
An Archimedes screw consists of a set of helicoid planes fastened to a central shaft. Figure 1 shows the geometry of the screw, which can be defined based on the outer diameter (Do), inner diameter (Di), pitch (S), number of flights (N) and flighted length (L). The inclination angle of the central rotation axis relative to the horizontal (β) and screw angular rotational speed (ω) are also important. The screw is usually housed in a closely-fitted enclosure or trough.