re <<So is that "twirly thing" a water-powered screw pump, aka Archimedes' screw?>>
- my first thought on hearing about Jack's <<twirly>> observation but before I saw it, was water wheel, or electric pump
- i thought about the archimedes screw, but reckoned a modern version would use electric power
- but this chinese traditional contraption as implemented by the peasants (okay, farmers, or rural entrepreneurs :0) is just made out of rocks, cement, an iron pipe (am sure cement pipe or rock channel would do as well) and a bit of trial and error mathematics
the twirly is the vortex created as the water goes down to the lower side of a dam through a hole at the end of a progressively narrowing channel
it is wonderful, green, traditional, renewable, low carbon foot-print, and effectively eternal
and the fat Jack said it in such an authoritative way, "dada, it runs by the twirly thing at the river", as per, dada, it is so obvious!
my guess is that should one change the dimensions by a little bit here and there, one would need to change dimensions all along the way to get the schema back to working order. the schema effectively uses the kinetic energy of the water to increase the potential energy of a smaller portion of the very same water, per lifting oneself up by own bootstrap, without violating laws of conservation, and all without moving parts.
just wonderful.
i learned something from jack's observation away from me. |
