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Chain pumps
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Chain pumps are a type of water pump where an endless chain has positioned on it a series of circular discs. One end of the chain dips in to the water, and the chain runs through a tube, slightly bigger than the diameter of the discs. As the chain is drawn up the tube, water becomes trapped between the discs and is discharged at the top.
This kind of pump was known in ancient Roman times, sometimes with pots fixed to the chain, which, as they passed over the top pulley, tipped the water out. They were used in European mines in the Renaissance, and illustrated by Georg Agricola in his De re Metallica; they were used in dockyards, and a number formed part of the Portsmouth Block Mills complex. Chain pumps were commonly used on naval vessels of the time to pump the bilges, and examples are known in the nineteenth century for low-lift irrigation purposes.
Chain pumps were also used in ancient China, described by the Han Dynasty era philosopher Wang Chong (27 - 97 AD). Chain pumps in China were also constructed at various times for projects of irrigation, and resembled the square-pallet type. The infamous Eastern Han court eunuch Zhang Rang once ordered the engineer Bi Lan to construct a series of square-pallet chain pumps outside the capital city of Luoyang. The renowned mechanical engineer of the Three Kingdoms era, Ma Jun, also constructed a series of chain pumps for irrigating the gardens of Emperor Ming of Wei.
