Bilge pump
A bilge pump is a
Ancient bilge
Force pumps could be made of either wood or bronze. Based on ancient texts, it seems that bronze was the preferred material since it lasted longer and was more easily transported. Wood was easier to build, put together, and repair but was not as durable as bronze. Because these were high-value objects, few are found in shipwrecks; they were often recovered after the ship sank. Force pumps were fairly simple in their construction consisting of a cylinder, a piston, and a few valves. Water would fill the cylinder after which the piston would descend into the cylinder, causing the water to move to a higher placed pipe. The valve would close, locking the water into the higher pipe, and then propelling it in a jet stream.
Archimedes' screw
The Greek writer Athenaeus of Naucratis described how King Hieron II commissioned Archimedes to design a huge ship, Syracusia, which could be used for luxury travel, carrying supplies, and as a naval warship. Syracusia is said to have been the largest ship built in classical antiquity.[2] According to Athenaeus, she was capable of carrying 600 people and included garden decorations, a gymnasium and a temple dedicated to the goddess Aphrodite among her facilities. Since a ship of this size would leak a considerable amount of water through the hull, the Archimedes' screw was purportedly developed in order to remove the bilge water. Archimedes' machine was a device with a revolving screw-shaped blade inside a cylinder. It was turned by hand, and could also be used to transfer water from a low-lying body of water into irrigation canals. The Archimedes' screw is still in use today for pumping liquids and granulated solids such as coal and grain. The Archimedes' screw described in Roman times by Vitruvius may have been an improvement on a screw pump that was used to irrigate the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, but this is disputed due to a lack of actual evidence.[3][4][5]
References
- ^ "Crystal MU 20 Unit". Genoil Inc. Archived from the original on 2007-10-14.
- ISBN 0-691-03536-9.
- ^ Dalley, Stephanie; Oleson, John Peter. "Sennacherib, Archimedes, and the Water Screw: The Context of Invention in the Ancient World". Technology and Culture Volume 44, Number 1, January 2003 (PDF). Retrieved 2007-07-23.
- ^ Rorres, Chris. "Archimedes' screw - Optimal Design". Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences. Retrieved 2007-07-23.
- ^ "Watch an animation of an Archimedes' screw". Wikimedia Commons. Archived from the original on 7 August 2007. Retrieved 2007-07-23.