Efficiency of Water Wheels
Rowley, Massachusetts was settled in 1638. It is the birthplace of the American wool industry. The first fulling mill in the colonies was established here in 1643 to process "Rowley wool," by John Pearson. In 1643, the first fulling (wool) mill in the colonies was established in Rowley, which later proved to be a contributing factor to the War of Independence as the mill was perceived as a threat to England's dominance in supplying wool to the colonies. Jewel Mill was the first mill built on the Parker River was a fulling mill, a woolen blanket and felt mill, nail factory, woodworking mill, saw mill, grist mill and a gem polishing factory. Jewel Mill is the oldest continuously operating water mill in the US with the wheel used to tumble and polish gemstones. Rowley has many 17th century houses and the country's first keystone arch bridge built in 1640 without cement or mortar is still standing next to the Jewel Mill. Old Stone Arch Bridge, built in 1643, by Richard Homes, millwright and early settler, this stone arch bridge spanned a section of the Mill River, and is still in use today. Holmes also built the mill dams on the river, the remains of which can still be seen today. This stone arch bridge, located very near the first fulling marker, could be one of the oldest in the county. Jewel Mill, a.k.a. Glen Mills, Rowley, Massachusetts. The first Fulling Mill in the American English Colony. About 1642-1643, John Pearson came to Rowley from Lynn. He built and operated a fulling mill and clothier's works near the Grist Mill. Nearly all the local families made cloth in their homes and brought it to the Pearson Mill to be fulled, that is, shrunken and dressed. Thus, Rowley is the birthplace of the American woolen industry and it was this industry which caused so much aggravation to England who wanted to be the sole supplier of spun wool to the Colonies. There were sanctions against the Colonists for buying Rowley made wools, and by defying those sanctions the settlers sowed seeds of dissension which coupled with other matters of dissatisfaction eventually led to the war for independence. The making of cloth was an important industry in the early days and as late as the 1800's, local wool was taken to the mills of Samuel and Joshua Dummer to be carded. Later, the Glen Mills Cereal Company operated a mill at the site of the original fulling mill. Here corn, graham, and rye flours were prepared and first sold in a 5 pound packages. In 1942 the Parkers used the America's oldest operating water power for polishing stones. The site is now referred to as the Jewel Mill. The Hazen family in America and Canada are decended from Edward Hazen who came from Cadney, Lincolnshire, England to Rowley, Massachusetts in 1638. Jewel Mill source information: Rowley Chamber of Commerce brochure, 1976.
Please Note: Today (Monday, 22, April 2002) I had a main storage drive crash. I had over 900 MB of stuff, and was the last back up for my computer that crashed last October. I lost the only copy of every mill and related mill site (that I have ever visited on the internet with all of the text and images); scanned images and artwork; HABS-HAER mill files; 30 years of manuscripts, writing projects and restoration reports; future web page material and business records. The follow is a "draft only copy" of the original intended article. When I recover from loosing heart and hating computer technology a bit less, perhaps I may issue a revised "final edition copy" with intended images and artwork. Thank you, T. R. Hazen.
Efficiency of Water Wheels Efficiency is the productive result with the minimum of wasted effort. The ratio of work done or energy expanded to the energy supplied in the form of fuel. In this case it is water. Factors that lower the efficiency of a water wheel are: (1) Water not being properly directed into the buckets at the proper point. Is too much water missing and not filling the buckets? Are the buckets being over filled for the rotation of the water wheel? (2) If water is directed upon the water wheel not in the direction the water wheel rotates a phenomenon will develop known as "shock" which will retard and in many cases stop the water wheel from turning. (3) The balance of the water wheel (by the weight of water or ice) will greatly effect if ability to rotate properly. An out of balance water wheel will not rotate properly. (4) Lubrication of bearings and the condition of the bearings. Are they too tight or too loose? And condition of the bearing surface or are they in desperate need of lubrication. What type of bearing surface is there? The type of bearings effect the efficiency of the water wheel and the turning parts. (5) Shafting and alignment. Are the shafts, water wheel shaft, gears, and other shafts aligned? (6) The condition of the gear teeth. Are they worn out, not worn it, mismatched? (7) The belting, is it too loose? It is slipping or loose on the pulleys? (8) The condition of the millstones, are they in need of being dressed? (9) Is the millstones properly adjusted for the grind. Is the feed correct or too much or too little? Is the distance between the millstones too great or too small? What is the moisture content of the grain? Is it too great or too little? (10) The bolting. Is the speed of the mill and the amount being produced by the millstones the proper rate for the bolter is sift? Is the bolters screens clogged because of too much moisture in the grain. Is too much good stock being tailed out of the bolter that should not be? This relative efficiency of the various types of water wheels has long been a matter of speculation and heated controversy. The efficiency depends upon the head of the water available. The difference in the head water and that of the water leaving the water wheel in the tail water. The greater the head of water the larger the water wheel can be constructed. The more numerous the buckets can be. The overshot and the pitch-back need the greatest head to be the most efficient for the larger number of buckets to be filled at any given time. The high breast shot was more efficient than the middle and low breast shot water wheel. Finally the undershot was the least efficient. Water wheels were designed and built by highly skilled millwrights and often they were only trained to construct one type of water wheel because of the region that they learned their trade. They sometimes came to believe in the high efficiency of their particular type of water wheel they knew how to construct. The water that suppled the power to operate a water wheel could be troublesome. Historically and today the water supply system is the most expensive ticket item of any new or restoration mill project. Floods create a problem for dams and mill races. For the maximum efficiency of the water wheel the tail race has to leave the area of the water wheel as swiftly as possible. The tail race should be laid in the direction of the stream with out any appreciable obstruction. The tail races were built like the head races of the local material closer at hand. Sometimes they were purely earthen and other times lined with wood or stone. Vegetation growth and down falls is always a problem long with rodents that burrow into earthen banks. The grinding surface of the roller mills is a thin line between the two rollers were they come in close contact, and the grinding surface of the millstones is the area of the millstone's circle [pi r2 (pi the ratio of a circumference of a circle to its diameter (3.14159) times the radius squared]. To determine the horse power required per millstone you multiply the revolutions per minute times the area of the stone in square inches (working surface), and divide that by 33,000 pounds and the sum is the required horse power. A more elaborate formula would factor in the weight of the stone, pressure per square foot, the specific gravity of the stone, the capacity of the stone per hour (in either barrels or hundred weight), the running under load versus empty consumption of power, feed of stones (more or less), and the condition of the stones (sharp of dull). To measure the needed horse power with roller mills you use the measurement of the rollers linear surface. Millstones take about 60 percent of the mill's available power to operate and roller mills require about 40 percent. To calculate the needed horsepower to operate a mill you need to add up the grinding surface of the mill and plug that into a formula.
Flutter wheel............................................................................................................20% or less Undershot water wheel................................................................................15% to 25% or less Low breast shot water wheel...................................................................................30% to 35% Middle breast shot water wheel...............................................................................35% to 45% High breast shot water wheel..................................................................................45% to 65% Pitch-back water wheel............................................................................................55% to 65% Overshot water wheel..............................................................................................55% to 70% Modern water turbine..............................................................................................45% to 83% Modern Fitz I-X-L steel overshoot water wheel (depending upon the type of bearings).............................................................73% to 93%
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