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Watermill of Braine-le-Château, Belgium (12th century) Interior of the Lyme Regis watermill, UK (14th century). A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower.It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering.
The runner of the small water turbine. A water turbine is a rotary machine that converts kinetic energy and potential energy of water into mechanical work. Water turbines were developed in the 19th century and were widely used for industrial power prior to electrical grids. Now, they are mostly used for electric power generation.
Most of these were corn mills (to grind flour), but almost any industrial process needing motive power, beyond that available from the muscles of men or animals, used a water wheel, unless a windmill was preferred. Today only a fraction of these mills survive. Many are used as private residences, or have been converted into offices or flats.
The introduction of the ship mill and tide mill in the 6th century, both of which yet unattested for the ancient period, [6] allowed for a flexible response to the changing water-level of rivers and the Atlantic Ocean, thus demonstrating the technological innovativeness of early medieval watermillers.
The Iron Gate I Hydroelectric Power Station (Romanian: Porțile de Fier I, Serbian: Ђердап I /Đerdap I) is the largest dam on the Danube river and one of the largest hydro power plants in Europe. It is located on the Iron Gate gorge, between Romania and Serbia.
Hydropower (from Ancient Greek ὑδρο-, "water"), also known as water power or water energy, is the use of falling or fast-running water to produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by converting the gravitational potential or kinetic energy of a water source to produce power. [1] Hydropower is a method of sustainable energy ...
The Fionnay Power Station receives water from the Grande Dixence Dam by a 9 km (6 mi) long tunnel with an average gradient of 10%. Once the tunnel reaches a surge chamber at Louvie in Bagnes , it turns into a penstock which descends at a gradient of 73% for 800 m (2,625 ft) until it reaches the power station.
The power station contains four 129.6-megawatt (173,800 hp) reversible Francis turbines. With these turbines, the power station is afforded a pumped-storage capability. Power is generated during high demand periods, and at times of low demand the turbines reverse and pump water from a much smaller reservoir below the dam back into the main ...