Power

Power

Through the course of history, few countries, let alone any states have strived in being leaders of environmentally friendly energy. Some countries have experimented with solar, geothermal, biofuels, hydroelectric and nuclear power. However, wind energy has been neglected. And yet, it stands above the rest, as unlimited and resourceful and clean forms of energy. Although some may argue wind power is ineffective, costly, and an eye-sore, the United States, in particular Michigan, should construct wind turbines in order to ensure a cleaner, cost effective, and more accessible way of living. In the 18th century, there were nearly a thousand mills along the River Zaan, near the commercial capital Amsterdam. They transformed the wood, flour and paper, as well as raw materials from overseas, such as tobacco and cocoa. From the mid-18th century, mills were added to a small windmill which automatically placed the wings in the wind direction. At the end of the century, an English engineer, invented a mechanism to adapt to the wind: he divided the wings into segments resembling Venetian blinds that could be opened or closed depending on need. At that time, more than 500 000 water mills in Europe revolved. They provided motive power for all kinds of machines and tools, to paper mills or oil, sawmill, not to mention the hammers in the forge.

Later, a number of gigantic wheels of great power, sometimes made of iron, would also supply energy to large textile factories and steel plants. When there was little water, we used horizontal water mills, most appropriate - and that's where innovation PROVINT decisive in 1833, the French engineer Benoit Fourneyron invented the hydraulic turbine. Its effectiveness is explained by the fact that water flows along the axis and affects several blades at once instead of a blade after the other as with the waterwheel. The improvements will grow especially in landscapes abundant water in the USA. In the Lowell textile center, they invented the Francis turbine, named after its inventor. Its hinged blades allow it to better respond to changes in water quantity. The American Lester Pelton finally reached a very high number of turns directing the concentrated energy of a jet of water on the turbine blades. Today, its turbine is used mainly in power plants in the mountains, where the drop of water can be harnessed. It was not until 1870 that water power was gradually replaced by the steam engine, the discovery of the century. Its prehistory was long: the first exemplary performance, built by Thomas Newcomen, was installed in 1712 in a coal mine near Wolverhampton for pumping water from wells. Newcomen was blowing hot steam down a cylinder that pushes the piston upward. Then we sprinkled the water cylinder, the vapor condensed, producing a vacuum. As the cylinder was now heated by steam, now water-cooled, the machine had a significant loss of energy and consumed large quantities of fuel. It was here in 1769, began the development that James Watt will go down in ...