The chain pump is type of a water

pump A pump is a device that moves fluids (liquids or gases), or sometimes Slurry, slurries, by mechanical action, typically converted from electrical energy into hydraulic or pneumatic energy. Mechanical pumps serve in a wide range of application ...

in which several circular discs are positioned on an endless chain. One part of the chain dips into 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 lifted to and discharged at the top. Chain pumps were used for centuries in the ancient

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

In the Near East and Europe

The earliest evidence for this device is in a

Babylonia Babylonia (; , ) was an Ancient history, ancient Akkadian language, Akkadian-speaking state and cultural area based in the city of Babylon in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq and parts of Kuwait, Syria and Iran). It emerged as a ...

n text from about 700 B.C. They were commonly powered by humans or animals. The device then appeared in

ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt () was a cradle of civilization concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in Northeast Africa. It emerged from prehistoric Egypt around 3150BC (according to conventional Egyptian chronology), when Upper and Lower E ...

from about 200 B.C., featuring a pair of

gear A gear or gearwheel is a rotating machine part typically used to transmit rotational motion and/or torque by means of a series of teeth that engage with compatible teeth of another gear or other part. The teeth can be integral saliences or ...

-wheels. A version of the chain pump was used in

ancient Greece Ancient Greece () was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity (), that comprised a loose collection of culturally and linguistically r ...

and

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, sometimes with pots, or scoops fixed to the chain, which, as they passed over the top pulley, tipped the water out; a 2nd-century example is preserved in London.

Philo of Byzantium Philo of Byzantium (, ''Phílōn ho Byzántios'', ), also known as Philo Mechanicus (Latin for "Philo the Engineer"), was a Greek engineer, physicist and writer on mechanics, who lived during the latter half of the 3rd century BC. Although he wa ...

wrote of such a device in the 2nd century B.C.; the historian

Vitruvius Vitruvius ( ; ; –70 BC – after ) was a Roman architect and engineer during the 1st century BC, known for his multi-volume work titled . As the only treatise on architecture to survive from antiquity, it has been regarded since the Renaissan ...

mentioned them around 30 B.C. Fragments of the cogs, crank, and discs, of a bilge pump, from a 1st-century Roman barge, were unearthed at

Lake Nemi Lake Nemi (, , also called Diana's Mirror, ) is a small circular volcanic lake in the Alban Hills south of Rome in the Lazio region of Italy. It takes its name from Nemi, the largest town in the area, which overlooks it from a height. It was ...

.Needham, Volume 4, Part 2, p. 109. Chain pumps were used in European mines during the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

;

mineralogist Mineralogy is a subject of geology specializing in the scientific study of the chemistry, crystal structure, and physical (including optical mineralogy, optical) properties of minerals and mineralized artifact (archaeology), artifacts. Specific s ...

Georg Agricola illustrated them in his '' De re metallica'' (1556). 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.

China

Chain pumps were also used in ancient

from at least the 1st century A.D. In China, they were also called ''dragon backbones''.Needham, Volume 4, Part 2, 89, 110. One of the earliest accounts was a description by the Han dynasty

philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

Wang Chong (A.D. 27–97) around A.D. 80.Needham, Volume 4, Part 2, p. 344. Unlike those found in the West, chain pumps in China resembled the square-pallet type instead of the pear-shaped bucket. Illustrations of such Chinese chain pumps show them drawing water up a slanted channel. These were sometimes powered by

hydraulics Hydraulics () is a technology and applied science using engineering, chemistry, and other sciences involving the mechanical properties and use of liquids. At a very basic level, hydraulics is the liquid counterpart of pneumatics, which concer ...

of a rushing current against a horizontal

water wheel A water wheel is a machine for converting the kinetic energy of flowing or falling water into useful forms of power, often in a watermill. A water wheel consists of a large wheel (usually constructed from wood or metal), with numerous b ...

acting against a vertical wheel,Needham, Volume 4, Part 2, pp. 342–343. and others by a horizontal mechanical wheel acting upon a vertical wheel that was pulled by the labor of oxen.Needham, Volume 6, Part 2, p. 500. There were also square-pallet chain pumps operated by pedals.Needham, Volume 4, Part 2, pp. 340–341. From the 1st century onwards, chain pumps were widespread throughout the Chinese countryside.Needham, Volume 4, Part 2, p. 110. Chinese square-pallet chain pumps were used mostly for

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering of plants) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has bee ...

, though they found use in

public works Public works are a broad category of infrastructure projects, financed and procured by a government body for recreational, employment, and health and safety uses in the greater community. They include public buildings ( municipal buildings, ...

as well. The infamous Eastern Han court

eunuch A eunuch ( , ) is a male who has been castration, castrated. Throughout history, castration often served a specific social function. The earliest records for intentional castration to produce eunuchs are from the Sumerian city of Lagash in the 2 ...

Zhang Rang (d. A.D. 189) once ordered the engineer Bi Lan (畢嵐) to construct a series of square-pallet chain pumps outside the capital city

Luoyang Luoyang ( zh, s=洛阳, t=洛陽, p=Luòyáng) is a city located in the confluence area of the Luo River and the Yellow River in the west of Henan province, China. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zheng ...

.Needham, Volume 4, Part 2, p. 33. These chain pumps serviced the

palace A palace is a large residence, often serving as a royal residence or the home for a head of state or another high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome whi ...

s and living quarters of the

; the water lifted by the chain pumps was brought in by a pipe system. Ma Jun, the renowned

mechanical engineer Mechanical may refer to: Machine * Machine (mechanical), a system of mechanisms that shape the actuator input to achieve a specific application of output forces and movement * Mechanical calculator, a device used to perform the basic operations o ...

of the

Three Kingdoms The Three Kingdoms of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu dominated China from AD 220 to 280 following the end of the Han dynasty. This period was preceded by the Eastern Han dynasty and followed by the Jin dynasty (266–420), Western Jin dyna ...

era, also constructed a series of chain pumps for watering the palatial

garden A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate bot ...

s of Emperor Ming of Wei (226–239).Needham, Volume 4, Part 2, p. 40. During the period of

agricultural expansion Agricultural expansion describes the growth of agricultural land ( arable land, pastures, etc.) especially in the 20th and 21st centuries. The agricultural expansion is often explained as a direct consequence of the global increase in food and e ...

in Song China (10th–13th centuries CE), the technology of water-rising devices was improved. For some centuries they had been used for moving water for drainage or irrigation purposes. The simplest design, known as the counterbalanced bucket or 'swape' or 'well-sweep' was in common use at that time. A more complicated design, the 'square-pallet chain pump', was introduced several centuries before the growth in Song technology, but had not seen prior use for farming. They became more common around the end of the first millennium AD. From the 13th century onwards, the Chinese also used

windmill A windmill is a machine operated by the force of wind acting on vanes or sails to mill grain (gristmills), pump water, generate electricity, or drive other machinery. Windmills were used throughout the high medieval and early modern period ...

s (acquired from the Middle East) to power square-pallet chain pumps.Needham, Volume 4, Part 2, p. 558. Yet there were other types of chain pumps besides the square-pallet design. In Song Yingxing's (1587–1666) encyclopedic book the ''Tiangong Kaiwu'' (1637), there is description and illustration of a cylinder chain pump, powered by waterwheels and leading water up from the river to an elevated plain of agricultural crops.Song, 15. The contribution of chain pumps to agricultural growth during the Song was extolled by poets such as Li Chuquan (李处权) of the twelfth century. The Song government actively spread the technology, introducing pumping equipment and chain pumps to those areas as yet unfamiliar with the technique.

Notes

References

* Needham, Joseph (1986).'' Science and Civilization in China: Volume 4, Physics and Physical Technology, Part 2, Mechanical Engineering''. Taipei: Caves Books, Ltd. * Needham, Joseph (1986). ''Science and Civilization in China: Volume 6, Biology and Biological Technology, Part 2, Agriculture''. Taipei: Caves Books Ltd. * Song, Yingxing, translated with preface by E-Tu Zen Sun and Shiou-Chuan Sun (1966). ''T'ien-Kung K'ai-Wu: Chinese Technology in the Seventeenth Century''. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press. {{DEFAULTSORT:Chain Pump Pumps Ancient Egyptian technology Ancient Roman technology Chinese inventions Greek inventions Hydraulics nl:Touwpomp

In the Near East and Europe

China

See also

Notes

References