Energy and Technology
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Pumps and Hydraulic Rams – With Numerous Engravings and Diagrams, Paul Hasluck
Written by Paul N. Hasluck this book was published in 1907. The book has been re-published from the original and contains the whole script, diagrams and formulas. The book has been reformatted and is not just a scanned copy of the original.
The formal title is Pumps and Hydraulic Rams with numerous engravings and diagrams.
There is information on all types of pumps including centrifugal, suction, force, syphons, plunger and wooden. Of particular interest to many is the chapter about Hydraulic Rams that starts…… ‘Hydraulic rams are water-raising appliances in a class by themselves. The shock that is commonly noticed on quickly closing a fullway cock and suddenly stopping the flow of water in long lengths of pipe is the power employed in the hydraulic ram. The hydraulic ram was invented in 1772 by Whitehurst, and about the same time it was accidentally discovered by a Bristol plumber, who was engaged in a hospital in that city fixing long lengths of lead piping, which had a considerable head of water on them.’
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Methane Production Guide – how to make biogas. Three simple anaerobic digesters
Methane or biogas is a colourless, odourless, flammable gas and the main constituent, 85% to 90%, of the piped natural gas that we use in our homes in the UK, Europe and the USA.
Methane can be made using simple apparatus and a process known as anaerobic digestion. Anaerobic digestion is one of the most common biological procedures in nature, as the name implies, it means to carry or breakdown in the absence of air. Once you know the principles of this process it is possible to make biogas in small or large quantities from a variety of waste materials. The book describes making an anaerobic digester using an oil drum and a rubber inner tube as the gas storage vessel as well as a larger continuous digester. The book also contains diagrams, list of materials and websites for further reading.
The gas produced can be used for cooking and heating and even for running a gas engine.