Keep that wheel a-turning: why and how the hybrid of steam pumping engine and water wheel combinations was appropriate technology in changing times

Kanefsky, John & Townley, John, Keep that wheel a-turning: why and how the hybrid of steam pumping engine and water wheel combinations was appropriate technology in changing times, Transactions of the 2nd International Early Engines Conference, Volume 2, IEEC & ISSES, 2023 [ISBN: 9781872986258/ISSN: ISSES, Stationary Power v.25 0960-0663], pp.49-62 doi:10.54267/ieec2-2-04

This paper outlines the history of, rationale for, and continued use of beam engines and Savory pumps for raising water to recirculate over water wheels in the eighteenth century and beyond. It concludes that combining steam engines and water wheels was for many locations and industries a logical technology and best business practice, not a weakness; those who stuck with hybrid technology were generally rational, not backward.

For access see Volume 2 of the Transactions of the 2nd International Early Engines Conference