High Efficiency Engineering
Mingus Mill, on the North Carolina side of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, is a prime example of late 19th century engineering efficiency.
While nearly all mills have a millrace (seen here) channeling water from a stream to a mill-wheel, this mill channels the water into a penstock, which is a tall shaft of water maintained at a constant pressure to turn a turbine at the end of a pipe at the base of the shaft. The turbine is attached to the grinding stones; and, in this case, generates about 11hp at 400 rpm - pretty solid for its day!
The turbine is more efficient than a water wheel, which typically sits in water itself and has some back-pressure, and significant losses in the turn cycle.
The mill was an important hub in frontier life. Typically, families would bring their grains on Saturday for the miller to ground into flour. The miller would take a portion as payment (typically around 1/8) and might sell it to other users or customers who were conducting other bartering business in the nearby open spaces.
This mill, on the Mingus Creek, was built in 1886 and operated daily until 1930s when the NPS bought the land to make this Great Smoky Mountains NP. The NPS restored the mill to operational status in 1968, and it is used to demonstrate frontier life to visitors daily. While it is still fully functional, the grain milled here can not be sold for consumption because the resulting flour has been touched by so many tourists that it cannot be USDA approved.
Select Fine Art prints of this and other images can be purchased at bit.ly/ProPeak
High Efficiency Engineering
Mingus Mill, on the North Carolina side of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, is a prime example of late 19th century engineering efficiency.
While nearly all mills have a millrace (seen here) channeling water from a stream to a mill-wheel, this mill channels the water into a penstock, which is a tall shaft of water maintained at a constant pressure to turn a turbine at the end of a pipe at the base of the shaft. The turbine is attached to the grinding stones; and, in this case, generates about 11hp at 400 rpm - pretty solid for its day!
The turbine is more efficient than a water wheel, which typically sits in water itself and has some back-pressure, and significant losses in the turn cycle.
The mill was an important hub in frontier life. Typically, families would bring their grains on Saturday for the miller to ground into flour. The miller would take a portion as payment (typically around 1/8) and might sell it to other users or customers who were conducting other bartering business in the nearby open spaces.
This mill, on the Mingus Creek, was built in 1886 and operated daily until 1930s when the NPS bought the land to make this Great Smoky Mountains NP. The NPS restored the mill to operational status in 1968, and it is used to demonstrate frontier life to visitors daily. While it is still fully functional, the grain milled here can not be sold for consumption because the resulting flour has been touched by so many tourists that it cannot be USDA approved.
Select Fine Art prints of this and other images can be purchased at bit.ly/ProPeak