Dakeyne hydraulic disc engine

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The Dakeyne hydraulic disc engine was a high pressure engine built in the 19th century to power a flax mill in Ladygrove, Derbyshire, England. It was invented by Edward and James Dakeyne, two young sons of Daniel Dakeyne of Derbyshire. At the time when water turbines were little more than an idea in France, they not only invented but built what was certainly one of the first machines capable of generating power (hydropower) from water at high pressure.

The machine itself is difficult to describe. Frank Nixon, in his book [1], commented that:

The most striking characteristic of this ingenious machine is perhaps the difficulty experienced by those trying to describe it; the patentees & Stephen Glover only succeeded in producing descriptions of monumental incomprehensibility.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Frank Nixon, The Industrial Archaeology of Derbyshire, David & Charles, Newton Abbot, 1969 ISBN 0715343513

[edit] External links