1772,1796: Hydraulic ram - The book of science

Hydraulic ram
Water hammer
Hydraulic thump
Commentary

John Whitehurst, Joseph-Michel Montgolfier mechanics

Hydraulic ram

Momentum of water
whose flow, cyclically closed,
rams water past a check valve
up a hill,
and regulates itself
as the waste valve
is first closed by the flow
and then opened as it falls.

Water hammer

Pulsation engine
Self-acting ram pump
Water hammer
Water ram
Hydrolic ram
Hydram
operates
with only water flow—
look Ma, no hands.

Hydraulic thump

Water rushes
down the pipe and THUMP
past the check valve and up toward the attic of the house.
Before electricity
came to the farm and THUMP
water users had to make clever use of gravity.

Joseph-Michel Montgolfier and his brother Jacques-Étienne owned a paper mill in Voiron and developed the first manned untethered flight of a hot-air balloon. The balloon was made of paper. Joseph-Michel invented the first self-acting water ram to raise water at their paper mill. Early water rams cycled every minute or so, producing a loud thump with each cycle.