The Waterwheels

The wheels were designed to supply the power necessary to move the manufacturing and forging shop equipment of the Ingenio Grande:

"All the wheels were made of timber with the joints and fittings fixed in place by means of wooden wedges, reinforcements and iron nails" [12]. The wheels were back-shot waterwheels. The type of driving waterwheels used had blade-shaped blades. According to *Los veintiún libros de los ingenios y las máquinas* [14], such technology was known in Spain in the period.

The waterwheel operation was as follows (see Figure 13): The water from the dam, flowing from the channel and through the slopping duct (regulated by a gate), reached the wheel blades and communicated an angular speed to the wheel. Once the water had passed through the wheel, it passed to the lower channel, which returned it to the river. It is worth pointing out how remarkably the design maximized the kinetic energy of the fluid reaching the waterwheels (based on height difference (h). The efficiency did not exceed 35% [11].

**Figure 13.** Cross section of the waterwheel for the laminating rolling mill. (Illustration by Reiner, Valencia [12] p. 112).

The powers and size of the waterwheels for the different equipment have been estimated in [11] and can be seen in Table 3.



(\*) The efficiency is the waterwheel and the equipment (Hammer, Lathe, etc.).

To model the operation of the waterwheels by CAD (Computer Aided Design), the methodology developed in [15] could be used.

## **4. Conclusions**

In relation to the SRMF Project, these conclusions will focus on the innovative aspects of this project, which are divided into those innovations in the development of the manufacturing model and in the development of the hydraulic model, applicable to the extrinsic and auxiliary processes.

In relation to the development of the new manufacturing model, the following are proposed:

i. In relation to *project management*: What started as an international technology transfer agreement between the Kingdom of Spain and the County of Tyrol became an extraordinary joint effort, where a multidisciplinary team of experts from both countries managed to complete the project in a relatively short period of time, accomplishing a feat of logistics that was unprecedented at that time. It should be mentioned that to ensure the success of the project, part of the Austrian team that participated in the first stage of the life cycle remained in the Kingdom of Spain to perform the subsequent operation of the SRMF [9].

	- a. For the first time, the production model was not installed in existing buildings, but rather, some buildings were designed so that all production processes were accommodated inside.
	- b. The design of the buildings corresponded to the different manufacturing processes; the intrinsic, auxiliary and administrative processes took place in separate, fit-for-purpose buildings. In the buildings where extrinsic and auxiliary processes took place, the intelligence of the design meant that the buildings were operational from 1586 until the factory closed in 1868, with small changes.
	- c. Overall, this demonstrates a perfect integration between technology, distribution of different workplaces and optimal use of hydraulic energy.

The consequences of these innovations in the production process were mainly the following:

In relation to the product—the coins—a substantial improvement in the quality and homogeneity of the finished product was achieved, and this high standard of the finished product allowed fighting illicit activities, such as clipping and filling, effectively.

In relation to the improvement of productivity, already by 1588, Linggahöl had compared the factories of Segovia and Seville, and considering the blank cutting process and a daily consumption of 250 kg of silver, established that in the SRMF this process was carried out by eight people, estimating that 100 people would be required in Seville [16].

The SRMF is one of the first examples of mass production in the age of proto-industrialization.

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, F.G.-A. and C.G.-G. Methodology, F.G.-A. and C.G.-G. Validation, F.G.-A. and C.G.-G. Formal analysis, F.G.-A. Investigation, F.G.-A. Resources, C.G.-G.; Data curation, F.G.-A. Writing—original draft preparation, F.G.-A. and C.G.-G. Writing—review and editing, F.G.-A. and C.G.-G. Supervision, C.G.-G.; Project administration, F.G.-A. Funding acquisition, C.G.-G.

**Funding:** This research was funded by the ETSII-Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED) of Spain. Grant grant number 2019/ICF01.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.

## **References**


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