An Experimental Appraisal of Ttwo Automatic Water Transferring Reservoirs From the 9th Century

Abstract

Ahmad ibn Musa ibn Shakir Khurasani is one of the greatest Iranian scientists, of the ninth century A.C. He worked on mechanical, hydraulic and pneumatic designs and devices. He presented his works in a book titled "Kitab Al-hiyal" .The book was originally written in Arabic in the city of Baghdad, around 850 A.C. To revitalize the old Iranian culture in its scientific and technological sense, the Iranian research organization for science and technology (IROST) in conjunction with the Museum of Iranian science and technologies decided to undertake a research project to establish an understanding these works along with manufacturing their working samples. The project was proposed and carried out by the mechanical engineering research center at IROST. A part of this work covered mechanisms and systems of transferring water from one supply reservoir to other consumption reservoirs. In this comparative appraisal of the two systems; in which different mechanisms are used, details of design and application of each have been studied and compared, proving that both designs are perfect and work according to the book "Al-hiyal". This paper provides an introductory and technically comparative view of these historical technological masterpieces.

Keywords

• banu musa brothers ahmad ibn musa book al-hial reservoir with a buoyant water level control reservoir with a balancing water level control