世界古代鼓风器比较研究

A Comparative Study on the World Bellows before the Industrial Revolution

世界古代鼓风器包括容积型和速度型两大类及其若干子类。文章从设计适用结构、引入大功率原动力和提高机械效率三个方面对其演变方式进行了考察。世界各地原始皮囊结构相似度较高,可能是由多地独立发明。中欧两地先进的鼓风器类型差别较大。中国宋代以前鼓风器技术长期领先于欧洲,可能存在双木扇、单活塞单作用双缸风箱、双活塞风箱与双作用风箱的发展序列,其性能稳定性受鼓风者个体影响显著,对东亚、东南亚、中亚、北非及马达加斯加等地鼓风器存在影响。中世纪以前的欧洲鼓风技术发展较慢,但与中国差距不大;其依靠重力鼓风易于实现稳定供风,成为其炼铁技术发展的一个积极因素。中国扇车最早发明于汉代,成熟较晚,用于农业加工和巷道通风,后传到欧洲和日本;欧洲本地扇车的起源有待进一步考察。数值模拟显示扇车转速不够,风压较低,无法用于冶金。

Bellows could be classified into displacement compressor, centrifugal fan and some subtypes in the world before the Industrial Revolution. Their evolvement could be investigated from using stronger power, improving mechanical efficiency as well as the designing of befitting structure. There was a high similarity for the original skin blasting which might be invented in different regions independently. For the advanced bellows, there a great difference between those from China and Eu- rope. It was supposed that the bellow technology of China was better than that of Europe for a long time till the Song dynasty. There might be a sequence for ＂wood bellow, one-piston single-acting double-cylinder bellow, double-piston single-cylinder bellow and one-piston double-acting bellow＂ in ancient China. Their performance and stability were significantly affected by the operators. Chinese bellow technology might be spread to East Asia, Southeast Asia, Central Asia, North Africa and Madagascar. It was also supposed that the European bellow technology developed slowly in its early stage, but it could easily achieve wind stability for being driven by gravity, and was more convenient for using water-power, so its performance was improved greatly in modem times, and the develop- ment of steel industry was pushed forward effectively. Chinese winnower was applied to agricultural processing and tunnel ventilation. It was invented in the Han dynasty, then matured slowly, and was spread to Japan and Europe later. The origin of native European winnower needs a further research. It has been figured out by digital simulation that the rotate speed of winnower was so slow that the wind press was too low to be used for smelting.