Hell Joseph Charles

* Hegybánya, June 15, 1713 – † Hegybánya, March 11, 1789 / chief mine engineer, mining machine designer ; ; He was a student of Sámuel Mikoviny at the mining officer training school in Selmecbánya. At the age of twenty-two, in 1735, he had already assembled a swing-box water lift based on an independent idea, which was introduced in 1738. In 1749, he invented the water column mine pump, and in 1753 his mine pump powered by compressed air (machina hydraulica pneumatica) was put into operation, which was the first device in the world operating on this principle. In essence, this was the model for the so-called gas lift still used in oil extraction recently. His equipment not only modernized mining, but also encouraged the manufacturers of mining machinery parts to come up with new solutions, as these had to be constructed much more precisely. He was one of the pioneers in the use of steam engines in the Highlands: in 1758 he perfected the fire engine invented by the Englishman Humphrey Potter in 1722. In 1756 he put his ventilation machine into operation, and in 1766 his 35-arrow crushing plant. The work of József Károly Hell was greatly assisted by his brother, the mining engineer Ignác Kornél Hell (1711–1782). ; ; Known work: Berechnung der Luftmaschine, 1771.