Agasworks orgas house is an industrial plant for the production of flammable gas. Many of these have been made redundant in thedeveloped world by the use ofnatural gas, though they are still used for storage space.
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Coal gas was introduced toGreat Britain in the 1790s as anilluminating gas by theScottish inventorWilliam Murdoch.[1]
Early gasworks were usually located beside ariver orcanal so thatcoal could be brought in bybarge. Transport was later shifted torailways and many gasworks had internal railway systems with their own locomotives.
Early gasworks were built for factories in the Industrial Revolution from about 1805 as a light source and for industrial processes requiring gas, and for lighting in country houses from about 1845. Country house gas works are extant atCulzean Castle in Scotland andOwlpen inGloucestershire.
A gasworks was divided into several sections for the production, purification and storage of gas.
This contained theretorts in which coal was heated to generate the gas. The crude gas was siphoned off and passed on to thecondenser. The waste product left in the retort wascoke. In many cases the coke was then burned to heat the retorts or sold as smokeless fuel.
This consisted of a bank of air-cooled gas pipes over a water-filled sump. Its purpose was to removetar from the gas bycondensing it out as the gas was cooled. Occasionally the condenser pipes were contained in a water tank similar to a boiler but operated in the same manner as the air-cooled variant. The tar produced was then held in a tar well/tank which was also used to storeliquor.
An impeller or pump was used to increase the gas pressure before scrubbing. Exhausters were optional components and could be placed anywhere along the purifying process but were most often placed after the condensers and immediately before the gas entered the gas holders.
A sealed tank containing water through which the gas was bubbled. This removedammonia andammonium compounds. The water often contained dissolved lime to aid the removal of ammonia. The water left behind was known asammonical liquor. Other versions used consisted of a tower, packed with coke, down which water was trickled.
Also known as an Iron Sponge, this removedhydrogen sulfide from the gas by passing it over wooden trays containing moistferric oxide. The gas then passed on to the gasholder and theiron sulfide was sold to extract the sulfur. Waste from this process often gave rise toblue billy, aferrocyanide contaminant in the land which causes problems when trying to redevelop an old gasworks site.
Often only used at large gasworks sites, abenzole plant consisted of a series of vertical tanks containing petroleum oil through which the gas was bubbled. The purpose of a benzole plant was to extract benzole from the gas. The benzole dissolved into the petroleum oil was run through a steam separating plant to be sold separately.
Thegas holder or gasometer was a tank used for storage of the gas and to maintain even pressure in distribution pipes. The gas holder usually consisted of an upturned steel bell contained within a large frame that guided it as it rose and fell depending on the amount of gas it contained.[2]
The by-products of gas-making, such ascoke,coal tar,ammonia andsulfur had many uses. For details, seecoal gas.
Coal gas is no longer made in the UK but many gasworks sites are still used for storage and metering ofnatural gas and some of the oldgasometers are still in use.Fakenham gasworks dating from 1846 is the only complete, non-operational gasworks remaining in England. Other examples exist atBiggar inScotland andCarrickfergus inNorthern Ireland.
Gasworks were noted for their foul smell and generally located in the poorest metropolitan areas. Cultural remnants of gasworks include many streets named Gas Street or Gas Avenue and groups or gangs known asGas House Gang, such as the1934 St. Louis Cardinals baseball team. The 1946 filmGas House Kids features children from New York'sGas House District taking on a gang, and spawned two sequels.Ewan McColl's 1968 song "Dirty Old Town" (about his home town ofSalford) famously begins "Found my love by the gasworkcroft…" (in cover versions often "I met my love by the gasworks wall…")[3]
Fans ofBristol Rovers F.C. in south west England are known as ‘Gas-Heads’ due to the proximity of gasometers near to their original ground at Eastville in Bristol. Bristol Rovers F.C. is also known as ‘The Gas’.
Gas was used for many years to illuminate the interior of railway carriages. TheNew South Wales Government Railways manufactured its own oil-gas for this purpose, together with reticulated coal-gas to railway stations and associated infrastructure. Such works were established at theMacdonaldtown Carriage Sheds,Newcastle,Bathurst,Junee andWerris Creek. These plants followed on from the works of a private supplier which the railway took over in 1884.
Gas was also transported in special travelling gas reservoir wagons from the gasworks to stationary reservoirs located at a number of country stations where carriage reservoirs were replenished.
With the spreading conversion to electric power for lighting buildings and carriages during the 1920s and 1930s, the railway gasworks were progressively decommissioned.[4]
TheGasworks Newstead site inBrisbane Australia has been a stalwart of the river's edge since its development in 1863. By 1890, the works were supplying gas to Brisbane streets from Toowong to Hamilton[5]: 7 and over the next 100 years, it would grow to supply Brisbane city with the latest in gas technology until it was decommissioned in 1996.
In March 1866, theQueensland Defence Force placed an official request for town gas connection, evidence of the vital role the gasworks played in the economic development of colonial Brisbane.[6]: 9 In fact, the gasworks were considered to be of such importance, that during World War II, genuine fears of attack from Japanese air raids motivated the installation of anti aircraft guns which vigilantly watched over the plant and its employees throughout the war.[6]: 10
The site itself has been synonymous with economic growth and benefit to Brisbane and Queensland with the success of the gasworks facilitating further development of the Newstead/Teneriffe area to include the James Hardiefibro-cement manufacturing plant, Shell Oil plant, Brisbane Water and Sewerage Depot and even the “Brisbane Gas Company Cookery School” which operated in the 1940s. In 1954, a carbonizing plant was built, giving Brisbane the "most modern gas producing plant in Australia",[6]: 10 consuming 100 tonnes of coal every eight hours.
During its golden years in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the site also played a role in providing employment toaboriginal Australians and many migrant workers arriving there from Europe after the second World War.
The tradition of the Brisbane Gasworks economic and employment-based successes will not be lost or forgotten with the Teneriffe Gasworks Village Development paying homage to the sites history and integrity in its pending urban development.
The gasholder structure at this site is set to become a hub of a new property development on the site – keeping the structural integrity of the pig iron structure. It will be a true reflection of urban renewal embracing its industrial past.[5][6]
Located inSouth Dunedin,New Zealand, theDunedin Gasworks Museum consists of a conserved engine house featuring a working boiler house, fitting shop and collection of five stationary steam engines. There are also displays of domestic and industrial gas appliances.
Located inAthens, GreeceTechnopolis (Gazi) is a gasworks converted to an exhibition space.
TheGas Museum in Leicester, UK, is operated byThe National Gas Museum Trust.
Gas Works Park is a public park inSeattle, Washington.
TheWarsaw Gasworks Museum is a museum inWarsaw, Poland.
TheMuseo dell'Acqua e del Gas is a museum in Genoa, Italy. It is located in the industrial area of theIRENArchived 14 December 2021 at theWayback Machine company, an Italian multi-utility, wherecoal gas has been produced till 1972.The small Museum, managed byFondazione AMGA, hosts a rich collection of industrial finds, related to water and gas works history.
Hasanpaşa Gasworks is an 1892-built gasworks inIstanbul, Turkey, which was redeveloped into a museum in 2021.
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