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The History and Operation of Gasworks (Manufactured

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The History and Operation of Gasworks (Manufactured Gasworks Profile A: The History and Operation of Gasworks Gasworks Profiles (Manufactured Gas Plants) in Britain Gasworks Profile A: The History and Operation of Gasworks (Manufactured Gas Plants) in Britain Contents Gasworks Profile B: Gasholders and their Tanks Gasworks Profile C: Water Gas Plants Gasworks Profile D: Producer Gas Plants 1. Introduction................................................................................... A1 2. A Brief History of the Development of the Gas Industry.............. A1 ISBN 978-1-905046-26-3 © CL:AIRE 2014 3. Different Scales of Gasworks....................................................... A14 3.1 Country House Gasworks.................................................. A14 Published by Contaminated Land: Applications in Real Environments (CL:AIRE), 3.2 Small Town and Village Gasworks.....................................A15 32 Bloomsbury Street, London WC1B 3QJ. 3.3 Large Town and City Gasworks......................................... A15 4 . Gas Manufactured from Coal ...................................................... A15 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval 4.1 Overview............................................................................ A15 system, or transmitted in any form or by any other means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the written permission of the copyright 4.2 Types of Coal Used for Gas Making.................................. A18 holder. All images courtesy of the National Grid Gas Archive, unless stated. 4.3 The Retort House............................................................... A19 4.4 Coke Ovens....................................................................... A23 The Gasworks Profiles have been prepared by: 4.5 Complete Gasification........................................................ A24 Dr Russell Thomas, 4.6 Lurgi Gas Process............................................................. A24 Technical Director 4.7 Ancillary Plant for Processing Coal Gas............................ A25 Parsons Brinckerhoff 5. Gas Manufactured from Coke and Oil ........................................ A40 Redland, Bristol, UK 5.1 Water Gas ......................................................................... A40 Tel: 0117-933-9262 5.2 Producer Gas .................................................................... A40 Email: [email protected] or [email protected]. 5.3 Oil Gas............................................................................... A41 The author would like to thank the National Grid Gas Archive, Warrington, UK, in 6. The Composition of By-Products and Wastes Produced particular Kerry Moores, Haydn Fickling, John Plumb and John Wilson, without whose During the Manufacture of Gas.................................................... A44 assistance this publication would not be possible. A special thanks to Maria Laffey of 6.1 Coal Tars........................................................................... A44 Parsons Brinckerhoff, for her thorough review of this document. The author would also 6.2 Ammoniacal Liquors.......................................................... A45 like to thank John Horne, Chris Sugg and other fellow members of IGEM Panel for the 6.3 Blue Billy, Foul Lime and Spent Oxide............................... A46 History of the Industry. Andrew Williams of DNV-GL is acknowledged for his assistance 6.4 Ash/Coal Dust ................................................................... A46 on the history of the Lurgi process. The author would also like to acknowledge Maureen 6.5 Coke.................................................................................. A46 Parsons and Beverley Thomas for their assistance in the preparation of this document. 7. The Environmental Legacy of the Gas Industry.......................... A47 8. Selected Bibliography.................................................................. A47 Appendix 1: Description of Carbonisation, Gasification and Pyrolysis... A48 Disclaimer: The purpose of this document is to act as a pointer to the activities carried out on former gasworks. The Author and Publisher will not be responsible for any loss, however arising, from the use of, or reliance on, this information. This document (‘this publication’) is provided ‘as is’, without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied. You should not assume that this publication is error-free or that it will be suitable for the particular purpose which you have in mind. The Author and Publisher assume no responsibility or liability for errors or omissions in this publication. Readers are advised to use the information contained herein purely as a guide and to take appropriate professional advice where necessary. 1. Introduction Gas was manufactured in Britain between 1792 – when William Murdock first used coal gas to light his house and office in Redruth – and 1981, when the last gasworks closed in Britain. Britain now uses natural gas, having started to convert from manufactured gas in 1967, an operation taking 10 years to complete. This profile describes the historical development of the manufactured gas industry in Britain, outlining the processes used to manufacture gas from coal and giving a brief description of other processes. It is aimed at those who have a professional or personal interest in the manufactured gas industry. 2. A Brief History of the Development of the Gas Industry Ancient Times and the Early Awareness of Gas People were aware of the existence of flammable gas in ancient times, when ‘Eternal Flames’ formed the centrepiece of religious shrines. The external flames were seepages of combustible gases from sources of gas in the ground below. The Chinese were known to have captured natural gas seepages and transported them through bamboo pipes to be burnt to heat salt pans, evaporating water to produce salt. They had also worked out how to capture the gas in animal skins so it could be stored and transported. It is, however, not until much later that the great potential of gas was realised, and a practical process to manufacture it developed. Many people from across Europe experimented with the distillation of coal, splitting it into its constituent parts of inflammable gas, ammonia rich water, tar and coke. Photograph 1. Former gasworks clockwise from top, Coatbridge (Lanarkshire, Scotland), Falmouth (Cornwall, England) and Pembroke Dock (Pembrokeshire, Wales). A1 Jean Tardin documented in ‘Histoire naturelle de burning fire damp at the surface of a mine from Wurzburg, Bavaria. In France, Philippe Lebon la fontaine qui brusle pres de Grenoble’ (1618), which it was being vented. obtained gas from heating sawdust in a retort and that he had heated crushed coal in a closed also lit a room by gas in 1791. Lebon is vessel producing coal gas, after identifying that recognised as the father of the gas industry in the source of the fire well in Grenoble was gas France. The son of a court official of Louis XV, he escaping from burning coal beds. was an engineer and scientist of considerable reputation and devoted great efforts to gas Thomas Shirley made an early observation lighting, being awarded a patent in 1799 for this (1659) of ‘carburetted hydrogen’ emanating from purpose. His worked spurred on the development a natural spring; when he put a candle to the of gas lighting across mainland Europe. surface of the water, it ignited. Shirley believed the source of the gas was coal below the ground. Most credit for the discovery of a commercial process for coal gas manufacture goes to William Dr John Clayton, the Dean of Kildare, continued Murdoch, an engineer born in 1754 at Bello Mill, Shirley’s work and, years later (1684), excavated near the town of Lugar in Ayrshire, Scotland. the base of the spring to find coal 18 inches Murdoch is believed to have experimented with below. The gas escaping from the coal measures producing gas from coal in a kettle when he was was inflammable and Clayton assumed that the a child. After walking to the Boulton and Watt coal was the source of the gas. Clayton’s work factory at Smethwick, Birmingham, from Lugar in continued with the distillation of coal in an open 1777, Murdoch found employment. Mathew retort. He noted: ‘At first there came over only Boulton was particularly taken aback by an oval- Flegm, afterwards a black Oyle and then a spirit shaped wooden hat that Murdoch was wearing. arose which I could no ways condense’. Clayton He had made it himself on a lathe of his own collected the gas in bladders which, if pricked design. with a pin and squeezed, emitted gas which could Photograph 2. A diorama of George Dixon be ignited. Much of this work was unknown until demonstrating burning coal gas. Murdoch performed well and within a few years Clayton published the work circa 1739. (1779) he was given the difficult task of selling Archibald Cochrane, otherwise known as Lord and installing steam powered water pumping In 1760, George Dixon (Photograph 2) of Durham Dundonald, had spotted a market for coal tar with equipment to the Cornish mine owners. This was, undertook experiments heating coal in a kettle the Royal Navy. By tarring the wooden hulls of at the time, the most prosperous industry in and igniting the gas which escaped from its the Navy fleet, he proved in tests that it would Britain, and Boulton and Watt’s most valuable spout. He established the first works for prevent them from rotting and fouling. Tar market. Murdoch was so well
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