THE GAS WORKS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXIV, Issue 1094, 10 September 1912, Page 3

THE GAS WORKS.

MR. SHAW’S REPORT.

At last night’s meeting of the Council, the following report on the local works, prepared by Mr Shaw, was read : “I have the honour to furnish a report on your gas works management ; —■

“Manager to be responsible lor all in connection with the manufacturing of gas, and the first consideration is the amount of gas required for daily consumption. This matter should be worked out. How to produce the required amount and the number of hours required to produce the same. For instance, a charge of coal put in at 8 o’clock in the morning in a bench of 6 retorts, the top four retorts containing scwt. each, and the bottom two retorts each—in all rycwt. of coal —and allowing an average production of n,ooo feet per ton —or 550 feet per cwt.—-this amount ot gas should be taken Irom the coal considerably under seven hours ; that means, the stoker to start work at 8 in the morning, thus allowing him one and a-hall hours to put the charge of coal in ; setting of fires and general cleaning up, half an hour ; making two hours in all. It must be remembered that the first retort charged in the morning will be taken off first in the afternoon, and so on, as I will explain by sketch. It is posssible and practical to leave the works after the morning charge is completed, say, at 10 o’clock, and return at 3.30 to prepare for the evening charge, going through the same routine as in the morning. It is quite practical to put in a charge oi one ton of coal in your six retorts, as it has got all night to work off. That means that the manager will casually attend through the evening till 10 o’clock, when he will bank his fires and lock down for the night. The afternoon charge was put in after 3.30 thus allowing the manager to take the best quality off the coal before locking down tor the night. What little gas would be left in the coal womu push its way through the plant, and would not require the aid of the engine. You will bear in mind this ton of coal would be equal to 11,000 feet of gas, making a total make for 24 hours thus: Evening charge of one ton, xx,ooo feet; morning charge of 17 cwt., 9>35° f eet 5 total, 20,350 feet. Now, your holder is only capable of holding, say, xi,ooo feet. The above will show that your benches are not worked satisfactorily or economically. This means, gentlemen, that even working as shown aoove your benches for carbonising are much greater than is required, which means you are consuming much more coke than is required, and causing more than necessary wear and tear ot machinery and plant. Even under these working conditions you will see that no night work or stoking is required. The manager and stoker should have from 10 o’clock till 3.30 to attend to other work, such as services, mains, gasfitling, maintenance, lamps, or anything casual that may come along. It often happens that the manager and stoker are required in the yard for the purpose of general cleaning or repairing, receiving coal, etc. I will now point out what is possible to be done with a bench of three retorts. The stoker, starting at 8 o’clock in the morning, will draw and charge three retorts, thus completing his morning charge before 9.30; he will take, say, two hours altogether. This charge , will work off under seven hours. Each retort will hold jowl, of coal —qcwt. in all —thus producing 550 feet of gas each, or 4,950 feet in all. The afternoon charge will start not earlier than 3.45, finishing at 5 o’clock. It is possible to put 10 cwt. in the three retorts for the night charge, thus producing 5,500 feet, a total make of 10,450 feet for twenty-four hours. You will see plainly by these figures what can be done with a bench of three retorts, and exactly what they will produce, and from this you may judge for yourself. You will understand that in this report I have not quoted a high productive make of gas, and I have no hesitation in saying that your manager should produce more per ton than I have estimated, as I can do so in my works without any trouble. No doubt your manager will put before you that the charging of all the retorts at one time will overtax the plant. In general, he may also want to charge the one bench at different hours during the day. Believe me, there is not the slightest necessity for this system of charging. Take absolutely no excuse other than charge your retorts morning and evening, and lake my figures to be correct. Your Council should work out at all times the amount of gas required for daily consumption, and show your manager how it can be done. “A few practical bints; — Manager and stoker to be in yard on arrival of consignments of coal, in order to receive and check same. Re coke orders : Fill sacks from retort house floor in the morning, so as to avoid wheeling out and double handling. When purifiers require changing, the manager and stoker be together. Repairs and general improvements to works left to wet days. Index to be taken by manager, two days allowed. All accounts, sale notes, yard notes, etc., to be handed into Town Clerk’s office prior to index reading, and a date to be fixed for the same.

“From this report you will see what time is required for the inside yard work, and how much time can be devoted to outside dis-

tribution of gas. My casual labour would amount to about twelve days in the year. I lay ?U services wuh the stoker's help, and I spend an amount of time mixing asphalt. No casual labour required for storing coal, and absolutely no night stoking required. Of course, gentlemen, yon will bear in mind that a manager must use a certain amount of tact and method in the producing department, and it is not necessary to give more than a iourteen to sixteen candle-power for general consumption. It is a fact that many small works are ruined through giving higher illuminating gas than is required.