WELLINGTON GAS COMPANY’S WORKS.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5341, 10 May 1878, Page 3

WELLINGTON GAS COMPANY’S WORKS.

The past operations of the Wellington Gas

Company are typical of the progress made by the city, and the works now going on prove the faith the proprietary has that Wellington will continue to increase rapidly and prosper greatly. When started the works were planned on a very small scale. In the retort-house there were but three ovens, and after some time one more was added. Any one now looking at it would think, from that plan being adopted in preference to erecting another retort-house, that it was supposed that the full limit of gas consumption in Wellington bad been reached. By and by another house with four ovens in it was built, and afterwards a third with six ovens. Now a plant has been ordered for a new retort house 102 ft. by 66ft., and this will be fitted with 90 retorts. The building will be placed on the land to be reclaimed, in a line with the present row of retort-houses. By the way, a miniature plant may be noticed. It is one for testing, samples of coal, and was at one time used for making gas to light up the office, pending the completion of the first set of works.

At present a very large and important contract is being carried out. It is for the erection ef a monster gasometer, which is expected to be ready for use by August. The hole now excavated measures 90ft. across, and the gasometer will be 80ft. in diameter by 40ft. high, witha holding capacity of 180,000 cubic feet of gas. That of the threepresentgasometers together is 94,000 ft., and as these will be retained there will be storage for 274,000 ft., a quantity that should enable the company to supply any demands which may be made upon it for many years to come. The contract is held by Mr. Samuel Brown, who has undertaken the work of erection for £3600, and the total coat of the holder when completed will be £9OOO in round numbers. The excavation of the earth, some 6000 tons, is an important work, and the labor attendant upon it has been increased by the influx of a considerable quantity of water which makes its way through parts of the sandy substratum. All the water is fresh, and none leaks in from the harbor, although the bottom of the hole is about 15ft. below high watermark. The ground where the men are engaged is kept clear by a centrifugal pump which was imported specially for this purpose. Water is drawn up through a flexible pipe having a canvas bucket at the end to keep out sand, &c. The strata exposed are cur ous, and well worth an inspection by people who take an interest in geology. Even by those who are not versed in its mysteries there is much that can be learnt as to the manner in which the ground hereabout has been formed, the divisions of the various lands of deposits being clearly marked. Winding-up the dirt is effected by a winch and whip driven by the small pumping-engine, which makes quick work, for the depth is only 17ft. As most of the stuff taken out is capital sand, an arrangement was made by the City Corporation with the contractor, MrBrown, by which he filled the carts with sand and gravel at Is. 3d. a yard, a price 4s. to ss. less than is paid when sand, &0., has to be specially obtained from a distance, _ What appears to be a simple and effective mode of supporting the sides of this pit has been adopted. Rings of lOin, angle iron aro placed round the wall, and behind them stout boards aro driven down as the stuff taken ont, thus forming something like a gigantic coffer dam which provides a clear and securely protected space for the worka_ to be kept going without any interruption.; It is likely that these iron rings will have to be left in, as there will not be any way of getting them out easily after , the tank has been completed. The erection'6l the pijlars to support the holder' and fitting tho pltttes forming it and the tank' will bp a rather serious ’ affair, for the iron weighs 400 tons, and many of the pieces are of great -weight, Some pieces o£. the pillars weigh ‘SJ tons.

others 2J, and the total weight of a complete column, as erected, will be 7 tons. To give an idea of the solid and strong foundations required for the pillars, it may be mentioned that 100,000 bricks will be used in forming them. Most of the bottom of the excavation has now been laid with 18 inches of concrete, and the whole will soon present a smooth even floor.

There are many things on the premises that, are absolute mysteries to an outsider. When one goes into the coal store, which is capable of stacking 1000 tons of coal, and sees it well supplied with Greymouth and Newcastle coal, and notices a large heap of kerosene shale from Hartley, New South Wales, he can form an idea of what is to be used in the manufacture of gas. When told that equal quantities of Newcastle and Greymouth coal are consumed, and that kerosene shale, cost £6 per ton or thereabouts, is of great value for clearing the gas, he can understand it ; but as the process goes on the mystery begins. An engine and many curious and complicated machines are working awaj manufacturing the invisible, and it is not easy to understand why such elaborate contrivances should be required for pumping nothing and forcing it through purifiers of cunning contrivance. It would be vain to hope to describe the process so as to make it understood unless columns were cribbed from a work on the subject. Of course everybody knows all about retorts and how the gas is made. From the retort house it passes to the coolers or condensers, which may he described as a structure having six tall iron columns, up and down which the gas passes, while cool air circulates through the hollow centre of each column. From the condenser the gas goes to a scrubber, which in outward appearance is a massive iron cylinder standing on end, measuring 32 feet high by 8 feet in diameter. On the top is a tank 5 feet high, from which water filters through beds of coke five in number, and through these the gas finds its way. This commences the process of purification. Next is the engine house, in which there is an 8-horse engine by Laidlaw and Sons of Glasgow, used for forcing the gas from place to place. It is fitted with an exhauster capable -of passing 30,000 feet of gas through per hour. In the same building there ia a governor, which regulates the quantity passed from the scrubber to the purifying house. By an ingenious contrivance gas is allowed to find its way back into the exhaust should the engine be forcing it .too rapidly. There is a guage which indicates the value of the work being done, but should it get out of order, or he unnoticed, the governor would prevent an over supply being forced to the purifiers. These are contained in a house 65ft. by 35ft. They are four in number, each 10ft. square, and the process by which the gas is cleansed is by forcing it through a quantity of lime strewn on iron gratings ranged in tiers. The lime is supplied from Hill’s kilns, and is made from limestone brought from Napier. Adjoining the purifying house is the meter station, where the gas is measured before entering the gasometers. It can be passed through at the rate of 8000 feet an hour. Finally it is. stored in the gasometers, and before getting to the street mains it passes through a governor, or apparatus for controlling the pressure. A comparatively new use for gas is its application to cooking and heating in private houses. In stock the company have all sorts of cooking stoves, varying in price from 3s 6d to £9 ss, and these are coming into general favor. Those who have been cooking by gas prefer it to using coal or wood, on the score of expedition and cleanliness. Some of the substitutes for grates are ingenious, and when the gas is lit they give very good representations of fires, either coal or wood. One contrivance is intended for a fireplace in which there is |no grate, and consists of a good imitation of small logs of wood, with several tufts of asbestos, which tend to make the dummy look very like the real thing. When the new works have been completed and are in order, the company will probably push this branch of business far more than it has been advisable to do while the producing and storing powers were not a long way ahead of the ordinary consumption. From the balance sheet marie up to the 31st of last December it appears that the expenditure on immovable property—works, mains and meters, was £40,266 Bs. 6d. ; and on moveable property, stock *.-f meters, tools, and sundries; £1448 10s. 10d.; total, £41,7X4 19s. 4d ; and soon the total. outlay will have exceeded £55,000. This is a large sum, and shows clearly that to establish gas works on a large scale a great deal of capital is required. In consequence of the important improvements made to the plant, and the increased consumption, the directors have been enabled to reduce the net price of gas from 20a,, when, the company commenced, to 11s. per thousand feet; and 10s. is the rate charged for gas supplied to stoves. A further reduction has been promised, and ere long the citizens will be able to boast of having very cheap gas of excellent quality. As to the illuminating power of the Willingtou gas there can bo no question, for it is of a high class, and will compare well with that produced in most of the large cities in these colonies. At one time matters connected with the company did not progress in a manner that at all pleased consumers, but of late the policy adopted has been much more liberal, and the interests of' those who are customers are studied.

The company is managed by a hoard of directors ; the engineer and manager is Mr. J. R. George ; and the foreman, Mr. Wallace.