WELLINGTON GAS COMPANY’S WORKS.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5353, 24 May 1878, Page 7

WELLINGTON GAS COMPANY’S WORKS.

Tlie past operations of the Wellington Gas Company are typical of tho progress made by the city, aud the works now going on prove the faith tho 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 Ant. 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 6dft,, and this will be fitted with 96 retorts. The building will be placed on the land to be re-, claimed, iu a line with the present vow 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 >et of works.

At present a very large aud important contract is being carried out. It is for the erection of 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, wilhaholdiug capacity of 180,000 cubic feet of gas. That of the three presentgasometers together is 94,00.0 ft,, aud as these will be retained there will be storage for 274)000ft., 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 £3OOO, aud the total cost of the holder when completed will ho £9OOO in round.numbers. The -excavation of the earth, some 6000 tons, is au importaut work, and the labor attendant upon it lias 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, aud none leaks iu from the harbor, although tho bottom of the hole is about'lsft. below high .watermark. The ground where tho meu 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, &o. The strata exposed are our ous, aud well worth an inspection by people who take an interest iu geology. Even by those who are not versed in its mysteries there is much that ,oau bo learnt as to the maimer in which the ground hereabout has been formed, the . divisions of the various’ kinds of deposits, being clearly marked. Wiuding-up tlie 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, Mr. Brown, by which he filled the carts with sand and gravel at la. 3d. a'yard, a price 4s. to ss. less than is paid wheu 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 immense pit has been adopted. Bings of lOin. angle irou are placed round the wall, and behind them stout boards are driven down as ■ the stuff is taken out, thus: forming something like a gigantic coffer dam which provides a clear and securely protected space for the works to bo kept going- without any interruption.’ It is likely that these irou rings will have to -bo left in, as there will not be any way of getting: them out easily after the tank has been completed.-’ Tlie erection of the pillars to support’ tho holder, aud fitting the plates forraingnit - and'(the tank - will be a rather serious i'affair,-for the-iron weighs 400 tons, aud many of the pieces are of great weight,’ Some pieces of tho pillars : weigh 3-i tons, others 24, aud the total weight of a complete column, as erected, will he 7 tons. ' To give an idea of the solid aud strong foundations ro- : quired ’ for, tho pillars, it may' be , mentioned , that 100,000 bricks will be’used in forming them. 1 Moat of tho bottom of the excavation hits now been laid with, 18 inches of concrete, •and the whole .will soon present a smooth even ■.floor,: . ’ ■

There arc many things on the jjvomises 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 New-, castle coal,; and notices a large heap of kerosene shale from Hartley, Now South Wales, he can form an idea of what is to he 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 blearing the gas, lie 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 1 is made. Trom the . retort- house it passes to the .coolers or condensers, which may, be described as a structure. having six ■tall i iron columns, up and down which the : gas passes, , while : cool air -circulates - through the hollow centre of each column. From tho 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 bedsof ookefivein 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 'withi an exhauster capable of ..passing--30, 000 feet of gas through, per hour. In. the same building.'’’there is a; governor, which regulates ; the quantity passed from the scrubber to tho 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. Tliero is a guage which indicates the value of tho work being done, but should.it get put of order, or be unnoticed, tho governor would ■ prevent an over supply being forced to tho purifiers.- These are contained in a house 65ft. by 35ft. They aro 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 gi’atiugs 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, whore tho gas is measured before entering the gasometers. It can bo passed through ■ at the rate of 8000 feet an hour. Finally it is stored in the gasometers, and before. getting to tho street mains it passes through a governor nr 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 Od to £9 ss, and these are coming" into gene-: ral favpr., Those /who have been cooking by gas prefer it: to using: coal or wood, on tho i score, of expedition.' and , cleanliness. Homo of the substitutes for-grates«aro ingenious, and when the gas islit they give very good representations'.of fires, either coal or wood. One contrivance is intended for a fire, place in which - there is -no grate; /and consists of a good imitation, pf 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 aud 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. Erom the balance sheet made up to the 31st of last December it appears that the expenditure on immovable property—works, mains and meters, was .-610,266 Bs. (id. ; and on moveable property, stock "<f meters, tools, aud sundries, £l4lß 10s. 103.; total, £41,714 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 205., 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 Willington gas there can be uo question, for it is of a high class, and will compare well with' that 'produced iu most of the large cities in these colonies. At one time matters connected until 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 board of directors ; the engineer and manager is Mr. J. B. George ; and the foreman, Mr. Wallace.