Charlottesville Gas Works: Difference between revisions

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[[File:Gas Generating Plant of the Utica Gas & Elec. Company, c. 1920.JPG|right|thumb|300px|Gas Generating Plant of the Utica Gas & Elec. Company, c. 1920, note large round gas holding tank]]
[[File:Gas Generating Plant of the Utica Gas & Elec. Company, c. 1920.JPG|right|thumb|300px|Gas Generating Plant of the Utica Gas & Elec. Company, c. 1920, note large round gas holding tank]]


The '''Gas Works''' plant operated during the early 20th century as one of Charlottesville's main source of gas fuel. Gas fuel was generated from coal and distribution through a piped system to customers. While some municipally owned plants, such as Charlottesville’s Gas Works, most were private. (The [[Charlottesville and Albemarle Railway]] (C&A) electric streetcars operated off of an overhead line system that was powered by the railroad's own power plant.) The '''Gas Works''' plant was a complex of buildings and large above ground holding tanks located north of the city, at the intersection of [[Coy Avenue]] and [[North 4th Street West]], adjacent to the railroad track (now the site of the [[Charlottesville City Warehouse]] and [[Charlottesville Public Works Administration Building]] at 325 4th Street NW).   
The '''Charlottesville Gas Works''' plant operated during the early 20th century as Charlottesville's main source of gas fuel. Coal was converted to make coal gas, which was piped to customers to burn for illumination, heating, and cooking. The '''Gas Works''' plant was a complex of buildings and large above ground holding tanks located north of the city, at the intersection of [[Coy Avenue]] and [[North 4th Street West]], adjacent to the railroad track (now the site of the [[Charlottesville City Warehouse]] and [[Charlottesville Public Works Administration Building]] at 325 4th Street NW).   
 
Before natural gas became popular in 1940s and 1950s; Coal gas was the primary source of gaseous fuel for Charlottesville. It was used for lighting, cooking, and heating and distribution through a municipally owned piped distribution system. While many Virginia municipalities owned their gas plants, such as Charlottesville’s Gas Works, many were privately owned. (The [[Charlottesville and Albemarle Railway]] (C&A) electric streetcars operated off of an overhead line system that was powered by the railroad's own power plant.)


== Historic background ==
== Historic background ==
Coal was used to create manufactured natural gas at "gas works" in urban areas. The synthetic gas, generated by heating coal in an oxygen-free oven, included methane, hydrogen, carbon monoxide, acetylene, and ethelyne. It was distributed through underground pipes and used for lighting streets and the interiors of homes. It differs from natural gas in composition: natural gas consists primarily of methane; while manufactured gas is a mixture of hydrogen, carbon monoxide, methane, and hydrocarbons, with small amounts of carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, and nitrogen. By the 1850’s railroads provided transport of bituminous coal ("gas coal") from trans-Appalachian coalfields to furnish fuel to gas plants in eastern urban markets. The superiority of this fuel for gas-making and its low cost compared to other fuels greatly enlarged the gas-lighting market.  
Coal was used to create manufactured natural gas at "gas works" in urban areas. The synthetic gas, generated by heating coal in an oxygen-free oven, included methane, hydrogen, carbon monoxide, acetylene, and ethelyne. It was distributed through underground pipes and used for lighting streets and the interiors of homes. A few coal-fired power plants convert coal to a gas for use in a gas turbine to generate electricity. It differs from natural gas in composition: natural gas consists primarily of methane; while manufactured gas is a mixture of hydrogen, carbon monoxide, methane, and hydrocarbons, with small amounts of carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, and nitrogen. By the 1850’s railroads provided transport of bituminous coal ("gas coal") from trans-Appalachian coalfields to furnish fuel to gas plants in eastern urban markets. The superiority of this fuel for gas-making and its low cost compared to other fuels greatly enlarged the gas-lighting market.  


===Process===
===Process===

Revision as of 21:19, 16 March 2019

1916 view looking south from Preston Avenue towards downtown Charlottesville with outline of Gas Works in background, King Lumber Company Warehouse in foreground)
Location of Gas Works Plant in 1896
Site Layout of Gas Works Plant in 1896
Gas Generating Plant of the Utica Gas & Elec. Company, c. 1920, note large round gas holding tank

The Charlottesville Gas Works plant operated during the early 20th century as Charlottesville's main source of gas fuel. Coal was converted to make coal gas, which was piped to customers to burn for illumination, heating, and cooking. The Gas Works plant was a complex of buildings and large above ground holding tanks located north of the city, at the intersection of Coy Avenue and North 4th Street West, adjacent to the railroad track (now the site of the Charlottesville City Warehouse and Charlottesville Public Works Administration Building at 325 4th Street NW).

Before natural gas became popular in 1940s and 1950s; Coal gas was the primary source of gaseous fuel for Charlottesville. It was used for lighting, cooking, and heating and distribution through a municipally owned piped distribution system. While many Virginia municipalities owned their gas plants, such as Charlottesville’s Gas Works, many were privately owned. (The Charlottesville and Albemarle Railway (C&A) electric streetcars operated off of an overhead line system that was powered by the railroad's own power plant.)

Historic background

Coal was used to create manufactured natural gas at "gas works" in urban areas. The synthetic gas, generated by heating coal in an oxygen-free oven, included methane, hydrogen, carbon monoxide, acetylene, and ethelyne. It was distributed through underground pipes and used for lighting streets and the interiors of homes. A few coal-fired power plants convert coal to a gas for use in a gas turbine to generate electricity. It differs from natural gas in composition: natural gas consists primarily of methane; while manufactured gas is a mixture of hydrogen, carbon monoxide, methane, and hydrocarbons, with small amounts of carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, and nitrogen. By the 1850’s railroads provided transport of bituminous coal ("gas coal") from trans-Appalachian coalfields to furnish fuel to gas plants in eastern urban markets. The superiority of this fuel for gas-making and its low cost compared to other fuels greatly enlarged the gas-lighting market.

Process

The coal gas–manufacturing process involves destructively distilling the mineral in a retort to drive out the volatiles and produce gas. A typical nineteenth-century "bench" consisted of six or more retorts, and a producer-gas furnace that used coal for heating the retorts; coke produced from the coal and tar condensed from the gas were also used as retort fuels. From the retort, the gases were drawn off into a hydraulic main where some of the vapors became "wastes" consisting of tars and contaminated liquids. The gas was run into a condenser from the hydraulic main, where it was cooled and other impurities removed. Often, the gas was funneled into an exhauster that further cooled it. Additional impurities were washed from the gas by running it through beds of moist lime, iron oxides, or wood chips. The final step in the production process was to store the gas in a gasometer or storage tank before distribution via street mains to customers.

By-products

The manufactured gas industry produced a variety of by-products, including tars, oils, sludges, emulsions, ammonia, spent limes and iron oxides, and cyanide, as well as ash, clinker, and coke. These by-products usually resulted from normal operations and occurred at different stages of the production process; In the absence of a market, by-products like coke and tar might be used as fuel at the plants, while other wastes, such as clinkers, lime, woodchips, or iron oxide from the purifying boxes, sometimes mixed with tar, were frequently buried in landfills or in pits on-site.[1]


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References

  1. Carnegie Mellon University Research Showcase @ CMUDepartment of History Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences1-2014Toxic Legacy: The Environmental Impact of the Manufactured Gas Industry in the United States Joel A. Tarr Carnegie Mellon University, jt03@andrew.cmu.edu

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