GAS HOLDERS

A gas holder or gasholder, also known as a gasometer, is a large container in which Natural gas or town gas Coal gas or formerly also Water gas is stored near Atmospheric pressure at ambient temperatures.

The volume of the container follows the quantity of stored gas, with pressure coming from the weight of a movable cap. Typical volumes for large gas holders are about 50,000 cubic metres (1,800,000 cu ft), with 60-metre-diameter (200 ft) structures.

Gas holders now tend to be used for balancing purposes to ensure that gas pipes can be operated within a safe range of pressures, rather than for actually storing gas for later use.

Before the mid-20th century Coal gas was produced in Retort by heating Coal in the absence of air, the process being known as Coal gasification. Coal gas was first used for municipal lighting, the gas being passed through wooden or metal pipes from the retort to the lantern. The first public piped gas supply was to thirteen Gas lamps installed along the length of Pall Mall, London, in 1807. The credit for this installation goes to the German inventor and entrepreneur Frederick Albert Winsor. Digging up streets to lay pipes required Easement, and this delayed both further installation of street lighting and the installation of gas for domestic illumination, heating and cooking.