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About the Museum History of Gas Making gas from coal making gas from oil Natural Gas Natural gas conversion Gas Distribution Gas in the home Strange but true! Return to Home Page |
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| Gasholders |
| Gasworks made gas at a farly steady rate but gas is used at different rates day by day and hour by hour. Gas storage had to be able to expand and contract to meet these conflicting needs. Gasholders may have 1, 2 ,3 or 4 "lifts", or tiers, floating in a bath of water. When gas is pumped, in the container will rise. If gas demand is higher than the input the holder will gradually fall. Gasholder lifts were first 'column' and later 'spirally' guided. 
In multiple lift holders, as each section rises a 'U' shaped lip or cup on one lift, filled with water, engages in a reversed lip 'n' on the next lift and pulls it upwards. The Leicester No. 5 gasholder (pictured above and sometimes visible through the windows of the museum) is a 4 lift gasholder on an above ground water tank. It's height when full is about 200 feet (61m) and has a diameter of 220 feet (67m). It has a capacity of 6 million cu ft. (170,000 cu metres) The largest holders in Britain contained about 12 million cu. feet (about 340,000 cu. metres) Post Script In January 1999 Transco announced that all gas holders are to be phased out over a 10 year period. |