Modus: Prace z historii sztuki (19.2019)

Drawing 1. Plan, cross-sec-
tion, and views of the retort
house and desulphurization
facility elevations, accord-
ing to the 1857 design.
AU drawings listed below
are by Dorota Grygiel.
Drawings based on the de-
signs: dało, file 2, descrip-
tion 1, case 2101, f. 117,138.
Key: 1 - retort house;
2 - steam engine; 3 - machi-
nę room; 4 - desulphuriza-
tion facility
-> see p. 164
Drawing 2. Cross-section
and plan of the gasholder
with water tank, according
to the 1857 design. Drawing
based on the designs: dało,
file 2, description 1, case
2101, f. 120,121
-> see p. 165

girders (see: Drawing i).10 The use of wrought iron for their implementa-
tion is due to the fact that the materiał is resistant to the impact of fire and
high temperaturę, which was also compliant with the court offices regulation
of 27 April 1845, in force at that time.11 The elongated hall of the furnace room,
without any subdivisions, madę it possible for the furnaces to be fitted along
the westerly wali, whereas there remained enough space on the opposite side
for those who dealt with their operation.
According to the designs submitted by the investor, there were plans to build
five furnaces with fiat grate hearths, from which the flue gas was discharged via
a common industrial chimney, built on an octagonal projection at the west wali
of the retort house (see: Drawing 1). The cast-iron retorts immured in the fur-
naces could be heated to a high temperaturę, enabling degassing (dry distillation)
of wood and hard coal used sińce 1869.12 The desulfurization plant was intended
for the installation of desulfurization boxes for the purification of gas from hydro-
gen sulphide and hydrogen cyanide using loose bog iron ore. Otherwise, the in-
vestor decided not to build a separate building for the machinę room, although
that would have been typical of large gas production complexes. Probably due to
the expected smali scalę of production, at least in the initial period of operation
of the plant, it was decided that condensers and ammonia scrubbers would be set
up in the desulphurization facility.13 This is demonstrated by drawing the so-called
pits in the design, which were round tanks or reservoirs built into the ground at
the north wali of the desulfurization plant, intended for the collection of ammonia
water and coal tar.14 These by-products were obtained by cooling and purifying
gas to remove the ammonia. The gas thus obtained was stored in a gasholder with
water tank, constructed right next to Dzherelna Street. The building consisted
of a pool, madę of brick on a plan of a dodecagon, and morę than six meters
deep. A metal beli floating inside the pool, capable of holding 1661 m3 of gas, was
enclosed in a casing, having the typical form of a polygonal rotunda (in this case
twelve-sided), covered with a multi-hipped roof (see: Drawing 2).15 16
The administrative building consisted of several rooms for offices, a ware-
house, a laboratory and a kitchen, arranged in two-bay layout on the ground floor
10 State Archives of the Lviv District (JJepa<aBHnił apxiB JtbBiBCbKoi oónacTi, further: dało),
Zarząd król. stół, miasta Lwowa (further: file 2), description 1, case 2ioi,“Betriebs Gebaude fur
die Gas Anstalt zu Lemberg”, edited by H.V. von Unruh, Dessau 16 iii 1857, f. 138.
11 J.R. Kasparek, Zbiór ustaw i rozporządzeń administracyjnych w Królestwie Galicji i Lodomerii
z Wielkim Księstwem Krakowskim obowiązujących [.. .J, voL 2, Lwów 1884, p. 1904. The phenom-
enon of using iron instead of wood in industrial construction is analysed by Piotr Gerber (Ar-
chitektura przemysłowa Wrocławia w początkach industrializacji, Wrocław 2007, pp. 76-82).
12 It is known that on May 21,1858, gas production started in two furnaces, and before 1864, six fur-
naces were used for degassing wood (two seven-retort, one five-retort, one three-retort and one
two-retort), see: Statistische Mitteilungen uber die Gasanstalten Deutschlands, Miinchen 1862
(as an appendix to “Journal fur Gasbeleuchtung und verwandte Beleuchtungsarten”, 5,1862),
p. 73; A. Teodorowicz, O rozwoju gazowni we Lwowie, “Przegląd Gazowniczy. Organ Zrzeszenia
Gazowników Polskich w Warszawie”, 1,1921, issue 1-2, pp. 3-4; T. Dywan, Przemysł gazowniczy,
pp. 103,105.
13 Adam Teodorowicz (O rozwoju gazowni, p. 4) mentions that two condensers, four ammonia
scrubbers and eight desulphurisation boxes were used in Lviv gasworks before 1866.
14 dało, file 2, description 1, case 2101,“Gas Anstalt zu Lemberg. Situationsplan”, edited by H.V. von
Unruh, Dessau 16 ni 1857, f. 118.
15 Ibidem, “Gasometergebaude fur die Gas Anstalt zu Lemberg”, edited by H.V. von Unruh, Dessau
16 ni 1857, f. 121.

216 ARTICLES

Tomasz Dywan