Virtual Gas Museum

The history of gas meters is not only a story about the methods of calculating the volume of the fuel used but also a process of developing innovative business models. The old gas meters were a fulfilled business prophecy, announcing a new order of economic flows in the form of a user-network relationship, which is so prevalent today.

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An accidental visitor to a traditional gasworks will see a tangle of pipes, some baffling geometrically-shaped installations and mystifying devices. Such a gas plant resembles an octopus with a thousand tentacles, which has crawled out of the canal at the edge of the city. What happens inside this tangle of pipes? What are the mysterious towers for?

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These silent companions of our daily lives are also evocative of global civilizational changes. Although today we associate stoves, heaters and refrigerators with electricity, in the 19th century they were powered by … gas. The introduction of these appliances to people’s homes heralded a lifestyle revolution that continues to this day.

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Key events in the history of the gas industry in Poland and Europe.

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First bath heated with a gas water heater

This appliance is invented by an Englishman, Benjamin Waddy Maughan. Gas begins to find multiple new applications, and inventions include gas cookers, refrigerators, irons, coffee roasters, boilers, gas heaters and many more.

Gas light gains new brightness and colour

This is a clever invention of Carl Auer von Welsbach – a fabric mantle, made from cotton mesh impregnated with non-flammable compounds, which when heated by a gas flame emits a bright light without burning. This invention continues to be used today.

Natural gas discovered in the Podkarpacie region

The beginnings of natural gas in Poland are connected to crude oil extraction in the Podkarpacie region.

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Technology 29 September 2019

Podcast: Innovative applications and the future of natural gas

The latest podcast from the Virtual Gas Museum focuses on the technologies, innovation and future of natural gas applications.

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Technology 8 October 2019

UAVs and satellites to monitor gas pipelines

The latest technologies applied in gas engineering include novel monitoring solutions for the natural gas transmission and distribution infrastructure. Gas pipelines are linear projects which sometimes stretch for hundreds of kilometres, so their inspection with an “eye in the sky” seems a natural solution. It can be done with UAVs and satellites.

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Listen to what the gas pipeline says

What does the creaking of timber beams in a mine have to do with advanced analysis of the sound of gas pipelines? The objective is the same in both cases: to identify symptoms which, if interpreted correctly, can help prevent a failure or an accident.

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