ī TheīsafeguardingīofītheīValeīdeīMilhaƧosīGunpowderīFactoryāā/āZabezpieczenieīfabrykiīprochuīwīValeīdeīMilhaƧosī 23
undertakes the actions necessary to renewing the licences
both for the JoĆ£o Peres boiler and for the Joseph Farcot
steam engine.
The certiīæcation and subsequent licence renewal pro-
cedures for this machinery and its activities were duly
identiīæed and constitute essential dimensions to overall
operational conservation for purposes of demonstrating
the functioning of the pressurised equipment.
This process is submitted to the Instituto PortuguĆŖs da
Qualidade and correspondingly requesting an inspection.
The boiler inspection undertaken by a competent exter-
nal organism (currently the Instituto da Soldadura e Qua-
lidade) includes the testing of the hydraulic pressure and
the veriīæcation of the inner cylinder through direct obser-
vation and testing the steam pressure.
In relation to the process of renewing the authorisation
for the boiler to operate, this involves the testing of both
the pressure and the boiler safety valve by an authorised
inspector who, after having conīærmed the equipment
meets the requirements, drafts a report that is then submit-
ted to the licensing service.
Having conīærmed the good operational conditions of
the steam generator, an inspection was made of the steam
engine and it thus proved possible to obtain the renewal
of its licence, the īærst for a museum context in Portugal,
by the same public entity (Instituto PortuguĆŖs da Quali-
dade)
5
.
The pressure gauge ā the instrument measuring the
build-up of steam ā installed and functional in the boiler
belongs to the Wika brand and also receives a certiīæcate
of periodic inspection (issued by the TAP Laboratory)
6
.
The authorisation for the operating of the Joseph Far-
cot brand steam engine, built in 1900 (thus not attributed
any construction certiīæcate) and with its nominal poten-
tial of 125 cavalos vapor equivalent to around 92 Kw,
falls under the auspices of Decree Law no. 61/2009, of
9 March.
The operating rate for which the JoĆ£o Perez steam
generator is authorised is 5-bar taking into consideration
the demonstration purpose of the motor system in the
Gunpowder Circuit and given that the steam machine is
correspondingly no longer used under a production re-
gime.
Following the same legal practice in eīµµect for indus-
trial plant and equipment, the two operating licences are
aīµ¶xed to the buildings housing the boiler and the machine
and thus fully available for observation by the users and
visitors of the Seixal Municipal Ecomuseum.
5
In 2015 and 2016, with the updating of the legal and administrative
framework stemming from the new Organic Law for the Ministry of the
Economy, enacted in 2014 (Decree Law 11/2014, of 22 January), the
entity responsible for the industrial licensing of pressurised equipment
became the Portuguese Institute of Quality. This was thus the entity that
received the request to renew the boiler licence in 2016 and 2018 and the
steam engine in 2017.
6
The metrological veriīæcation conditions and the issuing of certi-
īæcate for this equipment, required by the licence for steam generation
arises from Decree Law no. 291/90 of 20 September, Decree no.
422/98 of 21 July and Dispatch no 1173/2015 (with the latter valid until
31 December 2017) but which remains applicable.
We would note that periodic pressure testing represents
a potentially destructive operation in keeping with its
design and goal of revealing any defects existing in the
equipment and in itself representing a process of worsen-
ing or creating defects in the boiler. Hence, irrespective of
such testing being a legal requirement for monitoring the
prevailing safety conditions, it should be our objective to
minimise such recourse while simultaneously maintain-
ing all of the conservation procedures and tests that are
non-destructive to the safety conditions.
The inspections undertaken for the Vale de MilhaƧos
Gunpowder Factory sought to reconcile the operational
conservation with the principle of minimum intervention
out of respect for the historical background of these ob-
jects, especially the alterations they have been subject to
over the course of time whenever such do not constitute
factors of degradation and corrosion and in addition to the
reversibility, stability and compatibility of the materials
applied in relation to those already existing.
Conclusions
While we understand the added value that operational
conservation does also bring to heritage in terms of its
interpretation and mediation, we are nevertheless aware of
the technical and human limitations this presents.
The musealisation project has hitherto been able to
source machine operators from among the former factory
workers, whether through professionally allocating them
to the Seixal Municipal Ecomuseum team or through vol-
untary collaborations. However, we have not yet been
able to train any new operators.
Our experience tells us of the need to always have
a āplan Bā available, evaluating the sustainability of the
project for safeguarding and the model for managing the
heritage on the Black Gunpowder Circuit of the Vale de
MilhaƧos Gunpowder Factory due for implementation
over forthcoming years.
Establishing partnerships with universities and research -
ers can develop new studies on the industrial heritage,
in a multidisciplinary scientiīæc perspective. This is the
case of the current project IH4Future ā Material Culture,
ScienīītiīæcīCulture:īindustrialīheritageīforītheīfuīīture where
researchers from Historical, Museological, Material and
Conservation sciences consider the scientiīæc study of the
Vale de MilhaƧos Gunpowder Factory, namely the mate-
rial characterisation of an important part of the integrated
heritage using diīµµerent analytical techniques. These stud-
ies will contribute to assessing the conservation state and
to the musealisation process of the Gunpowder Circuit,
with scientiīæc-based knowledge on the industry history
and technological development.
We are aware of the temporal limits on the process that
began with the Gunpowder Circuit and it remains our ob-
jective to ensure an alternative plan for its in situ conser-
vation. We nevertheless know that the technological value
of the Vale de MilhaƧos heritage is strengthened by its
operational conservation and that any other alternatives
would hold repercussions impacting on the level of recog-
nition attributed by its visitors and beneīæciaries.