WHAT IS PROPANE?
Propane is a member of the hydrocarbon family and is commonly referred to as Liquified Petroleum Gas or LPG. Propane naturally occurs as a gas at atomospheric pressure but can be liquefied easily when pressurized. It is stored and transported in its compressed liquid form, but used most commonly in its gas state. As propane is non-toxic, colourless and odourless, an odourant is added to propane to aid in the detection of leaks. This odourant gives propane that “rotten egg or boiling cabbage” smell.
WHERE DOES PROPANE COME FROM?
Propane is produced from both crude oil refining and natural gas processing. Propane is not produced for its own sake, but is a by-product of these two other processes. Natural gas plant production of propane primarily involves extracting materials such as propane and butane from natural gas to prevent these liquids from condensing and causing operational problems in natural gas pipelines. Similarly, when oil refineries make major products such as motor gasoline, diesel and heating oil, some propane is produced as a by-product of those processes.
WHAT IS PROPANE USED FOR?
Propane has a wide variety of uses worldwide including small domestic heating applications to large industrial and manufacturing processes. Some of the more common uses of propane are for residential & commercial heating and cooking, motor fuel use in vehicles, irrigation pumps, and power generation, agricultural crop drying and weed control, and as a raw material in the petrochemical industry to make things such as plastics, alcohol, fibers and cosmetics.
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF PROPANE
- Chemical formula >> C3H8
- Specific Gravity of propane >> 1.52 (meaning propane gas is heavier than air)
- Boiling point >> -44 degree F
- Heating Value of gas >> 24,200 BTU/Litre
- Ignition Temperature >> 493-549 degrees C
- Max Flame Temperature >> 1982 degrees C
- Limits of flammability >> 2.4 – 9.5 Percent of gas in air mixture
- Octane number >> 125