LPGforHome

(/)

WrittenbyEricHahn

HistoryandOriginofLPGGasPropane
LPGcylindersareacommonsite,whetheritbeonaBBQorthesideofahouse.
ButwhodiscoveredLPG(Propane)andhowdidithappen?

TheFatherofLPG:Dr.WalterO.Snelling
LPGwasfirstidentifiedasasignificantcomponentofpetroleumin1910.

ThestorygoesthataFordModelTowneraskedDr.WalterO.Snelling,a
chemistandexplosivesexpertwiththeU.S.BureauofMines,whythe
gasolinehehadpurchasedwashalfgonebythetimehegothome.

Thecarownerthoughtthegovernmentshouldinvestigatebecause
consumerswerebeingdefrauded,withthegasolineevaporatingatarapid
rate.

Whosaidconsumeractivismisanewidea?

ItAllStartedwithaGlassJug
So,Snellingfilledaglassjugwiththegasolinefromthecaranddiscovered,onhiswaybackto
thelab,thatvapourswereforminginthejugcausingthecorktokeeppoppingout.

Inaddition,thegasolinehehadpurchasedwashalfgonebythetimehegothome.

Usinganoldhotwaterheaterandothermiscellaneouspiecesoflaboratoryequipment,Snelling
builtacontraptionthatcouldseparatethegasolineintoitsliquidandgaseouscomponents.

SnellingdiscoveredalargepartofliquidgasolinewasactuallycomposedofLPG,including
propane,butane,andotherhydrocarbons.

Hebeganexperimentingwiththesegasestofindwaystocontrolandcapturethem.

EarlyCommercialisation
SnellingsoonrealisedthattheLPGcouldbeusedforlighting,metal
cutting,andcooking.

ThatdiscoverymarkedtheoriginoftheLPGindustry.

Snelling,incooperationwithothers,createdwaystoliquefytheLPGduring
therefiningofnaturalgasoline.

TogethertheyestablishedtheAmericanGasolCompany,thefirst
commercialmarketerofLPG.

Snellingmanagedtoproducerelativelypurepropaneby1911and,in1913,
hisLPGtechnologywasawardedaU.S.patent.

Othermethodsandadvancesintechnologyfollowed.

SeeTheFirstFiftyYearsofLPG
(http://www.npga.org/files/public/LPGA_Times_1962_History.pdf)fora
muchmoredetailedchronology.

GASPLANTINSTEELBOTTLE(http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?
res=F30E12FA345517738DDDA80894DC405B828DF1D3),the1912NewYorkTimesarticle
aboutSnellingswork,isalsoworthaquickread.

TheOriginofLPGPropane
LPGprocessinginvolvesseparationandcollectionofthegasfromitspetroleumbase.

LPGisisolatedfromthepetrochemicalmixturesinoneoftwowaysbyseparationfrom
naturalgasorbytherefiningofcrudeoil.

Bothprocessesbeginbydrillingoilwells.

Thegas/oilmixtureispipedoutofthewellandintoagastrap,whichseparatesthestreaminto
crudeoiland"wet"gas,whichcontainsnaturalgasoline,LPGandnaturalgas.
 Theheaviercrudeoilsinkstothebottomofthetrap
andisthenpumpedintoanoilstoragetankfor
refining.

Crudeoilundergoesavarietyofrefiningprocesses,
includingcatalyticcracking,crudedistillation,and
others.OneoftherefinedproductsisLPG.

The"wet"gas,offthetopofthegastrap,isprocessed
toseparatethegasoline(petrol)fromthenaturalgas
andLPG.

Thenaturalgas,whichismostlymethane,ispipedto
townsandcitiesfordistributionbygasutility
companies.
(http://www.elgas.com.au/res
Thepetrolisshippedtoservicestations.

TheLPGalsoentersthedistributionpipeline,whereit
eventuallyfindsitswaytoendusers,includingfor
HomeLPG(http://www.elgas.com.au/forhome)
andCommercialLPG
(http://www.elgas.com.au/forbusiness)usersallaroundAustraliaandtheworld.

PleaseseetheLPGSupplyChainInfographic(http://www.elgas.com.au/blog/455
lpggassupplychain)

SomepeoplestillthinkthatLPGisabyproduct.Thisissimplynotthecase.

LPGisactuallyanextremelyversatileandvaluablecoproduct,justlikethegasolineandnatural
gasproducedinthesameprocessstream.

ThisLPGcomponent,whichisabout10%oftotalgasmixture,canbeusedasamixtureor
furtherseparatedintoitsthreeprimaryparts:propane,butaneandisobutane
(http://www.elgas.com.au/blog/1688butanevspropanevslpgisobutaneliquefied
petroleumgas).

Propane(LPGinAustralia)isabout5%ofthetotalgasmixture.

Bestofall,itcanbecompressedintoaliquidfortransportvirtuallyanywhere.

PleaseseeThePropertiesofLPG(http://www.elgas.com.au/blog/453thesciencea
propertiesoflpg)forinformationaboutthephysicalattributesofLPG.

Youmayalsowishtosee:

LPGConversionValues:KG,Litres,MJ,kWh,BTU&M
(http://www.elgas.com.au/blog/389lpgconversionskglitresmjkwhandm3)

TheScience&PhysicalPropertiesofLPG(http://www.elgas.com.au/blog/453the
scienceapropertiesoflpg)

12HandyHowToGuidesforLPG&GasAppliances
(http://www.elgas.com.au/blog/49512handyhowtoguidesforlpggasagas
appliances)

(http://www.elgas.com.au/resources/blog/learnmore

lpgfactstechnology)

Comments,questionsorfeedback?
PleaseEmailusat:(mailto:<scripttype='text/javascript'><!varprefix='ma'+'il'+'to'var
path='hr'+'ef'+'='varaddy88528='blog'+'@'addy88528=addy88528+'elgas'+'.'+'com'+'.'+
'au'document.write('<a'+path+'\''+prefix+':'+addy88528+'\'>')document.write(addy88528)
document.write('<\/a>')//>\n</script><scripttype='text/javascript'><!document.write('<span
style=\'display:none\'>')//></script>Thisemailaddressisbeingprotectedfromspambots.You
needJavaScriptenabledtoviewit.<scripttype='text/javascript'><!document.write('</')
document.write('span>')//></script>)blog@elgas.com.au(mailto:blog@elgas.com.au)

Like 14 Share Tweet 0 Share 0

SearchElgas... GO

KeepMeInformed
GetMyBlogsbyEMail
FirstName*

EmailAddress*

(http://www.elgas.com.au/res
AreyouanElgascustomer?*
Yes
No

BlogCategories
LatestBlogsAllBlogs(http://www.elgas.com.au/blog)

LPG'HowTo'&UserInfo(http://www.elgas.com.au/resources/blog/learnmorelpghowtouserinformation)

LPGFacts&Technology(http://www.elgas.com.au/resources/blog/learnmorelpgfactstechnology)

GasAppliances(http://www.elgas.com.au/resources/blog/learnmoregasappliances)

GasHotWater(http://www.elgas.com.au/resources/blog/learnmoreabouthotwatersystems)

GasHeaters(http://www.elgas.com.au/resources/blog/learnmoreaboutgasheaters)

GasFireplaces(http://www.elgas.com.au/resources/blog/learnmoreaboutgasfireplacesgaslogfires)

GasBBQs&Bottles(http://www.elgas.com.au/resources/blog/learnmoreaboutgasbbqsbbqgasbottles)

LPG&BBQSafety(http://www.elgas.com.au/resources/blog/learnmoreaboutlpggasbbqsafety)

Autogas&Conversions(http://www.elgas.com.au/resources/blog/learnmoreaboutautogaslpgconversions)

ElgasServices(http://www.elgas.com.au/resources/blog/learnmoreelgasproductsservices)

Humour&More(http://www.elgas.com.au/resources/blog/learnmorehumourmore)

(http://www.elgas.com.au/resources/blog/learnmoreelgasproductsservices)

ContactUs(/resources/contactus)Home(/)|ForHome(/forhome)|ForBusiness(/forbusiness)|T&Cs(/termsandconditions)|Privacy&
SSL(/privacy)|TermsofUse(http://www.elgas.com.au/welcometoelgas/634termsofuse)

(https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=elgas.enflexion.com) (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/elgas/id835311884?mt=8)

(https://twitter.com/intent/follow?original_referer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.elgas.com.au%2F&region=follow_link&screen_name=ElgasLPG&source=followbutton&variant=2.0)
(https://plus.google.com/u/0/b/115553535339920483487/+ElgasAuLPG/posts) (http://www.facebook.com/ElgasLPG)

Copyright20102016ElgasLtd.Allrightsreserved.