Liquefied Petroleum Gas
Description of Liquefied Petroleum Gas:
Liquefied Petroleum Gas or liquid petroleum gas (LPG or LP gas), also referred to as simply propane or butane, are flammable mixtures of hydrocarbon gases used as fuel in heating appliances, cooking equipment, and vehicles.
The butane and propane gases obtained during the distillation of crude oil are the two main petroleum gases. After liquefying these gases, they are mixed at certain rates or offered for sale in pure form and become commercially important.
Liquefied Petroleum Gas is also produced when Natural Gas (Methane) is extracted from the gas fields and ‘dried’ before being piped to homes and industry. LPG has one unique and very special property, If mildly compressed it easily changes to a liquid state. This allows a large amount of gas (stored energy) to be contained in a relatively small space.
The reverse process is just as fortunate – If decompressed (allowed to escape the pressure vessel) the liquid gas will quickly revert to its gaseous state (vapourise).
In other words, store LPG in a pressurized tank and it will remain liquid, occupying only a small space. Release some of the liquid and it will immediately revert to its gaseous state, expanding as it does so.
Uses of Liquefied Petroleum Gas:
LPG has a very wide variety of uses, mainly used for cylinders across many different markets as an efficient fuel container in the agricultural, recreation, hospitality, industrial, construction, sailing and fishing sectors.
It can serve as fuel for cooking, central heating and to water heating and is a particularly cost-effective and efficient way to heat off-grid homes.
There are two basic types of LPG. Butane is commonly used as lighter, heater or camping stove fuel and in recent times as a propellant for aerosol cans of paint, hair spray, fly spray and so on. Propane is the gas used for road fuel as its calorific value (how much heat a given amount of gas measured by weight will produce when burned) is significantly higher than that of Butane.
