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PropaneWikipedia

Propane
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Propane(/propen/)isathreecarbonalkanewiththe
molecularformulaC3H8,agas,atstandardtemperatureand

Propane

pressure,butcompressibletoatransportableliquid.Aby
productofnaturalgasprocessingandpetroleumrefining,itis
commonlyusedasafuelforengines,oxygastorches,portable
stoves,andresidentialcentralheating.Propaneisoneofagroup
ofliquefiedpetroleumgases(LPgases).Theothersinclude
butane,propylene,butadiene,butylene,isobutylene,and
mixturesthereof.

Contents
1 History
2 Sources
3 Propertiesandreactions
3.1 Energycontent
3.2 Density
4 Uses
4.1 Domesticandindustrialfuel
4.2 Refrigeration
4.2.1 Inmotorvehicles
4.3 Motorfuel
4.4 Improvisedexplosivedevices
4.5 Otheruses
5 Hazards
6 Comparisonwithnaturalgas
7 Retailcost
7.1 UnitedStates
8 Seealso
9 References
10 Externallinks

History
Propanewasfirstidentifiedasavolatilecomponentingasoline
byWalterO.SnellingoftheU.S.BureauofMinesin1910.The
volatilityoftheselighterhydrocarbonscausedthemtobeknown
as"wild"becauseofthehighvaporpressuresofunrefined
gasoline.OnMarch31,theNewYorkTimesreportedon
Snelling'sworkwithliquefiedgasandthat"asteelbottlewill
carryenoughgastolightanordinaryhomeforthreeweeks."[5]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propane

Names
PreferredIUPACname
Propane[1]
SystematicIUPACname
Tricarbane(neverrecommended[1])
Identifiers
CASNumber

74986(http://www.commonc
hemistry.org/ChemicalDetail.as
px?ref=74986)

3Dmodel(Jmol)

Interactiveimage(http://chema
pps.stolaf.edu/jmol/jmol.php?m
odel=CCC)

BeilsteinReference

1730718

ChEBI

CHEBI:32879(https://www.eb
i.ac.uk/chebi/searchId.do?chebi
Id=32879)

ChEMBL

ChEMBL135416(https://www.
ebi.ac.uk/chembldb/index.php/c
ompound/inspect/ChEMBL135
416)

ChemSpider

6094(http://www.chemspider.c
om/ChemicalStructure.6094.ht
ml)

ECHAInfoCard

100.000.753(https://echa.europ
a.eu/substanceinformation//su
bstanceinfo/100.000.753)

ECNumber

2008279

Enumber

E944(glazingagents,...)

GmelinReference

25044

KEGG

D05625(http://www.kegg.jp/en
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PropaneWikipedia

ItwasduringthistimethatSnelling,incooperationwithFrank
P.Peterson,ChesterKerr,andArthurKerr,createdwaysto
liquefytheLPgasesduringtherefiningofnaturalgasoline.
Together,theyestablishedAmericanGasolCo.,thefirst
commercialmarketerofpropane.Snellinghadproduced
relativelypurepropaneby1911,andonMarch25,1913,his
methodofprocessingandproducingLPgaseswasissuedpatent
#1,056,845.[6]AseparatemethodofproducingLPgasthrough
compressionwascreatedbyFrankPetersonanditspatent
grantedonJuly2,1912.[7]
The1920ssawincreasedproductionofLPgas,withthefirst
yearofrecordedproductiontotaling223,000USgallons
(840m3)in1922.In1927,annualmarketedLPgasproduction
reached1millionUSgallons(3,800m3),andby1935,the
annualsalesofLPgashadreached56millionUSgallons
(210,000m3).Majorindustrydevelopmentsinthe1930s
includedtheintroductionofrailroadtankcartransport,gas
odorization,andtheconstructionoflocalbottlefillingplants.
Theyear1945markedthefirstyearthatannualLPgassales
reachedabilliongallons.By1947,62%ofallU.S.homeshad
beenequippedwitheithernaturalgasorpropaneforcooking.[6]
In1950,1,000propanefueledbuseswereorderedbythe
ChicagoTransitAuthority,andby1958,salesintheU.S.had
reached7billionUSgallons(26,000,000m3)annually.In2004
itwasreportedtobeagrowing$8billionto$10billionindustry
withover15billionUSgallons(57,000,000m3)ofpropane
beingusedannuallyintheU.S.[8]
The"prop"rootfoundin"propane"andnamesofother
compoundswiththreecarbonchainswasderivedfrom
"propionicacid",[9]whichinturnwasnamedaftertheGreek
wordsprotos(meaningfirst)andpion(fat).

Sources
Propaneisproducedasabyproductoftwootherprocesses,
naturalgasprocessingandpetroleumrefining.Theprocessingof
naturalgasinvolvesremovalofbutane,propane,andlarge
amountsofethanefromtherawgas,inordertoprevent
condensationofthesevolatilesinnaturalgaspipelines.
Additionally,oilrefineriesproducesomepropaneasaby
productofcrackingpetroleumintogasolineorheatingoil.
Thesupplyofpropanecannoteasilybeadjustedtomeet
increaseddemand,becauseofthebyproductnatureofpropane
production.About90%ofU.S.propaneisdomestically
produced.TheUnitedStatesimportsabout10%ofthepropane
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propane

try/D05625)
PubChem

6334(https://pubchem.ncbi.nl
m.nih.gov/compound/6334)

RTECSnumber

TX2275000

UNII

T75W9911L6(http://fdasis.nl
m.nih.gov/srs/srsdirect.jsp?regn
o=T75W9911L6)

UNnumber

1978

InChI
SMILES

Properties[2]
Chemicalformula

C3H8

Molarmass

44.10gmol1

Appearance

Colorlessgas

Odor

Odorless

Density

2.0098kg/m3(at0C,101.3
kPa)

Meltingpoint

187.7C305.8F85.5K

Boilingpoint

42.25to42.04C44.05to
43.67F230.90to231.11K

Solubilityinwater

47
mgL1(at0C)

logP

2.236

Vaporpressure

853.16kPa(at21.1C
(70.0F))

Henry'slaw
constant(kH)

15nmolPa1kg1

Magnetic
susceptibility()

40.5106cm3/mol
Thermochemistry

Specific
heatcapacity(C)

73.60JK1mol1

Stdenthalpyof
105.2104.2kJmol1
o
formation(fH 298)
Stdenthalpyof
combustion
(cHo298)

2.21972.2187MJmol1

Hazards
Safetydatasheet

See:datapage

GHSpictograms

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