Exploring LPG and How It Works

LPG is a fuel with a high calorific value that gives heat that can be seen in our day-to-day life as it is important for various household appliances like cooking, heating, and hot water. It is known as liquefied gas as it smoothly transforms into a liquid. LPG requires only low pressure or in other words refrigeration to transform from its gaseous state. LPG in a gaseous state expands up to 270 times of its volume when in a liquid state. Therefore, it’s only rational that LPG is kept and moved in liquid form, under pressure, inside a gas cylinder bottle like propane tanks. LPG converts back into a gaseous state when you let go of some of the pressure in the LPG bottle by switching on your gas appliance. Almost all of the applications for LPG include the utilization of the gas vapor and not the liquefied gas. The versatile LPG gas is burned to give heat energy for various domestic, commercial, and industrial applications.

Let’s discuss LPG’s supply chain and what all steps it includes :

• Drilling
• Processing
• Transport 
• Packaging 
• Vaporization 
• Gas regulators 
• Gas appliances 

Above all part of the Liquified petroleum gas supply chain. LPG is extracted from gas wells and oil. LPG is generally there in combinations of other hydrocarbons like natural gas and crude oil. Petroleum extraction and Natural gas production are used to produce LPG.

Composition & properties of LPG 

LPG’s composition mainly comprises butane, propane, butylenes, propylene, isobutane, and a combination of these gases. Liquified petroleum gas also consists of liquid or gas which depends on LPG gas temperature and pressure.

NGL i.e Natural Gas Liquids have the same composition as LPG with more gases that are not generally included in LPG. The whole NGL mixture consists of ethane, propene,  butadiene, butylenes, ethane, propylene, pentane, pentene, isobutene, and pentanes and also propane, isobutane, and butane.

Gas Cylinders, bottles, and tanks that contain liquefied petroleum gas are normally secured to utilize given they are used correctly. Several important safety precautions are given while handling LPG both for domestic as well as industrial and commercial uses. By following the safety precautions related to LPG, you can avoid LPG-related accidents to a great extent. Before getting a new gas cylinder connection, ask your gas supplier for all the necessary precautions that are needed to be taken while using LPG for any application as it will help in avoiding LPG-related accidents.