How Is Propane Made?
Summary
Before propane reaches your home, it first undergoes separation from crude oil and natural gas and refined. It is then compacted into a liquid for more comfortable transport and storage.
Propane is one of the most widely used fuels in the United States. It is a hydrocarbon, with three carbon atoms and eight hydrogen atoms, and similar to butane and crude oil.
Typically, the gas fuels outdoor grills, air conditioners, water heaters and residential furnaces. In some rural areas, propane-fueled equipment is used to dry crops and control pests, among others. Apart from being affordable, this naturally occurring gas is environmentally friendly and plentiful.
How Propane is Created
Some of the fascinating modern inventions were discovered by accident. Well, this is precisely what happened when Dr. Walter Snelling discovered the energy density of propane. The good doctor had a eureka moment on his way from a fueling station when the cork of his gas kept coming off. As a result, he found out natural gas has volatilities. Snelling used this knowledge to get an isolated liquid from propane.
Note that propane is a byproduct of crude oil filtering and the processing of natural gas. The other liquid components from the processing of natural gas are butane, hydrocarbons, methane and ethane.
The hydrocarbons are created by reaction and decomposition of organic matter over many years. After its release from oil fields, the natural gas is separated and refined before it ends up in your home. Liquefied petroleum gases such as propane can convert to liquid under low pressure. When compacted into a liquid, the propane gas becomes easy to transport and store.
The Manufacturing Process
The process starts by drilling oil wells to pipe out a hydrocarbon mixture of oil and gas into a gas trap. This separates the stream into wet gas and crude oil. It is the damp gas that contains liquefied petroleum gases, natural gasoline and natural gas.
Crude oil goes to the bottom of the trap because it is heavier. It then goes into a storage tank for later refinement. Ordinarily, it is easier for you to get propane from ‘wet gas’ mixture. Through a series of chemical processes, you can as well get propane from crude oil. The amount obtained from crude oil may be small but still relevant. You can use it to make ethylene or as fuel for refineries.
The wet gas is piped, cooled and pumped in a gasoline absorption plant to separate liquefied petroleum gases and natural gas. What remains is methane, which is pumped to towns for distribution.
The absorbing oil contains hydrocarbons which are then boiled off. The absorbing oil, now free of hydrocarbons, returns to the absorber to repeat the process. After boiling off the hydrocarbons, you remain with wild gasoline, a petroleum mixture. The natural liquid gasoline is extracted from the bottom. On the other hand, a blend of liquefied petroleum gases is derived from the top.
That blend of liquefied petroleum gases can be further separated into isobutene, butane and propane. There you have it.