The Discovery History of Propane

19 10, Dr. Walter O. Snelling, who works in the U.S. Bureau of Mines, found a volatile substance in gasoline, namely propane. These extremely active light hydrocarbons have high vapor pressure and are easily volatilized from unrefined gasoline. On March 3 1 of the same year, The New York Times reported Dr. Walter's work on liquefied gas: "... the gas in the iron bottle is enough for an ordinary family for three weeks." Since then, Dr. Walter and others have developed a method to liquefy propane in the process of refining gasoline. Together, they also established the first American liquefied petroleum gas company to sell propane commercially. 19 1 1 year, Dr. Walter has been able to prepare high-purity propane, and obtained the patent number 1056845 on March 25th of the same year. Another invention of Frank Peters to prepare liquefied petroleum gas by compression was patented in 19 12.

During the period of1920s, the output of liquefied petroleum gas surged. The earliest existing record shows that1922 * * produced 223,000 gallons a year. 1927, the annual sales volume is close to 1 10,000 gallons. By 1935, the annual sales volume has reached 5.6 million gallons. The major industrial developments in the1930s included the use of rail transit, the increase of malodorous gases and the increase of propane filling stations. 1945, the annual sales volume of liquefied petroleum gas reached10 billion gallons. By the end of 1947, more than 62% American families had used natural gas or propane as cooking fuel.

1950, Chicago Transportation Authority ordered 1000 propane fuel vehicles. By the end of 1958, the annual sales in the United States had reached 7 billion gallons. In 2004, it was reported that the whole propane industry was worth $8 billion to 100 billion, and the annual consumption exceeded1500 million gallons.

Xiangyun, the torch of Beijing Olympic Games, uses propane as fuel, which is cheap and has a wide temperature range. When burning, only water vapor and carbon dioxide are formed, and there are no other substances, which will not pollute the environment. It is a clean fuel and conforms to the concept of "Green Olympics". The flame color of propane gas combustion is bright yellow, which can meet the needs of convenient identification, TV broadcast and news photography.