Propane

by Albin Drzewianowski

A couple of newsletters back, I talked about coal. The other common fuel used to heat our steel is propane. The advantages are that you don't need a chimney and you don't gernerate a lot of smoke the way coal does. The following is some history on how propane was discovered and some safety tips for using propane in the blacksmith shop. By the way, the United States consumes about 15 billion gallons of propane per year (2003).

History: In 1910, a Pittsburg motor car owner walked into chemist Dr. Walter Snelling's office, complaining that the gallon of gasoline he had purchased was half a gallon by the time he got home. He thought the government should look into why consumers were being cheated because the gasoline was evaporating at a rapid and expensive rate. Dr. Snelling took up the challenge and discovered the evaporating gases were propane, butane, and other hydrocarbons.

Using coils from an old hot water heater and other miscellaneous pieces of laboratory equipment he could find, Dr. snelling built a still that could separate the gasoline into it liquid and gaseous components.

By 1912, propane gas was cooking food in the home. The first car powered by propane ran in 1913, and by 1915 propane was being used in torches to cut through metal. Propane was marketed for flame cutting and cooking applications by 1920.

In 1927, the toatal sales of propane in the U. S. were more than one million gallons, and after World War II the propane gas annual sales increased to more than 15 billion gallons.

When Dr. Snelling sold his propane patent to frank Phillips, the founder of Phillips Petroleum Company, his price was $50,000. Today, propane gas is an $8 billion industry in the United States alone and it is still growing.

Propane Fact: Propane flame burns at 2950 degrees F. in free air. It has 21,600 BTU/lb.

-- RebStaup - 24 Jan 2008