| Liquefied Petroleum Gas |
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Liquified petroleum gas (also called '''liquefied petroleum gas''', '''liquid petroleum gas''', '''LPG''', '''LP Gas''', or '''autogas''') is a mixture of Hydrocarbon Gas es used as a Fuel in heating appliances and vehicles, and increasingly replacing Chlorofluorocarbon s as an aerosol propellant and a refrigerant to reduce damage to the Ozone Layer . Varieties of LPG bought and sold include mixes that are primarily Propane , mixes that are primarily Butane , and mixes including both Propane and Butane , depending on the season—in winter more propane, in summer more butane. Propylene and Butylene s are usually also present in small concentration. A powerful odorant, Ethanethiol , is added so that leaks can be detected easily. LPG is manufactured during the refining of Crude Oil , or extracted from oil or Gas streams as they emerge from the ground. At normal temperatures and pressures, LPG will evaporate. Because of this, LPG is supplied in pressurised , likewise varies depending on composition and temperature; for example, it is approximately 220 Kilopascal s (2.2 Bar ) for pure butane at 20 °C, and approximately 2.2 Megapascal s (22 bar) for pure propane at 55 °C. Propane gas is heavier than air, and thus will flow along floors and tend to settle in low spots, such as basements. This should be kept in mind to avoid accidental ignition or suffocation hazards. PRODUCTION LPG is synthesised by Refining Petroleum or Natural Gas ; it was first produced in 1910 by Dr. Walter Snelling, and the first commercial products appeared in 1912 . It currently provides about 3% of the energy consumed in the United States . USAGE IN CARS LPG is widely used as a "green" Fuel for Internal Combustion Engine s as it decreases Exhaust Emission s. It has an Octane Rating (RON) that is between 90 and 110 and an energy content ( Higher Heating Value —HHV) that is between 25.5 Megajoule s per Liter (for pure propane) and 28.7 MJ/L (for pure butane.) Toyota made a number of LPG engines in their 1970s '' M '', '' R '', and '' Y '' engine families. Currently, a number of Automobile manufacturers— Citroën , Daewoo , Fiat , Ford , Hyundai , Opel / Vauxhall , Peugeot , Renault , Saab and Volvo —have OEM bi-fuel models that will run equally well on both LPG and Gasoline . Vialli have OEM LPG Powered Scooters and LPG Powered Mopeds that run equally well on LPG. LPG AS COOKING FUEL According to the Indian households. LPG is subsidised by the government. Increase in LPG prices has been a politically sensitive matter in India as it potentially affects the Urban Middle Class voting pattern. LPG was once a popular cooking fuel in Hong Kong ; however, the continued expansion of Town Gas to buildings has reduced LPG usage to less than 24% of residential units. LPG AS REFRIGERANT Highly refined LPG — nearly pure propane with an odorant added — can be effectively used as a replacement Refrigerant in systems designed for CFC-12 , R-22 and R-134a refrigerants. It is not considered a Greenhouse Gas , and thus can be handled without special equipment to prevent its escape into the atmosphere. It is non-toxic (except for Narcotic and Asphyxiating properties common to many gases), and in highly refined form it exhibits a relatively high Flash Point of 891 °C (1635 °F), higher than that of R-134a. If it should burn, it produces Carbon Dioxide and water vapor (and soot), whereas R-134a, now commonly used in automotive applications, produces thermal decomposition products including Hydrogen Fluoride and carbon dioxide LPG IN AUTOMOBILES AND SUPPLY ISSUES The use of LPG as an alternative fuel for automotive use (in vehicles with spark-ignition internal combustion engines) has been widely promoted by governments.There are now scooters and mopeds powered by LPG. Propane, butane and pentane comprise a small fraction of both natural gas and crude oil. LPG AND SNG LPG has a higher Calorific Value than natural gas ( Methane ), which means that LPG can not simply be substituted for natural gas. In order to allow the use of the same burner controls and to provide for similar combustion characteristics, LPG can be mixed with air to produce a synthetic natural gas (SNG) that can be easily substituted. LPG/air mixing ratios average 60/40, though this is widely variable based on the gases making up the LPG. The method for determining the mixing ratios is by calculating the Wobbe Index of the mix. Gases having the same Wobbe index are held to be interchangeable. LPG-based SNG is used in emergency backup systems for many public, industrial, and military installations, and many utilities use LPG Peak Shaving plants in times of high demand to make up shortages in natural gas supplied to their distributions systems. LPG-SNG installations are also used during initial gas system introductions, when the distribution infrastructure is in place before gas supplies can be connected. Developing markets in India and China (among others) use LPG-SNG systems to build up customer bases prior to expanding existing natural gas systems. SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
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