﻿ Propane
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Cuyahoga Heights,Ohio 44125

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What is Propane?

Propane is a gas derived from natural gas and petroleum. It is found
mixed with natural gas and petroleum deposits. Propane is called a
of feet thick.

The layers were subjected to enormous heat and pressure, changing the
pockets of these fossil fuels became trapped in rocks, much as a wet
sponge holds water.

Propane is one of the many fossil fuels included in the liquefied
petroleum gas (LPG) family. Because propane is the type of LPG
most commonly used in the United States, propane and LPG are often
used synonymously. Butane is another LPG often used in lighters. The
chemical formula for propane is C3H8.

Under normal atmospheric pressure and temperature, propane is a gas. Under moderate pressure and/or lower temperatures, however, propane changes into a liquid. Propane is easily stored as a liquid in pressurized tanks. Think of the small tanks you see attached to a gas barbecue grill, for example. Propane takes up much less space in its liquid form. It is 270 times more compact in its liquid state than it is as a gas.

A thousand gallon tank holding gaseous propane would provide a family enough cooking fuel for one week. A thousand gallon tank holding liquid propane would provide enough cooking fuel for more than five years! When propane vapor (gas) is drawn from a tank, some of the liquid in he tank instantly vaporizes to replace the vapor that was removed.

Propane is nicknamed the portable gas because it is easier to store and ransport than natural gas, which requires pipelines. ike natural gas, propane is colorless and odorless. An odorant called ercaptan is added to propane (as it is to natural gas) to serve as a arning agent for escaping gas. And, like all fossil fuels, propane is a nonnewable energy source. We can’t make more propane in a short peiod of time.

History of Propane



Producing Propane

Propane comes from natural gas and petroleum wells. Forty-five percent of the propane used in the United States is extracted from raw natural gas. Raw natural gas contains about 90 percent methane, five percent propane, and five percent other gases. The propane is separated from the raw natural gas and the other gases at a natural gas processing plant.

Forty-five percent of the propane is extracted from crude petroleum. Petroleum is separated into its various products at a processing plant called a refinery. The other ten percent of the propane we use in the U.S. is imported from other countries, mostly from Canada and Mexico.

Transporting Propane




How Propane is Used



Homes and businesses use about one–third of the propane consumed in the U.S. Propane is used mostly in homes in rural areas that do not have natural gas service, as well as in manufactured (mobile) homes. Nearly 49 million households use propane to meet some of their energy needs. Nearly 6 million households use propane as their main heating source.

About one-fifth of mobile homes use propane for heating.


Propane dealers deliver propane to the residences in trucks, filling the tanks several times a year as needed. The average residential propane tank holds between 500 and1,000 gallons of liquid fuel.

Millions of backyard cooks use propane–powered gas grills for cooking. And recreational vehicles (RV’s) usually have propane-fueled appliances, giving them a portable source of energy for cooking, hot water, and refrigeration.


Approximately 40 percent of America’s farms—865,000—use propane to help meet their energy needs. Farmers use propane to dry crops such as corn, soybeans, grains, tobacco, apples, peanuts, and onions. Propane is also used to ripen fruit, heat water, and refrigerate foods.




Industry uses more than half of the propane consumed in the U.S. Some industries find propane well suited to their special needs. Metal workers use propane tanks to fuel their cutting torches and other equipment. Industries also use propane for soldering, vulcanizing, and other processes that need a ready heat source. More than 350,000 industrial sites use propane as fuel.

​Propane Today


About 90 percent of the propane used in this country is produced in the United States from petroleum and natural gas but, since we import two-thirds of the petroleum we use, more than 30 percent of the propane we produce here is made from imported fuel.

Propane and the Environment
