What is LPG? What are some services provided by LPG Companies?
You may have come across gas companies or seen their company’s logo around. For example, in Singapore, 2 very known companies are Yew Lee Heng and UnionGas and we are sure that you might come across their company stickers maybe on coffee shop tables or seen their lorry around that transport LPG cylinders. Well so what is LPG you may ask? LPG stands for Liquefied Petroleum Gas. It consists of propane and butane gas. They are both flammable hydrocarbon gases that are used for LPG heating, vehicles and cooking.
As Liquefied Petroleum Gas is a mouthful to say, it is normally referred to by its acronym, LPG, it is basically a mixture of flammable hydrocarbon gases which include propane, isobutane and butane. The common uses includes home uses such as heating gas, cooking, providing hot water and autogas which means fuel for cars or auto vehicles that move.
As it is a fossil fuel, it comes from oil and gas wells. Its manufacturing process includes crude oil refinery and natural gas processing. It is liquefied through pressurisation.
What Is LPG Made Of?
LPG can be known as either liquid petroleum gas or liquefied petroleum gas, it is denoted as just propane or butane. It is made up of carbon and hydrogen atoms which form propane and butane while natural gas is made of lighter methane. Liquid petroleum gas is made up of a group of flammable hydrocarbon gases that go through pressurisation to be liquefied and is commonly used as fuel. Liquefied petroleum gas is usually stored in steel vessels that can range from small gas bottles to bigger gas cylinders and tanks.
Regular liquid petroleum gas products have heating fuel gases which are propane and butane and they are seen as natural gas liquids. It is important to note that not all natural gas liquids are liquid petroleum gas.
What are natural gas liquids?
As raw natural gas comes out of the ground, it contains many types of fuel gases and compounds as well as impurities. It is mostly methane gas which is commonly known as natural gas. The gas has to be processed in order to obtain pipeline quality clean and dry natural gas which includes the removal of all impurities. Natural gas liquid consists of isobutane, ethane, propene, propane, butane and many other gases.
How is LPG refined from oil and natural gas?
Well as we now know that liquid petroleum gas is produced during natural gas processing and petroleum refining. The process involves separation and collection of the gas from petroleum. The gas that is isolated from the hydrocarbon mixtures by separation from the natural gas or by refining the crude oil is known as liquid petroleum gas. The process for both begins similarly by drilling oil wells. The mixture of gas and oil is later piped out into a gas trap which then separates the stream into crude oil and gas which contains liquid petroleum gas and natural gas. During this process the crude oil that is heavier sinks to the base of the trap and is later pumped out into an oil storage tank for refining. The crude oil will undergo multiple varieties of refining processes which includes catalytic cracking and crude distillation and many others. One of the products that is refined is liquid petroleum gas.
The natural gas is then distributed to gas utility companies that then distribute it among the towns and cities.
Liquid petroleum gas is used in your homes for cooking, air conditioning refrigerant and any back up generator appliances. It is also used for leisure activities as well such as boats, recreational vehicles, camping and hot air balloons. Many businesses and industries use liquid petroleum for various purposes such as steam boilers and ovens. Heating of greenhouses, producing of crops and drying, keeping animal enclosures heated are some of the possible agricultural applications that have the use of liquid petroleum gases. Liquid petroleum gas is also mainly used for vehicles which are known as autogas. Liquefied petroleum gas can be propane or propane mixed with butane to fuel many different types of vehicles.
LPG fuel more than just a single gas
There are many different gases that are under the liquid petroleum gas fuel category. The common liquid petroleum gas products include butane, propane and isobutane as well as mixtures of the gases mentioned above.
Transportation of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG)
For it to remain as a gas or liquid, it has to be stored under a certain amount of pressure in gas tubes and cylinders and wider LPG storage vessels. As liquid petroleum gas in a gas state has a volume that is 270 times as compared to being in a liquid state, it is almost constantly shipped in a liquid state. There are multiple ways of transporting LPG such as :
-Cars
-Rail
-Cylinder trucks
-Pipelines
-Municipal gas reticulation facilities
Most homeowners just swap their LPG cylinders as it is easier for example for a barbeque, most people just bring their emptied out cylinders to the store for it to be swapped or refilled.
Storing of liquefied petroleum gas
At low pressures, liquid petroleum gas is compressed into a liquid and is then stored in cylinders, tanks and gas bottles that have been specifically designed to contain it. They are usually made of steel to withstand the pressure. Storing liquified petroleum gas wrongly can cause massive damages hence we highly recommend that you do not just go for cheap LPG cylinders but instead, high quality and known brands that produce these cylinders.
Storing Liquid Petroleum Gas in cylinders
Below is a table with standard gas cylinders sizes
Propane Gas Cylinder Sizes | 45kgPropane Gas Cylinder | 90kgPropane Gas Cylinder | 210kgPropane GasCylinder |
Diameter | 375mm | 510mm | 765mm |
Height | 1250mm | 1380mm | 1460mm |
Capacity | 88L | 176L | 411L |
Weight (empty) | 33kg | 65kg | 140kg |
Full weight | 78kg | 155kg | 350kg |
Energy | 2205MJ | 4410MJ | 10,290MJ |
LPG safety tips
Here are some tips and precautions that we highly encourage to be taken when handling liquid petroleum gas.Tanks, bottles and cylinders that contain liquid petroleum gas are usually safe to use as long as they are used in the way that they were meant to be used. We highly encourage you to read and follow the label of the manufacturer’s safety guidelines carefully to prevent anything from going wrong.
LPG Gas Services
In Singapore there are many companies that provide LPG gas supply service. Their services includes:
- Installing of LPG piping system
- Licensing of storage of LPG and regulation
- Certification for stringent safety
- Repair and maintenance work for LPG system
- Consultation
- Emergency team standby at all times
- Island wide delivery
It is good to have knowledge about LPG as LPG cylinders are constantly in use. Do follow all safety regulations and requirements and do your research before anything. Do not do anything that might harm you or cause serious damage. Always consult the experts. We hope this article has helped you to clear any doubts that you might have had and given you more information about liquid petroleum gas.

Author: kalidas bharathi
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