Why is propane supplied as a liquid for camping gas?

January 13, 2010 by admin · 4 Comments
Filed under: Chemistry 
camping
GrimLykReaper asked:

Propane has a boiling point of -47*C so why is it sometimes supplied as a liquid for use in camping stoves?

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4 Responses to “Why is propane supplied as a liquid for camping gas?”
  1. David P says:
    January 15, 2010 at 5:25 am

    It is supplied as a liquid because it take up a much smaller volume and hence is easier to transport in bottles. David P

  2. Bazza says:
    January 17, 2010 at 6:02 am

    Convenience. It also burns with a higher calorific value than butane. Bazza

  3. JLDLDJL says:
    January 17, 2010 at 11:33 am

    Propane is used instead of butane because it freezes at a lower temperature. Therefore it will revert to its gaseous state at lower temperatures than butane. Handy for winter or altitude use.
    The only practical way to transport and use propane or butane is to compress it to a liquid and store it in a suitable bottle or can.
    Propane also burns hotter than butane. JLDLDJL

  4. Trevor H says:
    January 18, 2010 at 8:40 pm

    I think that the other answerers are misinterpreting what you are asking. I think you are saying: If propane boils at -47°C how is it possible that it is sold as a liquid at room temperature – possibly 25°C. Surely at this tempertaure it should be a gas.

    The propane is a liquid because it is under pressure. The state of the propane – whether liquid or gaseous, is dependant on two factors: Temperature and pressure: If you wish to store propane as a liquid under 1 atmosphere pressure, you would have to cool it down to below -47°C. Not very convenient. But by compressing it to a not very high pressure, less than 10 atm, the propane is turned into a liquid and can be stored and transported as such at normal room temperature. When the pressure is released, by opening the valve on the gas bottle, the liquid instantly “boils” into a gas which is ignitable. In using the bottled liquefied gas, you bleed off the gas as required.
    This is a very convenient property of this alkane because it allows the transporting of the gas, which would take up a large volume if not liquefied.
    Lower alkanes such as methane would require much higher pressures to be liqefied, which is why it is not used for this purpose. Higher alkanes which we know, such as octane as an example, would be liquids at room tempertaure, but they are not very suitable as fuels because they do not form combustable mixtures with air unless some mechanical vapourisation is employed. Propane ( and butane) are ideal because they are easy to liquefy and evaporate to form combustible mixtures with air spontaneously. Trevor H

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