Hi Group, first post here, long time TBNer and a propane quality question

[johneic]

First off I would like to say that I found this group about five months ago and found so many great ideas I starting reading from page one, I am now up to page 428, just over halfway to the end which is page 802 currently. I joined TBN six years ago and starting living rural nine years ago.

I just started using propane four years ago and recently heard of propane quality being manipulated by the selling propane company. I understand some propane is 95%+ pure where others is only 20-50% pure propane with the other percentage(s) being butane and other burnable gases. I have always bought the lowest price propane which I just paid $1.12 for, the two other companies are charging $1.40. I realize there is an axiom of you get what you pay for but is this true with propane, does paying more necessarily mean a higher quality?

I run a brand new furnace, brand new water heater, four year old hardly used unvented "blue flame" space heater and I have my barely used 4,400 watt generator plumbed into the big tank., all else is electric.

So my question: Is there a way for the buyer to know if they are receiving quality or inferior propane?

 

[k0ua]

First off I would like to say that I found this group about five months ago and found so many great ideas I starting reading from page one, I am now up to page 428, just over halfway to the end which is page 802 currently. I joined TBN six years ago and starting living rural nine years ago.

I just started using propane four years ago and recently heard of propane quality being manipulated by the selling propane company. I understand some propane is 95%+ pure where others is only 20-50% pure propane with the other percentage(s) being butane and other burnable gases. I have always bought the lowest price propane which I just paid $1.12 for, the two other companies are charging $1.40. I realize there is an axiom of you get what you pay for but is this true with propane, does paying more necessarily mean a higher quality?

I run a brand new furnace, brand new water heater, four year old hardly used unvented "blue flame" space heater and I have my barely used 4,400 watt generator plumbed into the big tank., all else is electric.

So my question: Is there a way for the buyer to know if they are receiving quality or inferior propane?

I have never heard of "inferior" propane. but what I have heard of is the further south you go, they mix more butane with the propane as it is a heavier molecule and boils at a higher temprature with 4 carbon atoms instead of the 3 that propane has. The further north, you want less or no butane so it will boil in their low air temperatures. I could be wrong about this, as I have zero qualifications in this field, but this is what I think is correct.

As far as I know the local suppliers provide the mix of gases that is appropriate for your region.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I have never heard of "inferior" propane. but what I have heard of is the further south you go, they mix more butane with the propane as it is a heavier molecule and boils at a higher temprature with 4 carbon atoms instead of the 3 that propane has. The further north, you want less or no butane so it will boil in their low air temperatures. I could be wrong about this, as I have zero qualifications in this field, but this is what I think is correct.

As far as I know the local suppliers provide the mix of gases that is appropriate for your region.

I think you are correct James. In northern La. you get about 90% butane or more and just a bit of propane added in the winter. I can remember when I was a kid, butane trucks would have a separate small tank of propane that they would add a bit in winter and non in summer. We didn't need the low boiling point and as far as burning, it all burned with a blue flame when the air mixture was set right. I really haven't dealt with it since I got my own houses which all were/are total electric.

 

[k0ua]

I think you are correct James. In northern La. you get about 90% butane or more and just a bit of propane added in the winter. I can remember when I was a kid, butane trucks would have a separate small tank of propane that they would add a bit in winter and non in summer. We didn't need the low boiling point and as far as burning, it all burned with a blue flame when the air mixture was set right. I really haven't dealt with it since I got my own houses which all were/are total electric.

Hopefully some of the guys that work in this field will comment on this. I know we have a couple that make their living in the industry. But what I stated and you confirmed is what I have always thought how it worked.

 

[hosspuller]

While butane boils at a higher temp and lower pressure than propane... It also has higher BTU content per gallon than propane. (Lower BTU per pound) Since most is sold by the gallon, one gets more energy with more butane than propane.
http://www.altenergy.com/Downloads/PDF_Public/PropDataPDF.PDF

The simplest route is to ask for the BTU content from the propane supplier.

 

[Egon]

It's all about the specs the refinery has contracted for and what's in the feed stock it's getting. There are sub forms of butane which affect the distilling process and may lead to missing the desired specs.

 

[scott_vt]

Hopefully some of the guys that work in this field will comment on this. I know we have a couple that make their living in the industry. But what I stated and you confirmed is what I have always thought how it worked.

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I delivered propane for awhile in my second career, and you know more about the product than I do !

 

[crreed67]

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Wonder who James is?

 

[scott_vt]

Good Morning crreed67,
Sorry James is a ham operator, and that's code, for good morning James ! :")

 

[k0ua]

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Wonder who James is?

Thats me!

Hi Scotty, de K0UA