Propane in
Our Daily Life
Sometimes
it is quite interesting when studying chemistry especially the topic about the
family in organic chemistry. When we talk about ‘family’, homologous series
will always first come to our minds. Alkane, the most basic chemical family
among the hydrocarbon chemicals, consists of ethane, methane, propane, butane,
hexane, heptane, octane, nonane, decane and many others to mention and all of
them have carbon-carbon single bond, which mean they are saturated hydrocarbon
too.
Among the ‘siblings’
in alkane family, we are going to focus on more propane, C₃H₈. Propane is the
third chemical in alkane family, made up of 3 carbon atoms and 8 hydrogen
atoms. It has low boiling point (-42°C) and melting point (-188°C), thus, it exists as
colourless gas at room temperature with faint petroleum-like odor. Same as
other alkane chemicals, it can undergo combustion reaction with the presence of
oxygen to produce carbon dioxide water and about 50MJ/kg of heat under proper
combustion. We learned a lot of these facts from our lecturers or teachers at
schools during chemistry classes. However, have you ever wonder what are the
uses of propane in our daily life?
The main benefit of propane is it act
as fuel. It is known as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)
or propane autogas. As mentioned above, propane can undergo combustion reaction
and at the same time, it produces high-energy density, clean-burning qualities
and its relatively lower cost. Besides, it presents no threat to the soil,
surface water and underground water. That’s why propane becomes as an
alternative fuel in our daily life. In fact, it is the world’s third most
common transportation fuel.
On the other hand, do you know that
propane is also used in our houses too? Indeed, it has other uses in households
rather than alternative motor fuel. For example, it is used to heat the water
so that we are able to enjoy the hot shower in the bathroom; it acts as fuel
for the stoves when we cook; it is used in the clothes dryers which is more
efficient and cut the drying time in half. Nevertheless, compared with vehicles
which fueled by conventional diesel and gasoline, vehicles which use propane as
fuel produce lower amounts of some harmful air pollutants and greenhouse gases.
However, due to propane gas is denser
than air, it brings hazardous too. If propane gas is leaked, the gas will have
a tendency to sink in an enclosed area and thus poses a risk of explosion and
fire. Moreover, the gas when abused as an inhalant, may cause hypoxia (lack
of oxygen) to human.
In the nutshell, whenever you talk
about fuel, think about propane. It becomes more and more useful and important
for us.
