The widespread use of propane, a highly versatile and portable energy source, is due to the ingenuity of American chemist Dr. Walter O. Snelling in the early 20th century. Propane is a common household and industrial fuel, packaged in its liquid form for easy transport, and is a major component of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG). Snelling first isolated and identified the substance around 1910, solving a significant industrial problem and giving birth to an entirely new sector of the energy market.
Defining the Substance
Propane is a simple hydrocarbon molecule. It is naturally a gas at standard atmospheric pressure and temperature, but it is derived as a co-product of both the refining of crude oil and the processing of natural gas.
During the extraction of raw natural gas and petroleum, propane is separated from other hydrocarbon liquids like butane and ethane. The physical property that makes propane so useful is its low boiling point, approximately \(-42.1^{\circ}\text{C}\). This characteristic allows it to be easily liquefied under modest pressure. When propane is converted to its liquid state for storage, it becomes about 270 times more compact than its gaseous form, which makes its transportation and storage highly efficient.
Walter O. Snelling and the Discovery
The scientific breakthrough leading to the commercialization of propane began with a problem in the burgeoning automobile industry. In 1910, Dr. Walter O. Snelling, a chemist for the U.S. Bureau of Mines, was tasked with investigating “wild gasoline.” This highly volatile fuel contained lighter hydrocarbons that caused it to evaporate quickly and build up significant vapor pressure in storage containers. Snelling observed that the built-up pressure repeatedly forced the cork out of a sample jug.
Snelling realized the problem lay in the presence of these highly volatile components evaporating out of the liquid gasoline. He developed a laboratory apparatus to separate and distill these gaseous components, successfully isolating and identifying propane and butane. This isolation proved that these gases, previously considered a troublesome waste product, could be captured and used. Snelling’s foundational work led to his U.S. Patent No. 1,056,845, which was officially issued on March 25, 1913.
From Isolated Gas to Commercial Fuel
Snelling’s next step was to transition his laboratory discovery into a viable commercial product. By late 1911, he collaborated with Frank P. Peterson, Chester Kerr, and Arthur Kerr, who were also researching natural gas processes. Together, they focused on developing methods and equipment to compress the petroleum gases into a liquid state for safe and efficient storage and transport. This collaborative effort resulted in the incorporation of the American Gasol Company in November 1911, marking the world’s first commercial venture dedicated to marketing propane.
The term “Liquefied Petroleum Gas,” or LPG, was adopted to describe the fuel mixture, which primarily consisted of propane and butane. The company secured its first customer in May 1912, a homeowner who installed the system for lighting and cooking. Despite the initial technical success, the business side proved challenging, and Snelling eventually sold his key patent rights to Frank Phillips, the founder of Phillips Petroleum Company, for \(\\)50,000$ in 1913. This infusion of capital and industrial backing was instrumental in scaling up the production and distribution, cementing propane’s place as a widespread portable fuel source.