Is there a difference between natural gas and propane gas?

Question

I'm a little confused. Other than one being kept in a tank and the other being piped in to the home, I thought they were the same gas. Now I'm not sure. I know that they put an additive in propane so you can smell it. Isn't that the same thing they do to natural gas?

Answer 1

Natural gas is mostly methane, CH4, with a little ethane, C2H6, and propane, C3H8, to boost the BTU's per cu ft up to what is expected in home and industrial use. Propane is a pure compound, C3H8, and that's what they sell in tanks for grills and mobile homes. Bututane, C4H10, is the light liquid floating around in lighters. Propane is actually liquid in tanks, because of the high pressure. Butane is also a liquid at high pressure. Companies put sulfur compounds called sulfides and mercaptans to make the gas "stink."

Answer 2

Natural gas is a gas at room temperature, however it is put under pressure and stored as a liquid in a tank. Natural gas is primarily methane(CH4) but includes quantities of ethane, butane, propane, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, helium and hydrogen sulfide. They put mercaptans, which are smelly sulfur containing organic compounds in natural gas to give it its smell.
Now propane contains 3 carbons and is also a gas at room temperature however it is a also put under pressure and stored as a liquid in a tank. A tank for a BBQ would be one example.
Propane also burns hotter than natural gas. This is mainly due to the fact that propane is a pure substance. Natural gas is a mixture of many different things therfore it will not burn as hot as propane. If it was pure methane it would burn hotter considering it has a higher bond dissociation energy as compared to propane.

Answer 3

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RE:
Is there a difference between natural gas and propane gas?
I'm a little confused. Other than one being kept in a tank and the other being piped in to the home, I thought they were the same gas. Now I'm not sure. I know that they put an additive in propane so you can smell it. Isn't that the same thing they do to natural gas?

Answer 4

Natural Gas Smell Additive

Answer 5

Propane is a by-product of natural gas processing when NatGas is refined. NatGas is mainly Methane. Propane is 1 of several components taken out of NatGas. The other components being butane and ethane. So the Gas warming your house is Methane. And the gas running the charcoal grill is propane.

Answer 6

Chemically, they are different compounds. Natural gas is primarily methane (CH4) while propane is C3H8. Natural gas usually does have an additive to give it an odor. Pure methane and pure propane have no odor naturally.

Answer 7

natural gas is generally a mixture of several short hydrocarbons (methane, ethane, propane) as well as a couple of contaminants. Its mostly methane (a 1 carbon hydrocarbon), but it differs from straight propane in that propane is just... propane, a 3 carbon hydrocarbon.

Answer 8

natural gas is methane (CH4), while propane is CH3CH2CH3. They only really differ by the length of the hydrocarbon chain.

BF
4th yr Chem Major
U of O (Canada)

PS
(hydrocarbon=chain of molecules of only carbon and hydrogen atoms)
Natural gas also does contain traces of some other gases (ethane, propane etc), but is primarily methane

Answer 9

Houston is correct.

I would only add that both are heavier than air and propane is a byproduct of oil refining to produce gasoline. For many years it was considered a waste product.

Answer 10

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Often called LP-gas or liquefied petroleum, propane is safe and non-toxic, and used for propane-fueled appliances, such as pool heaters, generators, and furnaces.