Propane v LPG

[Pam]

Sorry if this has been asked before I have searched here but no luck so far.
Is there any difference in using LPG instead of propane on a dual fuel torch? If so which is better?
Many thanks.
Pam

[mizgeorge]

I thought propane was LPG?

[Lakelady]

I think LPG is a mixture of propane and butane...

[Kalorlo]

LPG = liquefied petroleum gas and covers propane, butane and mixes of the two.

[Maja]

Just put it in wikipedia as I had no idea which is which and here goes:
Liquefied petroleum gas, also called LPG, GPL, LP Gas, liquid propane gas or simply propane, is a flammable mixture of hydrocarbon gases.
So, I thought - yey - got it! And then it got complicated:
Varieties of LPG bought and sold include mixes that are primarily propane (C3H8), primarily butane (C4H10) and, most commonly, mixes including both propane and butane.
Any people with good knowledge of chemistry. And what is MAPP gas (if you can get any anywhere)?

[ScarletLeonard]

Well I was about to answer but heather beat me too it.

Some people will say that certain mixes are cleaner but you may as well just use propane. I;ve also seen Natural Gas mentioned on the american lampwork forums but propane is much easier to get hold of.

and Maja -  methylacetylene-propadiene propane = MAPP it;s just a branded chemical composition.
methylacetylene is safer for the compressed container than acetylene, basically it was developed for welders because an oxyacetylene torch wasn't practical if you needed to move around a lot.

/chemistry lesson.

B&Q did stop selling mapp for a while but i think they got it back in, but failing that welding shops.

[Pam]

So I guess I can use either!

[stuwaudby]

LPG is a generic term for hydrocarbon gas which can be stored as a liquid under pressure. Only butane and propane are liquid at reasonable enough pressures to use. The pressure of butane drops off rapidly below zero degrees C so it is not practical to use in the UK. If you have a UK LPG tank it will most probably be Propane. There is a chance that the gas has been crudely distilled at the refinery and will contain some butane but this will not affect your flame.

So - Bulk LPG will be perfect for bead making. The challenge and cost will be getting your supplier to fit a special pressure regulator, relief valve and the pipework to deliver the gas at 1-2 bar.

[Redhotsal]

They use LPG in Murano which gives a lovely soft bushy flame. This is one of the reasons that they can do sculpture so well there. (The other reason is that most of them have way more skill than me at sculpture  ) As Stuwaudby says - it is probably a different mix here in the UK but there's no reason why you can't use it.

Mapp gas is what the hothead was desinged to run on. It burns a little hotter than propane alone. I understand that it is readily available in the States which is why US people can happily run their hotheads on bulk Mapp but you can only buy it here in 1kg canisters from either Germany or America and it's really expensive because of that.

[Bluebottle]

Just for interest I googled Mapp gas and it appears to be widely available from various hardware and tool suppliers at prices from about £8--£15 plus delivery, but not available in bulk as far as I can see, however there doesn't appear to be much advantage to be gained from the extra temperature, it will make very little difference to normal hothead operation and won't give the temperature required to work Boro and if you use it with a duel fuel torch again not much advantage as the oxgen will give you the temperature boost for Boro................

Mike    

[Redhotsal]

Agree with you Mike. At the 1kg canister stage there is a big difference between using Mapp and Propane but there isn't a huge difference to the hothead going from Mapp Canister (1kg) to Propane bulk (big orange tank).
I was always told that they don't use Acetylene in the US and that's why they use bulk Mapp but I don't know how accurate that is.