LPG Boilers – Energy Efficient LPG Boiler and Tank Installers
By Rob Hull on July 23, 2010
LPG or “Liquified Petroleum Gas” is a natural hydrocarbon fuel composed of propane and butane gases produced by the refinement of crude oil.
It is so called because the gases liquify at only moderate pressure, which means that the fuel can be stored and transported conveniently in concentrated liquid form. LPG is also 250 times denser as a liquid than as a gas, so a relatively large quantity of fuel can be stored in a small space. LPG is also renowned for its clean burning characteristics; fewer components mean that it is easier to achieve the fuel to air ratio that allows LPG to burn completely. The presence of allowable unsaturated hydrocarbons in the mixture may, however, affect other characteristics such as corrosiveness.
LPG boilers are available ready built or can be adapted from standard natural gas boilers by installing an LPG conversion kit. LPG boilers require smaller main burner jets than a gas boiler because LPG is supplied at higher pressure that the standard mains supply. The running costs of LPG boilers – which can be up to 90% energy efficient – are not dissimilar to those of oil boilers and, like oil boilers, LPG boilers require a storage tank and a fuel feed. LPG boilers can be supplied by a central or individual bulk storage tank – typically with a capacity of between 1,000 and 2,000 litres and refilled periodically by tanker – or from smaller cylinders or bottles which can be taken away and replaced when empty.