Walter O. Snelling

Infobox Scientist
name = Walter O. Snelling
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birth_date = December 13 1880
birth_place = Washington, D.C.
death_date = September 10 1965
death_place = Allentown, Pennsylvania
residence = United States
citizenship = United States
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field = Chemist
work_institutions = U.S. Bureau of Mines American Gasol
alma_mater = Harvard University Yale University George Washington University
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known_for = Discovery of propane
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prizes = Edward Longstreth Medal (1962)
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Walter Otheman Snelling (December 13, 1880 in Washington, D.C. - September 10, 1965 in Allentown, Pennsylvania) was a chemist and explosives expert who discovered propane and was a pioneer in the development of liquefied petroleum gas. He is often referred to as the founder of the LPG industry.

Snelling, a doctor of chemistry, studied at Harvard, Yale and George Washington University. In 1907, he invented an underwater detonator that was credited with saving the government $500,000 a year during the construction of the Panama Canal.Citation | title=The First Fifty Years of LP-Gas: An Industry Chronology | journal=LPGA Times | year=1962 | date=January, 1962 | url=http://www.npga.org/files/public/LPGA_Times_1962_History.pdf, Page 17.]

In 1908, Snelling moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to setup the office which would later become the U.S. Bureau of Mines. ["LPGA Times", Page 18.]

Discovery of propane

Propane was first identified as a volatile component in gasoline by Dr. Snelling in 1910. An automobile owner had walked into his laboratory, complaining that the gasoline he purchased was evaporating at "a rapid and expensive rate" and demanded that the government "look into the nature of these disappearing fumes."Page 17] In his laboratory, Snelling built a distilling apparatus to separate the "wild gasoline" into liquid and gaseous components. The volatility of these lighter hydrocarbons caused them to be known as "wild" because of the high vapor pressures of unrefined gasoline. On March 31 the "New York Times" reported on Dr. Snelling's work with liquefied gas and that "...a steel bottle will carry enough [gas] to light an ordinary home for three weeks." [cite web |title=GAS PLANT IN STEEL BOTTLE.; Dr. Snelling's Process Gives Month's Supply in Liquid Form. |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9C04E3DB1F31E233A25752C0A9629C946396D6CF|author=The New York Times April 1, 1912, Page 9 |accessdate=2008-09-24]

It was during this time that Dr. Snelling, in cooperation with Frank P. Peterson, Chester Kerr and Arthur Kerr, created ways to liquefy the liquified petroleum during the refining of natural gasoline. Together they established American Gasol Co., the first commercial marketer of propane. Dr. Snelling had produced relatively pure propane by 1911, and on March 25, 1913 his method of processing and producing liquified petroleum Gases was issued patent #1,056,845. [cite web |title=The History of Propane |url=http://www.npga.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=634 |author=National Propane Gas Association |accessdate=2008-09-24]

The first residential installation of a propane system took place in May, 1912 near Waterford, Pennsylvania in the home of John W. Garing, Snelling's father-in-law. ["LPGA Times", Page 19.]

In 1913, Snelling sold his propane patent for $50,000 to Frank Phillips, the founder of Phillips Petroleum.

The Franklin Institute awarded Dr. Snelling the Edward Longstreth Medal in 1962 for his work.

Personal life

In 1919, Snelling married Helen Marjorie Gahring (1901-1976) in Union City, Pennsylvania. The Snellings had seven children and lived their entire married lives in Allentown, Pennsylvania.Citation | last1=Whelan | first1=Frank | title=Laborers, scientist once resided in Allentown homes ** History of houses at 15th and Linden streets dates to 1890s. | newspaper=The Morning Call | pages=B.06 | year=2005 | date=December 21, 2005] Their son, Richard Arkwright Snelling, was the governor of Vermont.

References