The determination of burning velocity is very important for the calculations used in hazardous waste explosion protection and fuel tank venting, which has a direct impact on environmental protection. The scope of the present study encompass an extensive study to map the variations of the laminar burning velocity and the explosion index of LPG–air and propane–air mixtures over wide ranges of equivalence ratio (Φ = 0.7–2.2) and initial temperature (Ti = 295–400 K) and pressure (Pi = 50–400 kPa). For this purpose a cylindrical combustion bomb was developed. The reliability and accuracy of the built up facility together with the calculation algorithm are confirmed by comparing the values of the laminar burning velocity obtained for a standard fuel (propane at normal pressure normal temperature conditions, NPT) with those available in the literature. The burning velocity was determined using different models depending on the pressure history (P–t) of the central ignition combustion process at the minimum ignition energy.