Butane, also known as n-Butane, is the un-branched alkane comprising of four carbon atoms. Butane is a collective term also used to define n-butane along with its only isomer isobutane. Isomers are isomerisation compounds showing similar orientation.
Butane is a highly flammable gas which can feasibly be liquefied. It is colourless and odourless. The last characteristic creates some problems, as it is highly inflammatory and cannot be detected on its own in the event of leakage. Hence butane in its liquefied form is mixed with odourants.
The name butane is derived from the roots -but and -ane.
Butane gas is effectively bottled and sold as a fuel for cooking and camping purposes. It is referred as LPG when it is fused with other hydrocarbons and propane. In fact, LPG marketed in winter is butane specific. (In summer they are propane specific). Butane is a top petrol component and is highly useful for the automotive industry as a facilitator of internal combustion engines. During the process of steam cracking, butane is utilised as feedstock for manufacturing base petrochemicals.
Butane finds great use as a fuel for cigarette lighters, and further as a propellant in aerosol sprays. Deodorant is an example of an aerosol spray.
In its purest forms, butane can be utilised as a refrigerant. This is truer for isobutane. In this regard, butane has taken over halomethanes in the same way as LPG has taken over chlorofluorocarbons. The purpose is simple - saving the ozone layer. Butanes are a strong presence in domestic refrigerators and freezers. Flammability of butane need not be a concern for such appliances. This is chiefly because the concentration of butane is not high enough to create a combustible combination with the air in the room. The pressure at which butane works is far lesser than what is required for halomethanes. R-12 is a halomethane used in the air-conditioners of vehicles. When converted to butane, it falls miserably short of optimal functioning capacity.
Direct inhalation of butane can cause asphyxiation if the concentration is beyond the safety-threshold. Apart from this, it can cause narcosis marked by dizziness and a sense of inebriation. It can also present with symptoms of euphoria and drowsiness. It is rare, but people who inhale butane are found to publicly express unfounded happiness with gestures of arms and legs. Butane can also lead to frost-bite and cardiac arrhythmia.
England has the dubious distinction of misusing Butane’s volatility. A statistical enquiry confirmed that butane is the cause of over half of the solvent deaths caused in UK. If butane is accidentally sprayed into the throat, it can cause laryngospasm by cooling the throat immediately to beneath 20 degrees centigrade, which is life-threatening.
For those with a technical bent, butane undergoes free radical chlorination creating compounds like 1-chloro and 2-chlorobutanes. This is apart from the other chlorinated derivatives that the process of chlorination gives rise to. Difference in Bond Dissociation Energy is responsible for different speeds at which chlorination is rendered.
In countries like India and Brazil, butane is fairly subsidised by the governments. There are various grants from the State for those below the levels of poverty.
