Page 172 - Encyclopedia of Chemical Compounds 3 Vols

BUTANE

Interesting Facts

• Some people have used that is propelled by
butane as a recreational pressurized butane gas.
drug, inhaling it to get The butane thruster was
‘‘high.’’ The practice is built for $15,000 and was
extremely dangerous, launched aboard a Russian
however, and has led some Cosmos spacecraft in June
users to die of asphyxiation 2000.
(suffocation).
• Contact with liquid butane
• Researchers at Surrey or LPG can cause frostbite,
Satellite Technology, Ltd. for which first aid involves
in the United Kingdom washing with cold water.
have built a small satellite
the size of a soccer ball

hydrocarbon mixture cools, liquid butane can be removed before
any other components liquefy. In actual practice, liquid butane
and propane are removed together, leaving behind only ethane
and methane. The mixture of liquid butane and propane is known
as liquid petroleum gas (LPG). Since propane and butane have
many similar properties, there is often no commercial reason to
go to the expense of separating them from each other. LPG is
typically stored above or below ground in large, insulated con-
tainers and shipped in insulated trucks or rail cars.

COMMON USES AND POTENTIAL HAZARDS
Butane, in both gaseous and liquid form, is widely used
as a fuel. Because it is easily stored and transported in small
containers, it is used as a fuel for backpacking stoves, small
space heaters, and portable torches. Butane is also the fuel
most commonly used in cigarette lighters. It may be used in
its pure form or in combination with propane as liquefied
petroleum gas (LPG). Butane is also used as a fuel for larger
household and industrial operations.
In terms of volume, one of the major uses of butane is in
the synthesis of other organic compounds, especially synthetic
rubber and high-octane liquid fuels used in aviation. The gas

CHEMICAL COMPOUNDS 121