General Information:

C₄H₁₀, also know as n-Butane (Bu·tane - byoo-teyn), the "n" standing for normal, is a colorless, odorless, and highly flammable hydrocarbon. A hydrocarbon is a molecule that only contains carbon atoms and hydrogen atoms. C₄H₁₀ is an linear alkane, meaning it has a straight chain (as can be seen to the right). C₄H₁₀ is fully hydrogenated, meaning that no spot is left empty without hydrogen. Butane can be found in natural gas and crude oil. Butane can be separated from other, lower boiling components of natural gas, by absorption in a light oil. Butane is formed by catalytic cracking and other means of refinery. Catalytic cracking is the reduction of the molecular weight of hydrocarbons by a catalyst, accomplished in a petroleum refinery by a type of chemical reactor. Simply this means: the process by which complex hydrocarbons are broken down to form simple molecules by the breaking of Carbon-Carbon bonds. The combustion of Butane in a oxygen rich setting forms CO₂ and H₂O: 2 C₄H₁₀ (g) + 13 O₂ (g) → 8 CO₂ (g) + 10 H₂O (g)

Uses:

•     Cigarette and candle lighters use liquid butane as a fuel
•     Sold as bottled fuels for camping and cooking
•     Butane is often blended with propane to form LPG (liquefied petroleum gas). They are combined because Propane can release more energy       than Butane. Butane contains a property that makes it liquefy, very quickly, when under pressure. This property is useful because when released in air and reacted with ignition source, it becomes a very flammable gas
•     Very pure forms of butane can be used to make refrigerants
•     Butane can be used to help create synthetic rubber
•     Butane can be used to increase volatility in gasoline in cold climates
•     Butane can be used as a calibration gas for temperature and pressure gauges

History:

    The first lighter was invented in 1823 by German chemist Johann Wolfgang Döbereiner. Although this first lighter did not use butane, the lighter is a crucial invention in the history of butane. Natural gas is composed of several gases, butane being one of them. Natural gas was first collected in China in 900 B.C. from wells; the gas was burned and used to evaporate water from salt water to produce salt. By the first century, the Chinese had honed their gas collecting techniques by using metal bits attached to hollowed out bamboo sticks to draw the gas out. The first time natural gas was used in the United States was by William Hart, in 1821. William drilled into a shallow pocket of natural gas and directed it towards a building using hollowed out logs. He then burned the natural gas for illumination. William then went on to create the first natural gas company in the United States, and by 1872 ran a 25 mile gas pipe. Since 1821, there are now over 600 natural gas processing plants in the United States.

    LPG was first used in 1860 as a portable fuel source, although the practical and widespread use of LPG came around the 1940's. It was used primarily to deliver gas to rural areas where natural gas lines are not available. The main components of LPG, propane and butane, contain more heat per cubic foot than natural gas, and is therefore a practical fuel. LPG costs about $1.25 - $2.00 per gallon.

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