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n-Butane (C4H10) is a colorless gas that, unlike the first three alkanes, is very soluble in water. The principal raw materials for its production are petroleum and liquefied natural gas. It forms an explosive and flammable mixture with air at low concentrations. Its main uses in industry are as a raw material in the production of butadiene and acetic acid. It is also used as a domestic fuel, as a gasoline blending component, as a solvent and as a refrigerant.

Butane is a major constituent of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and as such, it is increasingly stored in liquefied form at low temperatures in specially adapted natural underground caverns. Its physical characteristics are listed below:

Molecular weight: 58.12Critical temperature: 425.16 K
Melting point: 134.82 KCritical pressure: 3.796 MPa
Normal boiling point: 272.66 KCritical density: 225.3 kg/m³
Normal vapor density:2.59 kg/m³ (@ 0°C, 101.3 kPa)

Table 1. n-Butane, Values of thermophysical properties of the saturated liquid and vapor The values of thermophysical properties have been obtained from reference [1].

REFERENCES

Beaton, C. F. and Hewitt, G. F. (1989) Physical Property Data for the Design Engineer, Hemisphere Publishing Corp., New York.

References

  1. Beaton, C. F. and Hewitt, G. F. (1989) Physical Property Data for the Design Engineer, Hemisphere Publishing Corp., New York.
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