Isobutane properties

The properties of butane and isobutane have been summarized ia Table 5 and iaclude physical, chemical, and thermodynamic constants, and temperature-dependent parameters. Graphs of several physical properties as functions of temperature have been pubUshed (17) and thermodynamic properties have been tabulated as functions of temperature (12). 

Alkylate. Alkylation means the chemical combination of isobutane with any one or a combination of propylene, butylenes, and amylenes to produce a mixture of highly branched paraffins that have high antiknock properties with good stabiUty. These reactions are cataly2ed by strong acids such as sulfuric or hydrofluoric acid and have been studied extensively (98—103). In the United States mostly butylenes and propylene are used as the olefins. 

Beginning with the fourth alkane, butane, we find we can draw a structural formula of a compound with four atoms and ten hydrogen atoms in two ways the first is as the normal butane exists and the second is as follows, with the name isobutane (refer to Table 1 for properties). 

Like propane, butanes are obtained from natural gas liquids and from refinery gas streams. The C4 acyclic paraffin consists of two isomers n-butane and isobutane (2-methylpropane). The physical as well as the chemical properties of the two isomers are quite different due to structural differences, for example, the vapor pressure (Reid method) for n-butane is 52 Ib/in., while it is 71 Ib/in. for isobutane. This makes the former a more favorable gasoline additive to adjust its vapor pressure. However, this use is declining in the United States due to new regulations that reduce the volatility of gasolines to 9 psi, primarily by removing butane. ... 

Constitutional isomerism is not limited to alkanes—it occurs widely throughout organic chemistry. Constitutional isomers may have different carbon skeletons (as in isobutane and butane), different functional groups (as in ethanol and dimethyl ether), or different locations of a functional group along the chain (as in isopropylamine and propylamine). Regardless of the reason for the isomerism, constitutional isomers are always different compounds with different properties, but with the same formula. 

The paraffin hydrocarbon containing four carbon atoms is called butane, but two 4-carbon (C4) paraffins are possible. The butane with its carbons in a line is known as normal butane or n-butane. The branched chain butane is isobutane or i-butane. Although each compound has the formula C4H10, they have different properties for example, n-butane boils at -0.5°C while isobutane boils at -11.7°C. n-Butane and i-butane are isomers of each other. The straight-chain paraffin is always called the normal form. 

Transport properties have been studied before and after Si deposition using a rig similar to the one for catalytic testings (Figure 2). Pure gas permeabilities (H2, He, N2, normal and isobutane) were studied by measuring the flux passing though the membrane as a function of temperature and pressure for a constant transmembrane differential pressure (no sweep gas). 

This contribution is an in-depth review of chemical and technological aspects of the alkylation of isobutane with lightalkenes, focused on the mechanisms operative with both liquid and solid acid catalysts. The differences in importance of the individual mechanistic steps are discussed in terms of the physical-chemical properties of specific catalysts. The impact of important process parameters on alkylation performance is deduced from the mechanism. The established industrial processes based on the application of liquid acids and recent process developments involving solid acid catalysts are described briefly. 2004 Elsevier Inc. 

With propene, n-butene, and n-pentene, the alkanes formed are propane, n-butane, and n-pentane (plus isopentane), respectively. The production of considerable amounts of light -alkanes is a disadvantage of this reaction route. Furthermore, the yield of the desired alkylate is reduced relative to isobutane and alkene consumption (8). For example, propene alkylation with HF can give more than 15 vol% yield of propane (21). Aluminum chloride-ether complexes also catalyze self-alkylation. However, when acidity is moderated with metal chlorides, the self-alkylation activity is drastically reduced. Intuitively, the formation of isobutylene via proton transfer from an isobutyl cation should be more pronounced at a weaker acidity, but the opposite has been found (92). Other properties besides acidity may contribute to the self-alkylation activity. Earlier publications concerned with zeolites claimed this mechanism to be a source of hydrogen for saturating cracking products or dimerization products (69,93). However, as shown in reaction (10), only the feed alkene will be saturated, and dehydrogenation does not take place. 

A variety of solid acids besides zeolites have been tested as alkylation catalysts. Sulfated zirconia and related materials have drawn considerable attention because of what was initially thought to be their superacidic nature and their well-demonstrated ability to isomerize short linear alkanes at temperatures below 423 K. Corma et al. (188) compared sulfated zirconia and zeolite BEA at reaction temperatures of 273 and 323 K in isobutane/2-butene alkylation. While BEA catalyzed mainly dimerization at 273 K, the sulfated zirconia exhibited a high selectivity to TMPs. At 323 K, on the other hand, zeolite BEA produced more TMPs than sulfated zirconia, which under these conditions produced mainly cracked products with 65 wt% selectivity. The TMP/DMH ratio was always higher for the sulfated zirconia sample. These distinctive differences in the product distribution were attributed to the much stronger acid sites in sulfated zirconia than in zeolite BEA, but today one would question this suggestion because of evidence that the sulfated zirconia catalyst is not strongly acidic, being active for alkane isomerization because of a combination of acidic character and redox properties that help initiate hydrocarbon conversions (189). The time-on-stream behavior was more favorable for BEA, which deactivated at a lower rate than sulfated zirconia. Whether differences in the adsorption of the feed and product molecules influenced the performance was not discussed. 

J.A. (1998) Influence of the activation temperature on the physical properties and catalytic activity of La-X zeolites for isobutane/n-butene alkylation. Micropor. Mesopor. Mater., 22, 379-388. 

Having set out the properties of tantalum and zirconium hydride toward C-H bond activation of alkanes we now describe the catalytic hydrogenolysis of C-C bonds. It was previously shown in the laboratory that supported-hydrides of group 4 metals, and particularly of zirconium, catalyze the hydrogenolysis of alkanes [21] and even polyethylene [5] into an ultimate composition of methane and ethane. However, to our initial surprise, these zirconium hydrides did not cleave ethane. (=SiO)2Ta-H also catalyzes the hydrogenolysis of acyclic alkanes such as propane, butane, isobutane and neopentane. But, unlike the group 4 metals, it can also cleave ethane [10], Figure 3.7 illustrates this difference of behavior between (=SiO)2Ta(H) and [(=SiO)(4.j,)Zr(H) ], x= or 2). With Ta, propane is completely transformed into methane by successive reactions, while with Zr only equimolar amounts of methane and ethane are obtained. 

Eoams were extruded from low density polyethylene (LDPE) and blends of LDPE with syndiotactic polypropylene (sPP), using isobutane as the blowing agent. The extruded materials were characterised by measurement of dimensional stability at room temperature, density, tensile properties, dynamic stiffness, and crystallinity determined by differential scanning calorimetry. The sPP, with a slow crystallisation rate, did not interfere with the expansion of the LDPE, and enhanced the temperature resistance by in-situ crystallisation. The blends were flexible, dimensionally... 

The results are reported of a study of the effect of several glycerol ester ageing modifiers used to regulate the isobutane/air interchange on the properties of extended LDPE foams. Properties investigated included dimensional stability, electrostatic decay and mb-off of excess wax at the surface of the foam. Comparisons are made with the non-glyceride modifier, stearamide. 4refs. USA... 

Disclosed is an ethylene polymer foam structure having enhanced processing and physical properties. The foam structure comprises an ethylenic polymer material and a blowing agent of isobutane and 1,1-difluoroethane. Further disclosed is a process for making the foam structure. 

These comprise an ethylenic polymer and a blowing agent, which contains a primary blowing agent of isobutane and a secondary blowing agent of 1,1,1-trifluoroethane, 1,1,12-tetrafluoroethane or a blend thereof. They exhibit enhanced processing and physical properties. 

This second branched molecule is called isobutane. Compounds sharing the same molecular formula but having different structures are called structural isomers. Normal butane and isobutane have different physical properties. The number of structural isomers for the alkanes is included in Table 15.1. It can be seen in this table that as the number of carbon atoms increases that the number of possible isomers also increases. The fact that numerous isomers exist for most organic compounds is another reason why there are so many organic compounds. 

Organic compounds show a widespread occurrence of isomers, which are compounds having the same molecular formula but different structural formulas, and therefore possessing different properties. This phenomenon of isomerism is exemplified by isobutane and -butane [Fig. l-l(a) and (b)]. The number of isomers increases as the number of atoms in the organic molecule increases. 

When two different compounds have the same molecular formula but differ in the nature or sequence of bonding, they are called constitutional isomers. For example, ethanol and dimethylether have same molecular formula, C2HgO, but they differ in the sequence of bonding. Similarly, butane and isobutane are two constitutional isomers. Constitutional isomers generally have different physical and chemical properties. 

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