isobutane

1 6.5

A gas that is colorless and can catch fire, used as a fuel and in refrigerators and spray cans

noun
/ˌaɪsoʊˈbjuːteɪn/

Specialized

: isobutano

Refrigerators often utilize isobutane as a refrigerant due to its low environmental impact.
isobutane and propane
isobutane and butane
isobutane fuel

Examples

Actually, butane is blended into gasoline, and isobutane is used in alkylate units to produce high-octane alkylate, which is also blended into gasoline.

Blog text (22)
During camping trips, many people prefer canisters that contain isobutane for their portable stoves.
The cycle shown in Figure 3 uses isobutane as the binary heat transfer fluid.

Academic text (1994)
In Switzerland, 50 percent of residential heat pumps currently run on propane, and in Germany nearly 100 percent of refrigerator/freezers run on isobutane.

Academic text (2007)
For purposes of comparison, R-134a has a GWP of about 1,300, while that of the hydrocarbon refrigerant isobutane is about 11.

Academic text (1998)
Considering that R-134a has only about one-fifth of the GWP of R-12, the contribution to TEWI of using either R-134a or isobutane makes a difference of only 1 percent over the lifetime of the refrigerator.

Academic text (1998)
To efficiently cook outdoors, we use a portable stove that runs on isobutane as fuel.

Surface Forms

isobutane singular

isobutanes plural

Morphology

isobutane = butane (semi-transparent) = iso + butane

Formed from the chemical combining form 'iso-' + 'butane'; the compound clearly indicates a kind of butane but the precise structural/chemical meaning of 'iso-' is technical.

Etymology

Isobutane begins with the prefix iso-, from Greek meaning 'equal' or 'same', and ends with butane, a four-carbon gas. The iso- part tells chemists this is a special, slightly different shape of butane, so isobutane is a particular type of butane used as a fuel and refrigerant.