Your intuition is clearly correct…it is one thing to compress it to a liquid another to super critical, my intuition suggests radical changes in N2 solubility at triple point.
Your question about compressing butane with N2 gas to “liquid” state will most certainly produce a solution of N2 IN BUTANE liquid state. FYI, that solution will not exhibit the phase diagram features
Noted above.
If you want to compress butane to liquid how about a refrigeration unit capable of handling butane as a refrigerant and a complete c1d1 approved piping system and electric wiring.
Thumper’s comment deserves special attention if you continue pressurizing with N2.
If you have ever seen anyone
exit a room after a propane explosion, well, think grilled chicken, on a grill that was way too hot: blackened and separated skin chunks dripping fat. You may also find the subject matter of “detonation” interesting.
Your intuition is serving you well.
I’m confused so your saying I’d get nitrogen mixed in with my liquid butane and this is hazardous ?
That’s not how that works. Nitrogen is an inert gas in how we use it
Inert Gas:
An inert gas is a gas that does not undergo chemical reactions under a set of given conditions. The noble gases often do not react with many substances and were historically referred to as the inert gases. Inert gases are used generally to avoid unwanted chemical reactions degrading a sample.
He’s not wrong though. It’s really not relevant but there will be some gaseous N2 in solution in the liquid. However, the vapor pressure of N2 is so much higher than butane that there’d be very very little.
To the OP: raising the pressure via N2 will allow the butane to condense at a higher temperature. It will take nearly the same amount of btus to condense but it will be easier to provide those btus at said higher temperature. In fact, if the liquid is already cooled before pressure is increased, the sensible heat may assist in condensing some of that butane (not very much though).
Thanks for the info guys, greatly appreciate the help
wouldn’t it take a dangerous amount of nitrogen vapors to condense hot butane to a liquid?
Yes. Definitely yes lol
Yeah if it’s not clear, you ALWAYS need to remove heat from the system to condense. Phase change takes energy. No way around that
so let’s don’t confuse the OP. please God don’t try this!
it’s only used to push a liquid phase butane around in our systems
I do not know how you interpret my statement concerning N2 solubility as meaning “hazardous”.
My comment about hazard was in reference to Thumpers point, concerning the added N2 vapor pressure in tank if tank gets warm.
If it cracks the butane tank, the N2 escapes and the butane will ultimately boil out into your room and mix with O2 in air. That is all.
The later is the situation that might lead to flash over and possible detonation.
Has anyone here cracked a butane tank this way?
I have seen a tank cracked in this manner.
Nitrogen gas is not a subzero substance, it’s just inert gas. The ice/dry ice is condensing the butane is my understanding. The nitrogen gas doesn’t just “push” the n butane but also the subzero temperature that the n butane is holding.
The reason for the nitrogen assist is because n butane has no pressure in a tank that is submerged in dry ice.
Thanks for the input . So nitrogen isn’t safe unless your butane is chilled enough ? I chill my butane but I still get some pressure( butane gas) in my collection . ( my collection is just chilled with ice and water) I was wondering if I used nitrogen would the head pressures condense the butane gas in my collection so I don’t have to bleed it off into the atmosphere. I thought cyclopath implied this would work , but clearly ur saying it won’t , still pretty confused on the topic to be honest
Your system is not rated for the pressure required to condense on its own. It will require thermal help
It’s not that hard to do all of this, but this seems beyond you…
Shouldn’t it just blow out of my prv if the tank pressures rise ? Obviously would like to avoid the whole situation all together tho .
In my mind I thought 65-70 psi on the nitrogen regulator would be enough to condense what ever gas are stuck in my system . Assuming I’m incorrect? How much pressure would it take ? ( not that I would ever let my system go above the pressures mentioned above )
So saying I would need to remove the heat created by the phase change or else I would need higher and higher pressures until I eventually reached a unsafe amount of pressure necessary to condense the butane ? I run everything in ice or dry ice but I still get pressure from butane gas .
It will not. Keep in mind you will never condense ALL or even most of the gas unless you raise it to a pressure where the boiling point is below ambient temperature. And even then it will take time unless you’re way above.
Gotta switch to dry ice or a chiller for good rates. Also look into a jacketed collection, a sous vide, a stainless magnetic driven pond pump, fittings and hoses. Or if you want you could just do the poor mans jacket like I posted before, which is drilling 1/2" holes into a homer bucket (and/or appropriate size bucket to fit your collection) and then adding washers, shut-offs and quick connects. … Vapor generation is important not just chilling capacity.
I freeze my tank in dry ice. But when it hits my collection and my crc ( sometimes my material column if not cold enough ) I get some gas pressures that build up to the point where they drastically slow or completely halt the flow rate of the liquid tane filling my collection . To combat this I will bleed off the gas into the atmosphere . Was hoping the nitrogen push would be enough to condense these gasses back to liquid . Honestly I’m Only slightly less confused as when I made the thread tho lol . I appreciate everyone’s input tho 
Did you watch the OSS demo?