Can lighter fluid be frozen?

Question

Can lighter fluid be frozen? I'm curious about the effects of freezing on lighter fluid and whether it remains effective after being frozen. Thanks in advance for your help!

Adeline Goyette · Accepted Answer

Lighter fluid in a grill lighter and disposable cigarette lighter is usually butane, while charcoal lighter fluid that comes in a can is typically a blend of liquid hydrocarbons.

Butane is a gas at room temperature and pressure, but it can be easily liquefied with a little pressure inside the body of the lighter (shake the lighter, and you will see the liquid butane sloshing around). To freeze it, one must lower the temperature to about -138 degrees Celsius! However, a lighter can slow down significantly even if the butane isn’t actually frozen. The vapor pressure of the liquid is a function of temperature. At 0 degrees Celsius (the freezing point of water), the pressure of vapor coming off the butane is only one atmosphere, so the butane gas does not have enough pressure to push itself out of the lighter! At -40 degrees, the pressure is even less—about one-sixth of an atmosphere.

Charcoal lighter fluid (similar to old-fashioned cigarette lighter liquid) does not rely on its gas vapor pressure to work inside a lighter (you pour it out of a can!), so it can still be used at quite low temperatures. A typical hydrocarbon, octane, freezes at around -57 degrees Celsius, hexane at -95 degrees Celsius, and decane at -30 degrees Celsius. Therefore, on the very coldest day you might ever encounter, the decane might start to freeze, but there is still plenty of liquid hydrocarbons left. It is unlikely you would be backyard barbecuing in weather cold enough to see the lighter fluid freeze!

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Hermina Ferry

Can lighter fluid be frozen?

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