Editing Ethane (section)

==Usage==
The chief use of ethane is the production of [[ethylene]] (ethene) by [[steam cracking]]. Steam cracking of ethane is fairly selective for ethylene, while the steam cracking of heavier hydrocarbons yields a product mixture poorer in ethylene and richer in heavier [[alkene|alkenes (olefins)]], such as [[propene|propene (propylene)]] and [[butadiene]], and in [[aromatic hydrocarbon]]s.

Ethane has been investigated as a feedstock for other commodity chemicals. [[Oxidative]] chlorination of ethane has long appeared to be a potentially more economical route to [[vinyl chloride]] than ethylene chlorination. Many patent exist on this theme, but poor selectivity for [[vinyl chloride]] and [[Corrosion|corrosive]] reaction conditions have discouraged the commercialization of most of them. Presently, [[INEOS]] operates a 1000 t/a ([[tonnes]] per [[annum]]) ethane-to-vinyl chloride pilot plant at [[Wilhelmshaven]] in [[Germany]].

[[SABIC]] operates a 34,000 t/a plant at [[Yanbu]] to produce [[acetic acid]] by ethane oxidation.<ref name="SABIC-plant-launch">{{Cite web |title = SABIC's Acetic Acid Plant Comes on Stream |last = Ramkumar |first=K.S. |work = Arab News |date = 26 May 2005 |access-date = 4 July 2024 |url = https://www.arabnews.com/node/267532 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20130609063705/http://arabnews.com/node/267532 |archive-date=9 June 2013}}</ref> The economic viability of this process may rely on the low cost of ethane near Saudi oil fields, and it may not be competitive with [[methanol carbonylation]] elsewhere in the world.<ref name="Mizuno2009">{{cite book |editor-last=Mizuno |editor-first=Noritaka |last1=Cavani |first1=Fabrizio |last2=Ballarini |first2=Nicola |title=Modern Heterogeneous Oxidation Catalysis |publisher=Wiley |year=2009 |isbn=978-3-527-62755-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=66k5iyn9xmIC |access-date=4 July 2024 |page=291}}</ref>

Ethane can be used as a refrigerant in cryogenic refrigeration systems. 

===In the laboratory===
On a much smaller scale, in scientific research, liquid ethane is used to [[Cryopreservation#Vitrification|vitrify]] water-rich samples for [[cryo-electron microscopy]]. A thin film of water quickly immersed in liquid ethane at −150&nbsp;°C or colder freezes too quickly for water to crystallize. Slower freezing methods can generate cubic ice crystals, which can disrupt [[soft materials|soft structures]] by damaging the samples and reduce image quality by scattering the electron beam before it can reach the detector.