To have thought carbon monoxide has a smell?!

Yes @Aghhhk if it uses gas there's a risk of carbon monoxide. Everyone with a gas supply or solid fuel burner in their home should have a CO monitor. Landlords here are legally required to ensure rented properties have CO alarms in every room with a fixed combustion appliance.

Any gas supply or open fire in your home needs CO detector as blocked chimneys or gas appliances not burning correctly can cause CO

In that case you need a CO detector in your home. Preferably hooked up to the mains, but get 2 if battery operated

Carbon monoxide is a byproduct, it’s not something that’s intended to happen so how on earth would they give it a smell? We’re not making it. It’s not something we have agency over.

As to where the smell from gas goes, so why doesn’t carbon monoxide smell - the state of the natural gas is changed when we use it, so the smell wouldn’t stick around. Think of it as food smelling different after you cook it.

When we use natural gas for fuel, it meets oxygen and creates carbon dioxide and water. Carbon Monoxide happens by dangerous accident when there is incomplete combustion, meaning the meeting of the oxygen and the natural gas goes wrong and we end up with carbon MONoxide, as in one oxygen, instead of carbon DIoxide as in two oxygens.

So, normally we have natural gas -CH4, which is one carbon and 4 hydrogens. CHHHH.

When using natural gas, we have CHHHH and oxygen - O2. OO, and to burn successfully it needs twice as much oxygen, so that’s 2 O2. OOOO.

So the total elements involved if you just lay them all out are CHHHHOOOO.

In normal gas use, we get left with
Carbon dioxide: CO2, or COO, and 2 lots of water: H2O, H2O. Or HHO HHO. Job done, all elements accounted for. All safe.

If the adding up of all the elements doesn’t happen properly then that’s when we get carbon monoxide. The oxygen doesn’t properly attach to the carbon creating CO instead of COO, and that’s what is harmful.

I remember reading about a couple who, because it was raining, cooked a meal inside their tent with a disposable barbecue.

Their bodies were found by fellow campers who were concerned that they did not appear the next day. The inquest found carbon monoxide poisoning.

It is dangerous if it ignites! CO has no smell and you can't add a smell as it's a byproduct rather than piped gas which is a product

Clearly having the nickname "the silent killer" hasn't made it obvious enough

@Aghhhk are you Philomena Cunk? As you are definitely coming across that way 😂

Just been teaching this to year 11.

Odorless, colourless, completely undetectable unless you have an alarm. You can’t add a smell to it as it’s not supposed to be there - it’s made by burning carbon/hydrocarbon fuels in insufficient oxygen. In the UK it’s usually a dodgy boiler, in some countries it can be poorly maintained oil generators, or burning coals in closed spaces without ventilation.

Incomplete combustion also forms soot so black marks or yellow flames are indicative of a risk of CO. (But ok with adequate ventilation don’t panic about your candles).

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zq3797h/revision/5

In what context have you come across carbon monoxide without being aware that it doesn't have a smell?

Unless you're some kind of scientist or chemistry teacher surely the only time you ever hear of it is when someone dies by it or you're advised to get a detector because of how lethal it and odourless it is

Carbon monoxide will kill you or make you very ill.
Gas will cause explosions.
they are both dangerous

Also s byproduct of fermentation. It will sit as a layer at the bottom of a vat. After pumping out, the first thing inside needs to be a CO monitor.

This is why following safety SOP’s that seem ridiculous is so important. Our wine industry knew and had procedures but still someone thought “she’ll be right “ and that was the last thought he had.

Nope.

The gas that is piped into houses is dangerous - if it leaks out unburned there can be a huge explosion killing lots of people. Most gas ovens now have safety features where the device detects that the gas is being burned and shuts off the gas supply if not, but older ovens don't. If enough gas has built up in a room that you can smell the gas smell additive then a spark from switching on a light can ignite it and cause a fire ball.

In normal combustion, hydrocarbons burn with oxygen to make CO² (carbon dioxide) and water H²O, and the smelly gas additive is burned away so that your house doesn't stink. If a gas appliance is faulty and there's not enough oxygen, the hydrocarbons still burn but CO (carbon monoxide) is made instead of CO² and if that builds up undetected everyone in the house just gets really sleepy and dies in their sleep. Get a Carbon monoxide detector.

Be safe, buy a carbon monoxide detector.

Methyl mercaptan is added to natural gas to give it a smell so you can detect it.

No! It’s usually a fault with your boiler. If you’re getting heating and hot water why would you suspect carbon monoxide? It also comes from pollution, living near a busy road or airport and even from smoking.

Carbon monoxide leaks occur when faulty gas appliances don't burn methane properly and it comes in to your house instead of going out the flu. This can be caused by a blockage like an insect nest.

Google is your friend here.
https://www.health.state.mn.us/communities/environment/air/toxins/index.html

But my simplistic understanding is that it isn't the gas that is powering the fire, carbon monoxide is produced BY the burning. It also occurs with non gas fires.
It's why you charcoal bbqs have warnings on to not cook on them inside your house, or to bring them inside a tent while camping.

But most importantly, you should 100% have a carbon monixide alarm in your home, don't worry if you don't understand, buy it anyway!

If the flame is orange in the gas hob/flame, there's carbon monoxide being produced. You can't see or smell the cm gas though.

How are you going to add a smell to a byproduct of burning?

That's like trying to add salt to your chips after you've eaten them..

Get a carbon monoxide alarm.. today!

Well they add a smell to gas because it is dangerous if there's a leak and something ignites it.

Carbon monoxide occurs when there's been incomplete combustion of a carbon based fuel....normally burning makes CO2 (carbon dioxide. If there's poor ventilation and not enough oxygen it makes carbon monoxide instead which is deadly to us. Think poorly maintained boiler, smouldering barbecue in a contained space like a tent etc.

It kills because it bonds to the haemoglobin in our blood and prevents us absorbing oxygen...which is why blue lips is a sign.