Which additive is used to give natural gas its rotten egg odor?

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Multiple Choice

Which additive is used to give natural gas its rotten egg odor?

Natural gas has no smell, so an odorant is added to make leaks easy to detect. The best choice is mercaptan because these sulfur-containing compounds have an extremely low odor threshold, giving a strong rotten-egg smell even in very small amounts. They mix well with gas, remain stable in the pipeline, and are safe enough at the tiny concentrations used for odorization, making leaks noticeable without altering the gas’s performance. Ethanol wouldn’t serve as a reliable odorant in gas, chlorine would introduce toxic hazards, and propane is another fuel gas, not an odorant.

Natural gas has no smell, so an odorant is added to make leaks easy to detect. The best choice is mercaptan because these sulfur-containing compounds have an extremely low odor threshold, giving a strong rotten-egg smell even in very small amounts. They mix well with gas, remain stable in the pipeline, and are safe enough at the tiny concentrations used for odorization, making leaks noticeable without altering the gas’s performance.

Ethanol wouldn’t serve as a reliable odorant in gas, chlorine would introduce toxic hazards, and propane is another fuel gas, not an odorant.

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