So, I actually learned something new within the last couple of days. It just goes to show that if you really don’t know something assuming that you do could get you in major trouble, especially if it’s in a risky behavior. If you’re not careful, your assumption could very well be your own undoing.
This is why for me, I never assume. Nothing stops me from asking questions from those who know more and getting clarification. I know that when I learn from them, I will never have to make assumptions about that particular thing, ever again. And that’s what happened this past week.
You see, my cooking gas ran out a few days ago and I had to fill it. However, I felt that the last one I bought didn’t last as long as I expected it to considering the way I had used it. Maybe I was cheated, or something. So, I decided to try out another gas plant in my area. This was going to be my first time buying from them, and I wanted to try them out.
So, I bought the gas from them and took it home. I fixed it to my cooker and tested it, it was perfect. However, I soon noticed that the gas had a particular odor, a slightly strong smell that I had not perceived from a cooking gas before. Usually, the smell is a mixture of sweet and sour, but this one was a bit conc, which was what got us to notice.
At first, I assumed that it was going to air out and leave. I was wrong. The smell hung in the air, spreading out into the rooms and living area. It was around then I started getting worried. This smell wasn’t normal and why was it still smelling everywhere? I became worried that I bought adulterated gas and it could pose a serious problem for me.
So the next day, yesterday, I took the gas to a different plant, the one where I usually go. I explained my situation to them and told them I was scared that the gas was adulterated. However, they debunked my fears. They told me that cooking gas has several kinds of smell, it all depends on what the manufacturers use to create the smell. He told me that there were some cooking gas with terrible odors and those with the sour smell that I was used to.
He went on to tell me ways to determine if my gas was adulterated. The one surefire way was the color of the flame. It’s supposed to be blue when turned on. However, if there is more yellow flame than blue, then the likelihood of the gas being adulterated is high. Also, if the flames keep surging and leaping like they want to spread, then the gas is faulty. However, the gas I bought was not doing any of that. When I turned it on, it was a normal and clean blue flame.
His words really calmed me, but there was also some bad news; I wasn’t supposed to smell the gas at all. The fact that I could smell it for long periods of time meant that there was something wrong with my cylinder. It could be leaking. I trusted everything the man said because, at that point, he had no reason to lie to me. I didn’t buy the gas from the plant, and I’m sure he could have lied that the gas was adulterated just to make me buy from them, but he didn’t. Instead of encouraging me to use it. I still have to change cylinders though, and they don’t sell them.
So, I took my cooking gas back home, laden with what I had learned. I didn’t stop there, I tried to do some research on the smell of gas. And I learned that cooking gas doesn’t have a distinct smell. Gasses like methane, butane, and propane, commonly used for cooking don’t have any smell in their usual state. They’re just like air and they can be all over the place and you’d have no idea.
So, the manufacturers decided to add the smell. The smell has been described to be as bad as rotten eggs, but it’s a safety mechanism. Making it a strong and terrible odor so that when you smell it, you know at once that there’s a leak. Although this smell is not always so strong, it does have a smell. Here in Nigeria, the smell is a bit sour. This is the first time I had come across such a smell.
And that, my friend, was what I learned today. I had no idea that LPGs had no smell and the smell was manually added by the manufacturers. I’m sure my chemistry teacher must have mentioned it back in secondary school, but I was probably not paying serious attention. Chemistry has never been my strongest suit.
So now, I’m planning to get a new cylinder, latest by tomorrow. And for now, there will be no flame or fire in my house. Until the issue with this leakage is fixed.
As Reacher would say, “Assumptions Kill.”
