Answer to Question #76949 in General Chemistry for am

Question

The leakage of LPG from its cylinder can be immediately detected. The process
which enables its easy detection is the same which enables survival of aquatic
organisms in water. What is the process?

Answer 1

LPG gas is basically propane and butane, and it is odorless in its natural state. The smell that you notice when there is a leak is actually the stench of an entirely different agent, called Ethyl Mercaptan. This substance is added to the gas when it leaves the main storage terminals.

Ethyl mercaptan is a strong smelling agent added to LPG cylinders to detect leakage.

As we all know, LPG is very dangerous, because if it leaks, it can cause terrible fires and devastating explosions. To avoid this, Ethyl Mercaptan is added to the gas, which possesses that strong odor of rotten cabbages. The smell helps us detect when there is a leak, which actually makes a lot of sense from a safety and security perspective. In fact, some people actually refer to the process of adding this foul-smelling substance as “stenching”.

For survival aquatic life needs oxygen. The amount of oxygen in water is very large and also the aquatic plants keep giving water oxygen which gets dissolved in water.