Have you ever wondered what it is they put in propane fuel that smells so bad?  Well, yours truely has done all the research you need on the subject and I’m here to share it with you right now.

Chemically speaking it’s a combination of a Thiol group and a Ethyl group.  Ethyl groups are groups that have multiple Carbon atoms, while the Thiol groups have Sulphur atoms.  It’s quite easy if you do a bit of study.  You see the Ethyl compound is stated as CH3CH2, clearly two atoms of Carbon (C) and 5 atoms of Hydrogen (H) and the Thiol group is simply one atom of Sulpher and one atom of Hydrogen or SH…combine the two and you have the existence of some very stinky stuff CH3CH2SH.

Now I’m not a chemist but in my little pea brain I can not seem to understand why those little C’s and H’s don’t get together and make the whole thing C2H6S, that seems like it would stink even more than CH3CH2SH.  I mean sound it out:

CHCHSHHHHHH  vs CUHUSSSSSSS  The later sound just sounds more smelly to me.  Maybe I’m a little hard of hearing, but it just does sound more smelly.  And if you were to be attempting to hook up your BBQ to the propane tank and you kept smelling that nasty odor time after time of trying to get it connected without any leaks, you would be cussing up a storm, right!  That would be smelly!  Now look again at the sounds…which is closest to “cussing”?  Of course, CuHuSSSSSS (cussssss).

Ok, I’ve kept you in suspense long enough, the word for the additive that smells so bad that they add to propane and other odorless gases is called Ethyl Mercaptan:  Ethyl = Ethyl Group, Mercaptan = Thiol Group.

In my extensive research, I also found where the Guiness Book of World Records lists Ethyl Mercaptan as the “foulest smelling substance in the world”.  I suppose it could be, but have you ever smelled yourself after a “you know” while wearing chest waders?  I guess the Guiness folks would have had to of been there.

Ethyl Mercaptan, that’s what you are smelling, not propane, it don’t stink.

Bears Butt

May 18, 2012