A gas heater in a poorly ventilated room burns natural gas with a limited supply of air. Which pair of products of this incomplete combustion makes the heat...
Question 1 Report
A gas heater in a poorly ventilated room burns natural gas with a limited supply of air. Which pair of products of this incomplete combustion makes the heater dangerous?
Answer Details
With a limited air supply the carbon in the natural gas cannot be fully oxidised, so incomplete combustion produces carbon monoxide together with unburnt carbon as soot, and this is the pair that makes the heater dangerous. Carbon monoxide is colourless and has no smell, and it binds to haemoglobin in the blood more strongly than oxygen does, so it stops the blood carrying oxygen and can kill without warning. Soot blocks the burner and blackens surfaces, and it also signals that the flame is burning inefficiently.
Carbon dioxide and water are the products of complete combustion in plenty of air, which is the safe outcome, not the hazard. Nitrogen and argon are unreactive components of air and are not products. Hydrogen and oxygen are not formed when a hydrocarbon burns.
A yellow, sooty flame is the visible warning sign.
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