Natural Gas has no innate odor, color, or taste; therefore, odorization is one of the most important aspects to safely transporting natural gas to customers in a distribution system. As demand for natural gas rises as does the technology involved in odorization.
The first odorization occurred in Germany in the 1880s by a German scientist as a means of detecting leaking blue water gas. Fragmented and unregulated odorization of natural gas continued in the United States throughout the early 20th century until tragedy struck in in 1937 in New London, TX. An undetected gas leak at the New London School caused an explosion that completely leveled the school and ultimately killed over 300 people. As a result of this tragedy, the Texas legislature immediately moved to make the odorization of natural gas mandatory. Soon regulation spread across the entire United States. For this reason, it is important that we understand the tremendous responsibility of knowing and implementing the odorization process.