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I use methane gas for cooking and there are times in which, despite burners being clean, the flame doesn't burn that well and/or is quite red. I suspect that said gas actually has some air added in, either intentionally as a fraud or not, and would like to test for its purity. Are there any ways I'd check this?

Thank you

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    $\begingroup$ Difficult at home, without a GC MS. And the responsible people at your gas supplier would be criminally liable if they mixed in anything. Unlikely, I´d say. $\endgroup$
    – Karl
    Jan 30, 2020 at 21:52
  • $\begingroup$ Pipe line gas , delivered to a home ? Depends where and when to speculate on other stuff may be present. Ethane is probably not unusual . It would increase the heating value so air may be added to keep a constant BTU/ Volume ( usually the basis for billing) , depending where you are /what the rules are. I think you need to know what may be in it to analyse for it. $\endgroup$
    – blacksmith37
    Jan 30, 2020 at 22:23
  • $\begingroup$ And it likely contains a ppm +/- of mercaptan for smell depending where you are. $\endgroup$
    – blacksmith37
    Jan 30, 2020 at 22:25
  • $\begingroup$ Btw. gas does contain quite an amount of nitrogen, carbon dioxide, etc., around ten percent. Varied with ethane content, to keep the energy content per volume constant afaik. $\endgroup$
    – Karl
    Jan 31, 2020 at 4:55
  • $\begingroup$ During my time of doing Work-Study Chemistry, We have used a bubbler through which a vacuum pump pulled the gas through a solvent, the impurities would then be examined throughout the solvent. Similar in nature to an acetone wash, however, it is done with a molecule in gas format. $\endgroup$
    – Mena Poonaki
    Feb 1, 2020 at 1:41

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