ASME-Landmark:Meter-Type Gas Odorizer

The meter-type gas odorizer was developed in 1937, just a few months after 294 school children and adults died in a natural gas explosion in a New London, Texas, school on March 18, 1937. The Texas legislature responded by requiring natural gas to be odorized so that leaks would be apparent. By the end of World War II, natural gas had established a reputation as a safe fuel largely because of odorizers.

Initial designs of gas odorizers used the evaporation principal for introducing odors into a gas stream and most were marginally ineffective due to fluctuating flow and pressure. Peerless Manufacturing created an odorizer that used a residence-type iron case gas meter, modified to drive a dipper-type pump. The complete assembly was enclosed within a pressure vessel at line operating pressure. Odorant was introduced in a measured amount, remaining proportional over a wide range of flow rates and pressure changes up to 50 percent.

The landmark odorizer is an early Type M gas odorizer, Serial No. 2105, created by Alexander Clarke and Peerless founder Don A. Sillers. The patent was filed June 18, 1939, and granted (2,240,808) on May 6, 1941. The Type M odorizer established itself as a dependable, long-lasting safety device. This particular unit operated from 1942 to 1992, serving 25 years without maintenance, continually injecting a precise amount of pungent liquid into the gas flow. See ASME website for more information