The sweet smell of Diesel fumes ???

[Klaus]

I often wondered - why do the exhaust fumes from most diesel cars have a sort of sweet smell?
Maybe my sense of smell is warped. I did have a diesel car until recently and noticed it also.
Is this to do with the "bio" content? Having to wait next to Diesel cars it's quite noticeable.

 

[vernon]

I reckon that you are sniffing the exhausts of cars using biodiesel.

Conventional diesel fumes are vile smelling.

 

[Archie_tect]

The chip oil bio diesel ones make me feel hungry... if only they had a vinegar additive...

 

[XmisterIS]

I have a diesel car and it smells foul. Not sweet at all!

 

[vernon]

Chip fat is the answer!

 

[mcshroom]

My diseasel car's fumes definitely smelled better on 100% biodiesel. Shame I can't get any of the stuff up here

 

[Globalti]

Diesel fumes like most kinds of smoke are pretty complex chemically. The sharp fatty smell is aldehydes, which are found in citrus oil (think of the dry fatty smell you get from orange peel) but there are all kinds of other molecules floating around there as well. Don't inhale too deeply, the particles from modern diesels are very small and will penetrate the linings of your lungs very readily.

 

[Klaus]

Diesel fumes like most kinds of smoke are pretty complex chemically. The sharp fatty smell is aldehydes, which are found in citrus oil (think of the dry fatty smell you get from orange peel) but there are all kinds of other molecules floating around there as well. Don't inhale too deeply, the particles from modern diesels are very small and will penetrate the linings of your lungs very readily.

Thanks for the warning - I try get through the lghts before they are on red but today every traffic light jumped to red on my approach. I don't see diesel advertised as "bio". Is it just that the fuel companies just using this as opposed to the "smokey" one. Certainly HGV exhausts are quite putrid .....

 

[Globalti]

Currently regular diesel has 10% bio diesel content.

 

[Night Train]

I much prefer the smell of diesel to petrol exhaust.

Sweet smelling petrol is usually running rich though.

 

[Riding in Circles]

It is the anti foaming agent. Next!

 

[Chromatic]

Diesel fumes like most kinds of smoke are pretty complex chemically. The sharp fatty smell is aldehydes, which are found in citrus oil (think of the dry fatty smell you get from orange peel) but there are all kinds of other molecules floating around there as well. Don't inhale too deeply, the particles from modern diesels are very small and will penetrate the linings of your lungs very readily.

I've often wondered how the motor industry get away with this, if you were exposed to something like this in the work place from some process or another then there would likely be all sorts of H&S rules concerning safety eqpt to be used and procedures to be followed and I'm sure you wouldn't be allowed to just pump out any amount of the stuff into the atmosphere willy nilly.

Are modern cars fitted with anything to minimise these emissions?

 

[Night Train]

I've often wondered how the motor industry get away with this, if you were exposed to something like this in the work place from some process or another then there would likely be all sorts of H&S rules concerning safety eqpt to be used and procedures to be followed and I'm sure you wouldn't be allowed to just pump out any amount of the stuff into the atmosphere willy nilly.

Are modern cars fitted with anything to minimise these emissions?

If cars were a new invention they wouldn't be allowed.

The industry is trying. Trucks are subject to much more severe controls then cars and so the modern ones have much cleaner exhaust then cars do.

I saw a Euro 6 bus the other day, it was running on natural and bio gas.

 

[Beardie]

Anyone who has encountered propane-fueled forklifts will know that their smell is positively sickly-sweet. Don't know whether it is the exhaust, or leaked propane.

 

[Chromatic]

If cars were a new invention they wouldn't be allowed.

The industry is trying. Trucks are subject to much more severe controls then cars and so the modern ones have much cleaner exhaust then cars do.

I saw a Euro 6 bus the other day, it was running on natural and bio gas.

I must admit I have recently noticed far fewer instances of clouds of smoke pouring from exhausts as drivers of diesels floor it to accelerate quickly.
And now you mention it, truck exhausts do seem to be much cleaner than some have been in the past.