On 12/12/2020 18:55, polygonum_on_google wrote:
On Saturday, 12 December 2020 at 18:29:44 UTC, NY wrote:


I may be wrong but I'd have thought there was a lot more risk of fumes with
a barbecue because the fuel probably burns less efficiently than gas (the
ratio of fuel to air is not precisely controlled) and there will be fumes
from fat dropping onto the fuel.

most of the danger will be from carbon monoxide, much of this produced
from the glowing bed of charcoal gets oxidized in the little blue flames
above the coals but cooling excess air from the sides quenches the
reaction so CO is driven off. In a closed unventilated room the char
consumes much of the oxygen and as the CO2 in the room increases it
gets reduced to CO and anyone sleeping in the room turns lobster pink.

Natural gas is premixed with air before it meets the air and so that
bright blue cone ensures negligible CO is produced.

The burning fat is more implicated in long term increased risk from
cancer from polycliclic aromatic compounds in the products of incomplete
combustion.

Snipped

I'd say never, ever, burn a barbecue indoors.

+1


If a competent commercial organisation designs, tests, makes, tests, fits, tests, every day tests, then, just maybe.

pigs might...


Otherwise, never. Too many stores of things like a charcoal burning device, even when apparently no longer burning, actually producing copious amounts of carbon monoxide.


Yes, I'm not sure of the mechanism but essentially once charcoal reaches
about 200C there is enough energy to dissociate an oxygen molecule on
the hot surface it then combines with the carbon. Then there is an
equilibrium which means CO and CO2 are both produced depending on the
conditions. If there is a high temperature and oxygen is limited CO is
favoured, low temperature and high oxygen CO2 is favoured but a lot of
heat is produced so there is a feedback working here.