How flammable is a tank of oxygen?

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asked Jul 13, 2019 in Science by Apekdechomai (310 points)
How flammable is a tank of oxygen?

1 Answer

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answered Jul 14, 2019 by Larry S (42,350 points)
The oxygen itself is not flammable so the tank of oxygen would not be flammable at all.

However what happens with the oxygen when it gets a fire going is that if you're smoking while on oxygen or near a flame while on oxygen then the tank of oxygen can fuel the fire.

Fire needs oxygen to burn and the more oxygen the fire has the bigger and faster the fire spreads due to that increase in oxygen.

So if you're smoking and on oxygen and your hoses should leak while you're smoking then that oxygen can help the fire get bigger and then cause you to burn yourself badly or your house could burn down as a result.

You should never smoke while on oxygen or be near flames just in case the hoses on the oxygen tank leaks.

The oxygen itself will not cause you to burst into flames while smoking unless the hoses leak and it gets near the flame then it would fuel the fire.

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