There are a lot of smart people who have never dealt with oxygen, all shouting with one voice, saying that if there is a drop of oil somewhere, then in combination with pure oxygen an explosion or spontaneous combustion and fire will definitely occur. No one, of course, has ever seen anything like this, but everyone claims it.
The theory of their myth can be understood: type oxygen is the strongest oxidizing agent and in combination with hydrocarbons (which make up the oil), it oxidizes them, releasing a huge amount of heat.
Rumors are rumors. Well, let's check it out.
Let's check the myth: will oil catch fire from oxygen?
We take a gas cutter, open the oxygen supply and stick it into an oiled rag.
Nothing happened!
We simplify the task by adding gasoline. Now we have an oil-gasoline rag in front of us. There is no better environment for fire.
We also place a burner on it with a supply of pure oxygen.
And again nothing happens!
We bring the lighter to the burner, making sure that oxygen is coming out and not gas.
Q.E.D.
But if you first light a rag and then fan the embers with oxygen.
There will be a result, but in fact they could have been inflated with breathing anyway.
The result is this:
Oil does not ignite due to oxygen!
Spontaneous combustion is possible only in two cases:
- When oil and oxygen are under high pressure (diesel engine effect).
- Or when the oil is heated to a very high temperature, the auto-ignition temperature. Although under such conditions the oxygen contained in the air would be sufficient.
Watch the video
The video contains some strong language, so be warned.
