When I would take my SCUBA tanks in for refil, they would always place the tank in a tub of cool water while they were filling it to keep the heat of compression down.  Wouldn't hurt for home fillers to do the same.
BTW - I would always walk to the other end of the shop while they were filling my tank, just in case it blew!

Lettucehead wrote on Aug 24^th, 2010 at 2:17pm:

Oxygen doesn't burn so your story doesn't ring quite true.

                    Potter

Having responded to a number of house fires, both fatal and otherwise, my guess is she fell asleep smoking, while on 02. So instead of the usual slow burn smolder, death by smoke inhalation, everything else burns in the resulting fire fires, which claim many elderly smokers.......she had the roman candle, oxygen fed, smoke in bed fire!!!!

Just an educated guess....which makes it ring true to me.

Joe

No doubt it's a really stupid thing to do. Clothing, skin, hair, upholstery, carpet, wood structure - it's all fuel. And when you introduce pure O2 into the equation, it's a recipe for disaster.

Just ask Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee (oh, wait. you can't). It was the disaster on the launch pad of Apollo I that NASA learned what a bad idea it is to pressurize a space capsule with pure O2.

Guiseppi wrote on Aug 24^th, 2010 at 5:48pm:

Even worse, I'm sure, in real life.

Potter wrote on Aug 24^th, 2010 at 4:13pm:

Actually, her story rings absolutely true, except for the misstatement that the "O2 caught on fire".  True, O2 doesn't actually burn, but the end result is pretty much the same.

Oxygen doesn't "burn", but bedding, plastic tubing & masks, and the tissue in your trachea and lungs does, and in a pure O2 atmosphere, will burn like a pile of matchheads.  Even the cigarette smoke is a highly flammable gas when mixed with pure O2 - not to mention the plastic vapors given off once a fire starts.

Medical O2 is involved in about 1200 burns and 46 fatalities a year, with 3/4 of the fires caused by smoking.  Smoking while using O2 is stupid beyond description.

OK, O2 is a wonder drug for aborting CH, but downplaying the danger of unsafe use is not doing anyone a favor.

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Regards,
Jim

Kilowatt3 wrote on Aug 25^th, 2010 at 7:57pm:

I'm having trouble finding where anyone downplayed the danger of unsafe use of O2 in this thread.

Brew wrote on Aug 25^th, 2010 at 8:33pm:

Whether it's intentional or not, comments like "Oxygen doesn't burn so your story doesn't ring quite true" and "There had to be more to it - ...oxygen is not a fuel" DO downplay the dangers.

A lot of people will read these statements and, due to a poor understanding of the chemistry involved, will conclude that since oxygen "doesn't burn", it's not dangerous.  They will use this to rationalize smoking while on O2, and some, sooner or later, will be horribly burned or killed as a result.

The comment, "...oxygen is not a fuel. It's more like a catalyst. When introduced to combustion, it will speed the reaction, but it doesn't burn in the absence of fuel" is meaningless, since no one has EVER used medical oxygen "in the absence of fuel".  As I said before, bedding, plastic tubing & masks, and the tissue in your trachea and lungs ARE fuel, and in a pure O2 atmosphere, will burn violently.  I failed to mention your hair and skin, whatever reading materials you might have in the bed, and the paint on the walls.

BTW - Oxygen is an oxidizer.  It is not even remotely "like a catalyst" in a fire.

I'm not suggesting that you shouldn't use O2 to abort a CH, or for any other legitimate medical use, but disregarding the risks, using it carelessly, and particularly, smoking while using it is downright suicidal.  You shouldn't even smoke in the same house where O2 is in use, ever.  You don't have to take my word for it - just go down to your local burn ward, plastic surgeon, or coroner's office and ask around.

Regards,
Jim

Many years ago at university I saw a demonstration done where a slice of bread was dipped into liquid oxygen and then ignited. It burned incredibly well, so much so that you got nothing left.

The lecturer then took another slice, soaked it in liquid oxygen and put it into a toaster which was then turned on. The result was a partially molten toaster.

The lecturer did a few other things to really show you how potentially safe looking things could turn rather nasty if you weren't careful. As you can imagine, people were rather careful in the labs after seeing this live demonstration.