Oxygen concentrators
Just a heads up for people using oxygen concentrators, please as weather cools keep a window open or good ventilation as oxygen can build up in our Rvs This can cause a flash fire. Also we need to shu...
Forum Discussion
Stating the obvious, Fire is a rapid chemical reaction between oxygen and a flammable or combustible material that releases a lot of energy. Oxygen isn't normally considered flammable, but it must be present for burning of other materials to occur.
High oxygen concentrations above the 21% in air result in faster burning of flammable/combustible materials with very rapid energy release. The three astronauts were killed in the Apollo capsule because NASA was using 100% oxygen when the fire started, resulting in a very rapid, very hot fire.
After reading this Wikipedia article on Oxygen Concentrators, I don't see how the oxygen concentration of the air inside an RV can be increased, other than very locally near the person who is using the oxygen. There may be other types of oxygen concentrators, but the type described separates the oxygen from the nitrogen in the air, sends the oxygen to the person and vents the nitrogen back to the air. Any oxygen that the person doesn't breath in just mixes back with the vented nitrogen and the rest of the air in the RV.
High oxygen concentrations above the 21% in air result in faster burning of flammable/combustible materials with very rapid energy release. The three astronauts were killed in the Apollo capsule because NASA was using 100% oxygen when the fire started, resulting in a very rapid, very hot fire.
After reading this Wikipedia article on Oxygen Concentrators, I don't see how the oxygen concentration of the air inside an RV can be increased, other than very locally near the person who is using the oxygen. There may be other types of oxygen concentrators, but the type described separates the oxygen from the nitrogen in the air, sends the oxygen to the person and vents the nitrogen back to the air. Any oxygen that the person doesn't breath in just mixes back with the vented nitrogen and the rest of the air in the RV.
