Is a tank flammable?

[ScubaMan2025]

Hey all

Well, so I am living in some college dorms and I walked by on of the directors of the dormoritories as I was carrying a SCUBA tank. She approached me and told me that I wasnt allowed to have the tank in my room because it is a fire hazard. She said that the tank was flammable and could be a potential hazard towards myself and others. This isnt the really big tanks, its just a smaller one, with the normal mixture of oxygen in it. Is this true? If so, what is the temperature required to cause the tank to explode?. Thanks guys!

-ScubaMan2025-

 

[Rick Murchison]

Hey all

Well, so I am living in some college dorms and I walked by on of the directors of the dormoritories as I was carrying a SCUBA tank. She approached me and told me that I wasnt allowed to have the tank in my room because it is a fire hazard. She said that the tank was flammable and could be a potential hazard towards myself and others. This isnt the really big tanks, its just a smaller one, with the normal mixture of oxygen in it. Is this true? If so, what is the temperature required to cause the tank to explode?. Thanks guys!

-ScubaMan2025-

Your dorm director is an i.... - ahem... - is mistaken... And so long as the tank is reasonably full, it will never explode in a fire, but rather the burst disk will blow and release the pressure. Or you can store it near empty, in whcih case it'll never explode either.

 

[MSilvia]

In a fire, I'd expect the overpressure relief disk to blow (if it has one), but the tank shouldn't explode if you only have air in it. Your resident director may be... misinformed.

 

[H2Andy]

she's misinformed

good luck convincing her of that

 

[OE2X]

If you have 100% O2 in your tank then she is right that it is a potential fire hazzard. Since you likely have air or 21% then it's no more flammable than the stuff you are breathing right now.

Rick is also correct. The tank won't explode in a fire...

Have her look at this thread.

 

[Kaiser442]

...Your resident director may be... misinformed.

They usually are.

She was probably thinking of an oxygen tank. The air in a regular scuba tank isn't any more likely to catch on fire than...well... the air.

 

[dlndavid]

you learn something new everyday.

 

[MSilvia]

She was probably thinking of an oxygen tank.

Almost certainly... many people assume all divers wear O2 tanks.

 

[dlndavid]

Almost certainly... many people assume all divers wear O2 tanks.

especially those in the news media

 

[Mark Vlahos]

Almost certainly... many people assume all divers wear O2 tanks.

:eek_2: What do you mean we don't wear Oxygen tanks! If we don't have them with us then we can't hold our breath as long! :eek_2:

Mark Vlahos