Yes, O2 certainly does support combustion, especially physiological combustion at the cellular level. The greater the cellular O2 saturation (aerobic plants and animals) the greater and more efficient the metabolism (the cellular fiire) which is a plus for healthy plants and the good microbes in nutrient solutions. On the other hand high oxygen saturations inhibit the growth of pathogenic fungi that are responsible for root rot. Fungi does poorly and fails to thrive in oxygen rich environments.
I have been in environments and used O2 myself and seen oxygen used safely in many times in many places; ie. hospitals, by EMT in emergency situations, jet aircraft, automotive repair shops, around welders and jewelers, plumbers, on the football field, in basketball courts, at NASA, on the space shuttle, used on US Submarines and battle ships, at municipal waste water facilities, in public aquariums and fish hatcheries and many other places without incident. I have never seen anyone blown up, burned up, gotten sick or died using O2. But, all these people have had O2 training too.
Know that oxygen is not air. Do not mess with it unless you are trained how to use it safely, you thoroughly understand the O2 delivery equipment and ***most important – if you are really afraid of this gas, do not use it or even be around it.
You have described the “fire triangle” pretty well. Replace heat source with ignition source and you have identified the requirements necessary to create the “fire triangle.”
Your right again about the toxic characteristics of oxygen in some situations. Here’s a situation- SCUBA divers never dive using pure 100% oxygen, that can be very deadly, very quickly. Most SCUBA divers have had classes and passed dive training school and know this about breathing pure O2 under water at pressures greater than 1 ATM.
J
