Why is it necessary to clean scuba tanks for oxygen service?
To remove contaminants that can become the fuel for an oxygen-fed fire. Oxygen, an oxidizing gas, does not burn, but it supports combustion and causes other materials to burn. In the presence of pressurized oxygen concentrations exceeding that in standard air, most materials become progressively more flammable and ignitable as the oxygen concentration and pressure increase. Even materials that would not easily catch fire in standard air under normal atmospheric pressure will ignite and burn furiously in a pressurized oxygen-enriched environment. It cannot be overemphasized that rising pressure increases the risk of ignition.
