What type of combustion occurs when there is a plentiful supply of O_2?

1 Answer
Nathan L.
Jun 25, 2017

I'll say it's complete combustion.

Explanation:

For complete combustion, which is just "normal" combustion so-to-speak, is when a substance burns in the presence of oxygen (air). It's generally understood that the oxygen is present in excess.

On the contrary, incomplete combustion is when there is not enough "O"_2 to carry out complete combustion.

For complete combustion of a hydrocarbon, for example liquid propane ("C"_3"H"_8), the products are always "H"_2"O" and "CO"_2:

"C"_3"H"_8 (l) + 5"O"_2 (g) rarr 3"CO"_2 (g) + 4"H"_2"O"(g)

For incomplete combustion (deficiency of oxygen), the products are instead "CO" and "H"_2"O":

"C"_3"H"_8 (l) + 3"O"_2 (g) rarr 2"CO" (g) + 4"H"_2"O"(g)

Which you can see uses up less oxygen.

This process is rather undesirable, because it can also produce soot (carbon) and poisonous carbon monoxide.

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