Would putting nitrogen in the oxygen bottles cause it to weaken or explode?

Question

A number of planes were serviced with nitrogen, but since nitrogen is inert and air is just oxygen and nitrogen, it doesn't seem like it would have any effect... or will it?

http://www.amtonline.com/publication/article.jsp?pubId=1&id=5173

Answer 1

Nitrogen is an inert gas and would not damage the oxygen bottles in any way. The danger arises when Nitrogen is in the system instead of Oxygen as the human lungs cannot process Nitrogen. The result is Hypoxia and death.

Answer 2

The problem was that the oxygen bottles are to supply oxygen when it is needed for breathing by humans, and if the bottles are filled with nitrogen, the humans would pass out or die from lack of oxygen.

The problem does not effect the bottles themselves, but the people who depend on the oxygen being there.

Regards,

Dan  

Answer 3

Nitrogen would not have any bad effects. The gases are always void of moisture when the companies sell them, so they won't cause rust.

Answer 4

The problem is Ox bottles are used for supplemental oxygen for crew members, which they would not maintain concensus for very long on pure N.

The other problem is when oxygen is used instead of Nitorgen as oyxgen is an oxidizer, which is dangerous, thats why an inert gas is used, such as tire inflation (also because the lack of moisture, as water turns to steam and expands, which can cause blowouts ), and nitrogen charges acculumaltors for hydralic systems.

As the tanks are concerned, it doesnt matter, as the only differnce between a oxygen and and a nitrogen bottle is the color of the paint and regulators/pressure gauges, but i assume that they would have different connectors to prevent the wrong gas from being filled in the tank.

Answer 5

In the SHORT run, no it wouldn't cause a problem.  Some metals suffer from nitrogen embrittlement and can cause cracks in the surface to grow.  This is a long term issue however, so a short term nitrogen exposure should not be a problem for the vessel itself.