Spontaneous combustion

[MikeHoncho]

Actually, it doesn't necessarily only happen with oils. Wet a cargo of coal and as it dries, poof. Many a ship has been lost that way. Other materials which could spontaneously combust;

• Towels and linen, during laundering and drying.
• Haystacks.
• Green waste piles and compost.
• A number of chemical substances, such as cellulose nitrate.

I was referring to the previous comments about types of oils.......motor oil does not do this.

 

[shemandr]

A Joseph Conrad novel was based on a coal fire starting from seawater going into the hold. I don't remember the title of the book. I could have that wrong because although Conrad is considered a great writer, I always had trouble understanding what the hell he was saying.
The ship sank..

 

[MikeHoncho]

I do not know about coal and how that happens but combustion from catylizing oils is from the breaking of double and triple molecular bonds that generates the heat. Combustion of yard waste, compost and stuff like that is from biological decomposition that produces the heat. I’ll have to look into coal.