Question

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

Answer 1

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.