Fire tornado, as the name suggests, is a whirlwind that is created by intense rising heat and turbulent wind conditions made up of flame or ash.
Source: University of Maryland
While researchers at the University of Maryland are studying these “firenadoes,” they discovered a new type of flame called “blue whirl” that might just be the solution in cleaning up oil spills.
One of the researchers, Elaine Oran, shared, “Blue whirls evolve from traditional yellow fire whirls. The yellow color is due to radiating soot particles, which form when there is not enough oxygen to burn the fuel completely.
“Blue in the whirl indicates there is enough oxygen for complete combustion, which means less or no soot, and is therefore a cleaner burn.”
This quality of blue whirls holds a lot of promise in cleaning oil spills, as it traditionally involves burning the oil on the surface of the water which creates harmful emissions.
Scientists also say that blue whirls are more stable compared to bright red or orange, which means they are very quiet without visible or audible signs of turbulence.
When re-created on a large scale, blue whirls can clean oil spills without the usual troubles.
