Blue Whirl is a new type of fire
Scientists have published a new study mentioning the discovery of blue whirl, a new type of fire. It is a whirling blue-colored tornado that researchers believe will be used to help burn off oil on the surface of water without adding much to air pollution.
While creating a lab-controlled fire tornado over water, the researchers at the University of Maryland discovered the blue whirl. This water-based fire exhibited an intense blue color and strong stability in comparison to the bright red or orange traditional fire whirls which are usually significantly turbulent.
Fire whirls are usually vertical funnels of flames that stir potentially hazardous, debris-carrying storms. They are frequently yellow because they do not have enough oxygen and cause soot and incomplete burning.
The investigation was initially set out to analyze the combustion and burning dynamics of fire whirls on water. Because the researchers were interested in using the whirl to clean up oil spills, they added liquid fuel to water. After multiple experiments, the team observed that the resulting fire whirl ultimately converted into a small, intensely whirling blue flame.
According to ScienceAlert, researchers still do not know why the bright red or orange traditional fire is turbulent, while the new type of fire is quiet with no signs of turbulence. The next step for the blue whirl would be to create it outside the laboratory conditions.
According to the researchers, the blue flame has a cleaner burn, a complete combustion which leads to less or no soot.
Scientists believe that the blue whirls could one day be used as an environmentally friendly approach to clean ocean oil spills.
Traditional methods of dealing with oil spills involve burning the oil on the surface of the water which usually generates harmful emissions. This method can only be applied if the oil spills are gathered at the surface of the water and pushed into a thick layer. However, researchers believe that even when the oil spills are gathered, this procedure is unable to remove the oil entirely.
The process would be far less complicated when using the blue whirl, and its effectiveness will be much higher.
Image source: Public Domain
