Nature & Environment
Scientists Accidentally Discover Eco-Friendly 'Blue Whirl' Fire [VIDEO]
Megha Kedia
First Posted: Aug 10, 2016 05:46 AM EDT
A team of scientists from the University of Maryland have reportedly identified a new kind of eco-friendly fire which burns more cleanly and can be used in cleaning-up oil spills. While the newly discovered fire, known as the 'blue whirl' flame, shares the same 'whirling' characteristic of a fire tornado, it lacks the yellow traditional flame color. Fire whirls occur when rising heat and turbulent winds combine to create a thin tornado of flames.
Normally, fire whirls tend to be yellow in color and a lack of oxygen causes incomplete burning and the creation of soot. The blue flame color indicates that there is enough oxygen for complete combustion, which means less or no soot and lower carbon emissions, reported ScienceAlert.
The blue whirl flame was accidentally discovered by the researchers while they were trying to investigate the possibility of using fire whirls to clean up oil spills. It was when the researchers used a stream of heptane gas and pumped it through a tray of water that they saw the yellow whirl evolving into a quiet, pure blue flame. The researchers were able to keep the blue flame going for a maximum of 8 minutes by pumping more fuel underneath the flame.
Co-author of the study, Michael Gollner, who is an assistant professor of fire protection engineering at the A. James Clark School of Engineering at the University of Maryland, said that this is the first time ever that fire whirls have been studied for their practical applications, reported CSMonitor.
He added that the research team found that fire whirls are more efficient than other forms of combustion as they produce drastically increased heating to the surface of fuels, allowing them to burn faster and more completely.
Now that the researchers have discovered the blue whirl flame, the next challenge for them would be to get it outside the lab and scale it up. The research findings have been described in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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TagsBlue Whirl, Blue Whirl Flame, New Fire, fire whirls, Fire tornado, Fuel Burn, Oil Spills, Oil Spills Cleanup ©2024 ScienceWorldReport.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The window to the world of science news.
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First Posted: Aug 10, 2016 05:46 AM EDT
A team of scientists from the University of Maryland have reportedly identified a new kind of eco-friendly fire which burns more cleanly and can be used in cleaning-up oil spills. While the newly discovered fire, known as the 'blue whirl' flame, shares the same 'whirling' characteristic of a fire tornado, it lacks the yellow traditional flame color. Fire whirls occur when rising heat and turbulent winds combine to create a thin tornado of flames.
Normally, fire whirls tend to be yellow in color and a lack of oxygen causes incomplete burning and the creation of soot. The blue flame color indicates that there is enough oxygen for complete combustion, which means less or no soot and lower carbon emissions, reported ScienceAlert.
The blue whirl flame was accidentally discovered by the researchers while they were trying to investigate the possibility of using fire whirls to clean up oil spills. It was when the researchers used a stream of heptane gas and pumped it through a tray of water that they saw the yellow whirl evolving into a quiet, pure blue flame. The researchers were able to keep the blue flame going for a maximum of 8 minutes by pumping more fuel underneath the flame.
Co-author of the study, Michael Gollner, who is an assistant professor of fire protection engineering at the A. James Clark School of Engineering at the University of Maryland, said that this is the first time ever that fire whirls have been studied for their practical applications, reported CSMonitor.
He added that the research team found that fire whirls are more efficient than other forms of combustion as they produce drastically increased heating to the surface of fuels, allowing them to burn faster and more completely.
Now that the researchers have discovered the blue whirl flame, the next challenge for them would be to get it outside the lab and scale it up. The research findings have been described in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone