See? Terrifying.
However, according to researchers at the University of Maryland, fire tornadoes don’t have to be destructive or terrifying, and they might actually help solve one of engineering's biggest problems, fuel efficiency.
“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,” said Elaine Oran, professor of engineering and coauthor of the paper. “Blue in the whirl indicates there is enough oxygen for complete combustion, which means less or no soot. It’s therefore a cleaner burn.”
Though research into the Blue Whirl has only just begun, scientists believe that in the future, they’ll be able to harness the phenomenon, and that could mean great things for fuel efficiency.
Because of the Blue Whirl's ability to burn fuel so completely, emissions from combustion could be reduced dramatically. If a Blue Whirl–based combustion system could be deployed in internal combustion engines, the amount of soot and pollutants that are released into the environment could be slashed. What’s more, University of Maryland researchers say that controlled Blue Whirl fire tornadoes could also help clean up devastating oil spills by burning them in place.
“In our experiments over water, we’ve seen how the circulation that fire whirls generate also helps to pull in fuels. If we can achieve a state akin to the Blue Whirl at a larger scale, we can further reduce airborne emissions for a much cleaner means of oilspill cleanup,” said Michael Gollner, assistant professor of fire protection engineering.
While fire tornadoes will continue to be a newfound fuel for my nightmares, I'm comforted in some small degree that engineers are figuring out a way to turn something terrifying into a force for good.