Researchers have shown that controlled fire whirls can clean up oil spills faster and more cleanly than traditional burning methods. The spinning flames consumed up to 95% of the oil, cut soot ...

Researchers have run the first large-scale field test of deliberately generated fire whirls over crude oil floating on water, and the results challenge conventional thinking about oil-spill cleanup.

Fire whirls are intense, self-sustaining vortices of flame that arise when buoyant hot gases converge and impart rotation to the fire plume. The interplay of vorticity, circulation and buoyant ascent ...

In the frantic hours following an offshore oil spill, emergency responders face a destructive decision: let the oil spread or ignite it. Once ignited, it creates an ‘in-situ’ fire pool that stops the ...