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.

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 ...

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 ...