Fire tornadoes to clean up oil spills? Researchers find a solution to protect marine ecosystems by burning fuel in the water

The rate of oil spills occurring has been reducing over the decades but they still happen too frequently. The consequences can be dire, especially for larger events, most notably in recent history was the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010. That was the largest in history and saw roughly 134 million gallons of oil gush into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

The environmental damage that oil spills cause can be severe, and long-lasting, so it is important to contain and stop an oil spill as fast as possible. However, first responders have limited options at their disposal, either letting it spread or igniting it, both of which are destructive to the environment.

A team of researchers led by Dr. Elaine Oran and Dr. Qingsheng Wang of Texas A&M University, and Dr. Michael Gollner of the University of California, Berkeley have found a way to make the latter option more environmentally friendly and far more efficient. Their findings were published in the journal Fuel earlier this year.

Fire tornados; A fiery solution to oil spills

The common technique for burning oil is known as “in-situ burning.” While it can be an effective tool to remove the spilt oil from the water it produces toxic soot and can leave a layer of unburnt sludge on the ocean surface.

The researchers, with the support of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, performed “a first-of-its-kind” large-scale experiment using a “fire whirl,” the technical name for a fire tornado.

“This the first time anyone has conceived using fire whirls for oil spill remediation, and it’s really just the beginning. Our goal is to harness the chaotic nature of fire whirls as a powerful, precise restoration tool, to protect coastlines, marine ecosystems and the environment as a whole,” Oran told her university’s newspaper.

She explained that fire whirls work almost twice as fast in-situ burning to remove crude oil from the water. This could potentially speed up cleanup crews’ operational and response times.

Furthermore, the fire whirls cut soot emissions by 40 percent. “One of the biggest challenges of burning oil spills is the sheer volume of smoke emitted. Our results show that fire whirls, compared to in-situ fires, dramatically reduce overall emissions,” Oran highlighted.

Compared to in-situ fire tests, the fire whirls “achieved up to 95 percent fuel consumption efficiency,” she said.

“This study is more than just an experiment, it’s a glimpse into a future where fire isn’t a force of destruction, but a tool to protect our oceans and planet,” the aerospace engineering professor reflected.

How to create a fire tornado

The fire whirl researchers created a three-walled structure in the shape of a triangle with gaps between each 16-foot wall section. These gaps were designed to precisely direct the airflow over a pool of oil at its center sitting on the water. Oran pointed out though that while these fiery vortexes are “incredibly powerful, and can be incredibly beneficial… they’re also sensitive and only reach high efficiency when the conditions are just right.”

In the future, with further study and technological development, the researchers see mobile structures being produced that would be able to be deployed on demand and dropped over burning oil spills. And the technology could also be employed to more than just oil spills

“Our study has universal applications. By understanding the physical laws that govern fire whirls, we can harness their power beyond oil spill remediation,” Oran ventured.

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