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(Don't) Make Your Own Fire Tornado
Flash Modin writes "In the last two weeks, both water and fire tornadoes have been widely covered by the media. As any physicists would have, we immediately thought 'I want to do that!' SO... You should absolutely, under no circumstances, not attempt to recreate the following fire tornado; but if you did, here's exactly what you would need, how you would do it, and what it would look like."
The version in the story is too complicated, but there's an easier way. The catch is that it has to be really cold outside... I'd say at or below freezing.
All you have to do is acquire a bottle of lighter fluid and a lighter. A zippo lighter works best. Spray a puddle of lighter fluid on cold pavement. Light the fluid (may take a while, it's difficult to ignite when cold). Once it's burning, stand back and spray a steady stream of lighter fluid into the flames. After a spray or two, a fire tornado will develop. I've made fire tornadoes that were an inch or two thick and at least ten feet tall.
We're using Play-Do!
Modest doubt is called the beacon of the wise. - William Shakespeare
I would watch those videos if they weren't wrapped into a shit tornado also known as Adobe Flash.
C'mon. This is the internet. Blowtorch. Blower fan. Bottle of oxygen.
GO!
What the hell are you still doing in city 17?!
Here's a real flame tornado: Nate Smith, a gent I know personally, doin' his thing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qulN52bR9vk
When started to appear the mentos on coke videos in internet, suddently a lot wanted to try that, but the consequences of doing it wrong or unsafe werent so bad, even funny sometimes. But if this goes viral, well, the darwin awards will have to open a special chapter.
Back before I knew such things existed in nature, I had the idea of hopefully causing a fuel/air explosion with a regular tornado.
The idea was to pump a bunch of fuel into a regular tornado and ignite it, theoretically causing the tornado to dissipate.
Unfortunately a lack of funds and people brave enough to man the trebuchets kept me from my plan.
But it just seems more _eventful_ than a lazy susan and lighter fluid.
Yes, my house insurance has extra coverage.
Have some friends help you flip the family car on its side. Securely fix the lower driven wheel to a stake driven into the ground next to it, or through its spokes to prevent it turning. Put a board to act as a turntable on the upper driven wheel and repeat this experiment with much more lighter fluid while someone revs the car in drive to make the plate spin at tremendous speed. This combines a reduction in reasonableness with more danger.
Nullius in verba
You mean like this?: http://www.xkcd.com/748/
But this one's bitchin: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8kQbGa72tM&feature=related
Awwww..my weekend is now fsk'd up.....I thought it would be fun to have a mini tornado to play with!
As many of you probably know, Cremora is highly flammable. A friend of mine once filled a coffee can with Cremora and placed a common butane torch beside it (with the flame burning over the can). Then he fed an airhose into the Cremora, the other end of which attached to a compressor. With everyone well away from the coffee can, he turned on the compressor. The resultant fireball was about 20'-25' in diameter.
The mythbusters have to try this!
Why's this guy dressed like Billy Mays / Blockbuster employee?
Pretty sure this is against Country Club rules.
I was hoping for a lot more than this. I mean come on. I've seen super kewel vortecies created by taking 2 2litre plastic coke bottles (or any 2 litre bottle), filling 1 about half full of water, and connecting the two together with a "tornado tube connector"(tm) and swirl the water in the bottom bottle around. Then turn the bottles upside down so that the full bottle is on top (actually you don't really have to start the water swirling, it will start on its own). Presto-Chango and voilà! Instant tornado! (Note to all Road Runners and Coyotes: No "Acme Instant Tornado Seeds"(tm) required.
Well, that was impressively unimpressive.
That “whooshing” sound you just heard were flames drafting over your head.
This fire tornado thing reminds me of toothpick plasma. Not the same thing, but seems to be about as neat.
Ask me about repetitive DNA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjPxDOEdsX8
ANd of course there is one you really should *never* do unless you are Hunter Thompson: bottles of propane, a large caliber rifle, and a packet of nitroglycerin.
putting the 'B' in LGBTQ+
Almost any liquid fuel will make a nice fire vortex. And liquid powered fire vortexes run really well, because they create a mist of fuel droplets that gets carried up into the vortex, where they provide a lot of updraft.
People actually do this for a living: http://www.reelefx.com made the fire vortex for David Copperfield, for instance.
There was also an article in Amateur Scientist decades ago about it.
Back in the days when I used to design theme parks (fun profession!) I used to work with a company (Spectra F/X) that made these.
Most spectacularly GIANT versions of these flame tornados were used in Universal Studio's attraction "Backdraft" based on the movie of the same name. At least that what I think it was named; the title was about the hazard a firemen faced when entering a burning building that suddenly gets an influx of more oxygen. Anyway, the attraction is pretty impressive lots of real, hot fire and exploding oil drums (relatively) near you. If you're in Los Angeles you might want to go see it. Even though you definitely feel the heat from the flames and explosions, I think the safety record is quite good (haven't heard of any accidents).
The company designed and built this and a lot of other flame effects. I got to see one of their flame tornados being built and tested out in the cavernous workshop; i wished i had taken a closer look at this engineered device, it looked like a turbine and was roughly the size of a large trash can. (Believe me, it was engineered, this company built a lot of safety critical stuff in its day). A long time ago it won the Oscar for special effects for the movie "Ben Hur". Unfortunately it went under about 10 tears ago.
If any of the Spectra F/X guys are reading this, I'd like to say hi! (TK in CGI).
Sounds looks like a mind freak. Big build up, no pay off
Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
But I think for sheer apocalyptitude it doesn't beat the fire and lightning volcanic ash cloud
It was a few decades ago, but in my teens I had occasion to spend a weekend at a fireman's weekend where a great many and varied workshops were being given on any number of esoteric aspects of firefighting, and some of the more mundane. I took some of the mundane workshops on forest fire fighting and such. But I made my weekend more of a relaxed affair so I would have time to wander and see what everyone else was up to.
One group was busy creating fire tornadoes, and putting them out. But what I am referring to here, is nothing at all like what is featured in this video, or anything at all like Hollywood has ever dared venture.
The group was training in how to assault oil fires and extinguish them with a water hose, which is no mean trick. To make matters more complicated for them, dead center of the oil fire was a husk of tanker truck tank. This sat in the middle of a concrete pool ~10 meters square (30' x 30'). The pool was filled with six inches of water. The instructors would dump a full oil drum of oil into the pool, creating an oil slick that covered the entire surface. The training crew ready, they would toss in a match.
Now THAT is a fire tornado!
The result was a literal tornado of fire, a veritable solid pillar of flame that would do Moses proud! Thirty feet in diameter, this vortex roared so loud you could barely hear the shouted commands of the fireman as they assaulted the monster. It ripped and twisted, the spiraling cylinder reaching easily a hundred feet or more, straight up. The flame was dense red, and so intense there was nothing opaque about it. Pure fire, at it most intense.
I sat there for hours watching as they put it out, and lit up another, over and over.
Peter
Sorry I didn't read to here before I posted above. If they had shot the air across the TOP of the powder, then the venturi -like effect would have atomized the particles properly, the igntion would have been nearly instantaneous, and they wouldn't have wasted hundreds of pounds of powder creating a smoldering mess around their device. This has been done for years, and the flame can be turned on and off at will. I suppose Cremora is cheaper than Lycopodium powder. It looks like maybe I should set up a proper demonstration for the YouTubes. I might try something with Aluminium dust, but I don't want to get Homeland Security all excited.
The cost of that cleanup, of course, will be borne by taxpayers, not industry.
get a can of alcahol-butane mix, e.g. Lynx deoderat.
get a plastic bottle, not to big.
spray a moderate amount (not too much) deoderant into the bottle. (hot days are best).
wait.. a tiny while.
place bottle on ground
ignite opening
jet propelled bottle!
thank God the internet isn't a human right.