Tornadoes

[53123dahch3323]

Could controlled tornadoes be created to help reduced wild fires? I know that there is a reduced amount of oxygen in tornadoes, but I don't know if this would work.

[deleted-140482]

I can't say for sure, but I think that a tornado would be just as likely to spread a wildfire as it would be to reduce one. Fires are often spread on the wind, and tornadoes jump around and touch down, so while it's a nice idea that the wind would put it out, I think it could just as easily cause it to spread to new places. I'm far from an expert on this though, so if you're interested why don't you do some research online to see if anyone has tried anything like that. Maybe you could design an experiment for a science fair that could help test it.

JMP

[53123dahch3323]

I couldn't find anything online. I know it is possible to make controlled tornadoes to generate energy, but I don't know about putting out fires. I know the reduced pressure and oxygen would affect the fire, but I don't think it would spread it. Fire tornadoes exist, but they aren't real tornadoes since they are just whirlwinds created by dry conditions of a fire. I would like to design an experiment since I think this idea would be helpful if it would work. I just need help finding more information on it. I'm not sure where to start.

[53123dahch3323]

I found that smoke particles could make a tornado worse, but nothing about tornadoes picking up fires. But if the intensity and direction of a tornado could be controlled with varying amounts of warm/cool/moist air streams, would my idea work? If so, how could I test it for a project?

[SciB]

It is an interesting idea but I agree with JMP that a tornado would pull in more air to a fire and make it burn hotter. Yes, the reduced pressure would lower the oxygen level but only at the vortex. The surrounding areas would get winds that would fan the flames and make them burn faster, I think. Also, the vortex would suck up a huge amount of burning wood and embers and scatter them all around to start more fires.

I think a better bet would be to make it rain over the fire. This has probably been tried already and would not work unless there were clouds. Even then, cloud seeding is not very reliable as a way to cause rain.

Carbon dioxide will put out a fire. How about dumping tons of dry ice on it?

Keep coming up with new ideas. That's how we make progress in science and technology. Things that seemed crazy 100 years ago are now commonplace.

Sybee