Researchers Test Hotter, Faster And Cleaner Way To Fight Oil Spills
The Flame Refluxer is essentially a big copper blanket: think Brillo pad of wool sandwiched between mesh. Using it while burning off oil yields less air pollution and residue that harms marine life.
On a cold and windy day off the coast of Alabama, a team of researchers from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts gathers, conducting the first test outside a laboratory for a potential new solution to a challenging problem: cleaning oil spills from water.
The invention, the Flame Refluxer, is "very simple," says Ali Rangwala, a professor of
