'Vortex Gun' Shoots 90-MPH Rings of Gas, Might Help Firefighters, Police (VIDEO)

By: Jeremy Hsu, InnovationNewsDaily Senior Writer
Published: 03/02/2012 01:22 PM EST on InnovationNewsDaily

Vortex guns capable of firing doughnut-shaped rings of air have sat around as toys or oddball gadgets for years. Now a U.S. lab has added an extra kick with electrically charged rings that could clear out smoke-filled hallways for firefighters, or deliver clingy shots of tear gas or pepper spray without the need for accuracy.

The vortex gun fires rings that reach a high speed of 90 mph upon exiting the muzzle and travel at 60 mph over more than 150 feet. The rings revolve as they fly through the air, but remain calm within the interior — not unlike the eye of a hurricane — so that they can hold a cargo of nonlethal gas or electrically charged air right up until hitting a target.

Having both a positive and negative charge can make tiny smoke particles clump up, fall out of the air like rain droplets and cling to surfaces, said Jim Dvorsky, product development leader at Battelle. Such a tactic could prove far better at clearing smoke from burning buildings than today's "crude" methods of using exhaust fans.

Eventually, vortex guns could join the firefighters' arsenal alongside futuristic devices such as electric fire-snuffing wands made by the U.S. military's DARPA research arm.

"What happens to the electric charge is that it gets attracted to the smoke particles," Dvorsky told InnovationNewsDaily. "That makes the smoke particles migrate to any surface that's available — furniture, ceiling, floor."

Similarly, an electrically charged vortex gun could add extra clinginess to tear gas or pepper spray particles. The ring won't hold together as well because of the electric charge, but that "leakiness" can become a selling point for hitting targets that don't require the best accuracy.

"The ring will disperse as a result of the charge, but in our case that's actually a good thing," Dvorsky explained. "It allows us to disperse pepper spray and have it attach to skin or clothing."

The Columbus, Ohio-based Battelle recently filed for a patent on the electrically charged vortex gun application. Dvorksy is working with colleague Lynn Faulkner, a Battelle program manager, to balance the electric charge so that the vortex rings might hold together for longer distances.

You can follow InnovationNewsDaily Senior Writer Jeremy Hsu on Twitter @ScienceHsu. Follow InnovationNewsDaily on Twitter @News_Innovation, or on Facebook.

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Comments

[rpeterson2205]

09:53 AM on 03/06/2012

. . . " that could clear out smoke-filled hallways for firefighters, or deliver clingy shots of tear gas or pepper spray". . . i love how cheerfully optimistic science tech articles always are. Of course it will be used against protesters trying to fight social injustice WAY before any firefighter sees one.

[BluePhantom2]

05:50 PM on 03/05/2012

Whammo! beat DARPA to the punch! We were playing with something very similar to that in the 60-70s.

[onionboy]

03:53 PM on 03/05/2012

I love the pin-point tear gas idea.

[vorykua]

10:06 AM on 03/05/2012

90 mph Gas gun, insert lewd joke here "___"

[Xandal]

09:10 AM on 03/05/2012

The nazis invented something like this to take down airplanes

[onionboy]

03:50 PM on 03/05/2012

They invented it, but never successfully downed a plane with it.

[the81kid]

06:32 AM on 03/05/2012

Still hoping for that airgun from Minority Report!

[bbriani3842]

07:45 PM on 03/04/2012

Here's one for civilian use ... works great on cats!

http://www.amazon.com/Can-You-Imagine-Black-Airzooka/dp/B00006IJIC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1330908285&sr=8-1

[mumi009]

06:25 PM on 03/04/2012

Just what the world was waiting for. Another anti personnel weapon.

[Galaxie]

08:14 PM on 03/04/2012

That is what I was thinking...

[OutAtFirst]

04:45 PM on 03/04/2012

'Vortex Gun' Shoots 90-MPH Rings of Gas

Also known as my anus for about a week after my last trip to Mexico.

[mamacat]

02:11 PM on 03/04/2012

Many years ago there was a popular toy sold that blew a burst of air all the way across a room. We used to see how far away we could stand and still blow out a candle.

I suppose it is no longer available because of fires started by kids playing with them, but it was an amazing demonstration of how a ring or air could be pushed across a calm space. As I remember, the ring of air was very slow, on the order of 1 or 2 mph, but still very buck rogersy.

[Dr Korey]

02:22 PM on 03/04/2012

They still make them. Look over at ThinkGeek

[mamacat]

09:13 PM on 03/04/2012

Thanks. They were a lot of fun.