By Andrew Liszewski
What you see here is a man-made tornado standing 34.43 meters high, officially making it the world’s largest according to the Guinness Book Of World Records. But you won’t find this twister in some science center, museum or Knowledgeum. It’s actually located in the multi-story gallery of the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Germany.
While the tornado will clearly serve as a tourist attraction, it was actually created to stop smoke from making its way into exhibit areas in the event a large fire was to break out. To create the tornado seen in these photos, carbon dioxide vapor was used instead of smoke, and it takes 144 separate jets about 7 minutes to get the 28 tons of air moving fast enough to form a funnel. When it does, a low-pressure column in the center of the tornado effectively sucks in any smoke and carries it up to vents in the roof allowing it to escape.
[ Artificial Tornado in German Museum to Save Lives ] VIA [ TechEBlog ]
[ Update: Here’s the video! -Ed. ]
