Huge Smoke Ring Generator

I could see myself building one of these smoke ring generators. Too bad they need calm air to operate, I could imagine building some automated ones that would be great for ballparks, fairs, birthday parties… But it looks like if there was anything other than absolutely still air they would not operate as expected…

Videos and more pictures after the jump.

“Made from a discarded compost tumbler measuring 80 cm diameter and 90 cm deep and mounted on a sturdy frame.”

From Wikipedia: “A smoke ring is a ring formed by expelling smoke through a small opening. It is usually created by blowing smoke from the mouth, while smoking. It usually takes a lot of practice to learn how to do it.

The ring occurs when a mass of fast-moving fluid (the air in the lungs) is pushed through a roughly spherical mass of fluid (the air in the mouth), forming a vortex ring in the air. The role of the smoke is only to make the flow pattern of the air visible.”