George Markt, a summer hire student from Cornell University working in the Department of Chemistry & Life Science, conducted the initial ignition tests of West Point’s first gasification apparatus (see attached thermal image). George spent the past few weeks building and testing our GEK (Gasifier Experimenters Kit) with the help of Lance Richardson, Dr. Andy Biaglow, Dr. Jim Balz, and COL Russ Lachance. The GEK is a kit purchased from All Powers Lab with RDECOM research funds to support waste-to-fuel research at West Point. The thermal image was captured using a new thermal imaging camera from the Photonics Research Center.
Russ Lachance, Ph.D.
COL, EN
Academy Professor, Chemical Engineering
Department of Chemistry & Life Science
United States Military Academy
This picture shows relative temperatures of the GEK in operation.