Meet the Designer: The "Father" of the Powerhearth

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Meet the
Designer

Meet Jack Humphries, P.E.: The Father of the Powerhearth

Powerhearth Inspection Jack Humphries, P.E. is an internationally recognized authority, engineer and designer of biomass gasification systems. He first became interested in gasification in 1939 and has been working with gasification systems and improving their design since 1970 when he founded Fluidyne R&D Ltd, in New Zealand.

He and his company successfully designed and sold gasification systems throughout the Asia Pacific area, Australia, Africa and North America. In the middle 1980s, Jack sold his interest in Fluidyne R&D Ltd to a recently hired welder's helper, Doug Williams, in favor of a technology transfer program, in North America.

He and his biomass gasification system received an Energy Conservation award from British Petroleum (BP) for his "furnace oil replacing, wood waste gasifier" used to power a kiln drying lumber operation.

He also was awarded the New Zealand Steel Award in both the Industrial and Overall category for his wood waste gasifier for engine generator set fueling.

In 1991, Jack built the prototype Powerhearth, in Maine, and toured the northeastern United States for the next three years, demonstrating the Powerhearth and giving lectures on biomass gasification.

Jack working on one of our many projects
Jack at Project

Today, over sixty years since seeing his first gasifier, at age eighty four Jack is still at it! He is the Vice President of Manufacturing and Operations and has, just recently, completed the tedious patenting process for a variety of new innovations to the Powerhearth. As he says, "I just want to stay ahead of the technological curve."

Would you like to learn more about gasification? Perhaps visit our facility? Don't hesitate to contact us. We're looking forward to seeing you!

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