Chemical Processing Magazine

12/05/2025

🏆 Meet the Technologies Transforming Chemical Manufacturing
The 2025 Vaaler Awards just recognized three innovations that are changing how chemical plants operate—and making them safer in the process.
The Winners:
Yokogawa Electric Corp. developed an AI system that actually learns how to control chemical processes on its own. One plant in Japan ran autonomously for 35 consecutive days using this technology. The AI makes adjustments through trial and error (up to 30 experiments per second!) while staying within safe boundaries.
Sherwin-Williams created a coating that solves a massive industry headache: corrosion under insulation. Instead of wrapping pipes and equipment in traditional insulation that can trap moisture and cause corrosion, this spray-on coating insulates while keeping water away from metal surfaces.
Flowserve built a pump that's virtually leak-proof for handling the most dangerous chemicals. It's the first magnetic drive pump with double sealing—so even if something goes wrong, hazardous fluids stay contained. Plus, the bearings never wear out.
These technologies address real problems: the shortage of skilled operators, equipment that corrodes and fails, and the constant risk of dangerous chemical leaks.
The Vaaler Awards have been recognizing game-changing innovations in chemical processing for over 50 years, honoring the legacy of industry pioneer John C. Vaaler.
Innovation like this is why chemical manufacturing keeps getting safer and more efficient. 👏
Want to learn more about how these technologies work? Check out the full story: https://www.chemicalprocessing.com/awards/vaaler-awards/article/55336259/innovation-honored-ai-control-advanced-coatings-and-leak-proof-pumps-earn-2025-vaaler-awards

Yokogawa, Sherwin-Williams and Flowserve recognized for technologies that enhance safety and efficiency in chemical processing.

11/11/2025

🏆 Congratulations to the 2025 Vaaler Awards Winners!
Chemical Processing has announced three groundbreaking innovations that are transforming chemical plant operations:
Flowserve takes the Fluid Flow Category with their INNOMAG TB-MAG Dual Drive—the first magnetic drive pump to feature true secondary containment technology. This innovation eliminates leaks when handling hazardous materials while consuming up to 45% less energy than traditional sealless pumps.
Sherwin-Williams wins the Miscellaneous Category for their Heat-Flex Advanced Energy Barrier (AEB), a spray-applied coating that tackles corrosion under insulation (CUI). This solution replaces bulky, mineral-based insulation while maintaining operating temperatures up to 350°F, improving both safety and sustainability.
Yokogawa secures the Instrumentation & Control Category with their Factorial Kernel Dynamic Policy Programming (FKDPP)—an AI-powered reinforcement learning algorithm that brings autonomous optimization to complex industrial processes, enhancing productivity, quality, and energy efficiency.
These innovations represent the future of safer, more efficient, and more sustainable chemical processing. Kudos to all the winners for advancing our industry!
Learn more about the innovations and why they are called the Vaaler awards: https://www.chemicalprocessing.com/industrynews/news/55326137/chemical-processing-announces-2025-vaaler-awards-winners

Innovations from Flowserve, Sherwin-Williams and Yokogawa win for advancing safety, efficiency and automation in chemical processing plants.

10/16/2025

This Halloween, we're putting together a special slideshow featuring the real "horrors" of chemical engineering: those scenarios that make your heart skip a beat when you get paged at 3 a.m., the near-misses that still haunt you and the what-ifs that keep you vigilant on the plant floor.
Participate in our anonymous poll:

We want to hear from you! We all face unique challenges and concerns in our day-to-day work—from process safety incidents to regulatory nightmares, equipment failures to quality...

10/08/2025

Congratulations to Editor Traci Purdum for winning a 2025 Eddie Award for her column "Lax Regulations Burn Rivers." https://www.chemicalprocessing.com/environmental-protection/blog/55284603/lax-regulations-burn-rivers

We are honored to announce that multiple teams here at EndeavorB2B have won multiple awards at the FOLIO: Eddie & Ozzie Awards, celebrating outstanding journalism, design, and storytelling.

Chemical Processing Magazine: Eddie Award – Top B2B Column/Blog
Bulk Transporter: Eddie Award – Best Single Article, B2B, Travel/Transportation
Architectural Products: Ozzie Award – Photography, B2B
Pharma Manufacturing: Ozzie Award – Best Table of Contents Design

These awards are nice, but more importantly, we want to celebrate the dedication, creativity, and journalistic excellence of our teams across the EndeavorB2B network. Congratulations to all who contributed to this success.

A heartfelt congratulations to everyone who made this possible, and a very special shoutout to our CEO, Chris Ferrell, who has been inducted into the Folio: Hall of Fame for his visionary leadership.

10/03/2025

The latest Distilled podcast episode details the Aguinda v. Texaco, Inc. contamination lawsuit and the RICO lawsuit filed by Chevron against the lead attorney in the case. Podcast guest Dave Russell was a witness for Chevron.

Dave was hired in 2003 to travel to Ecuador to inspect the contamination site in question and provide his expert opinion on how to remediate the contamination and the associated costs. During Dave’s due diligence, he realized that the contamination in question wasn’t from Texaco/Chevron (the company had pulled out of Ecuador years prior). He testified in court to this fact, and his testimony was one of the pieces that led to an attorney's disbarment.

Environmental consultant discusses massive fraud in $9.5 billion Ecuador lawsuit against Chevron, revealing fabricated evidence and judicial corruption.

05/07/2025

The Combustible Dust Roundtable is coming up tomorrow! Register now for this insightful webinar:

https://bit.ly/4m4QGJv

04/15/2025

In this episode, Trish and Traci discuss two major BP incidents: the 2005 Texas City Refinery explosion that killed 15 workers when an overfilled tower created a geyser of hot raffinate that ignited, and the 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion that killed 11 workers and caused the largest U.S. marine oil spill when cement failed to properly seal a well. Key factors included faulty equipment, misleading indicators, inappropriate safety messaging and failure to learn from near-misses. These tragedies led to industry-wide improvements, including standardized process safety metrics, occupied building risk assessments, and better hazard management.

Remembering the human toll of Texas City and Deepwater Horizon and applying those lessons learned can prevent similar tragedies. In this episode, Trish and Traci discuss two major BP incidents: the 2005 Texas City Refinery explosion that killed 15 workers when an overfilled tower created a geyser of...

04/02/2025

Need a break? Test your chemical regulations knowledge:

How well do you think you know chemical regulations? Take our 10-question quiz to find out!

12/20/2024

In his final news roundup of the year, Executive Editor Jon Katz highlights what’s trending in December, including the following: the global plastic pollution treaty stalls amid negotiations, DuPont loses its lawsuit secrecy bid, the EPA closes PFAS chemical review loopholes, Bhopal lessons persist and chemical facilities are warned about winter safety risks.

Listen to the podcast now >>

In his final news roundup of the year, Executive Editor Jon Katz highlights: Global plastic pollution treaty stalls amid negotiations. DuPont loses lawsuit secrecy bid. EPA closes PFAS chemical review loopholes. Bhopal lessons persist. Chemical facilities warned about winter safety risks.

12/10/2024

As we look back on the Bhopal tragedy of 1984 at a Union Carbide pesticide plant in India, Trish and Traci – along with special guest graphic novelist and chemical engineer Ramin Abhari, walk through many missteps that happened that day. The incident resulted from multiple safety failures: contaminated methyl isocyanate (MIC) storage, disabled safety systems and poor plant management. Abhari has created graphic novels to communicate the lessons learned, emphasizing the importance of inherently safer design, proper management of change and maintaining critical safety systems during plant decommissioning. Listen to the podcast now >> https://www.podbean.com/eas/pb-cngwr-176551d



Read the full transcript here: https://www.chemicalprocessing.com/process-safety-w-trish-traci/podcast/55248282/podcast-butterflies-of-bhopal-lessons-written-in-blood

Chemical engineer Ramin Abhari’s graphic novels communicate the lessons learned from major process safety incidents.

12/06/2024

CP’s Traci Purdum recently chatted with BASF’s Anne Berg about her unplanned career path, her recent nomination to the Women in Manufacturing Hall of Fame and horses.
Listen to this inspiring podcast now >> https://www.podbean.com/eas/pb-dbk5z-175d5cd

You can also read the transcript here >> https://www.chemicalprocessing.com/voices/women-in-chemistry/podcast/55247463/basfs-anne-berg-credits-an-unplanned-career-path-for-her-success

Her journey exemplifies professional growth through curiosity, adaptability and seizing unexpected opportunities.

11/29/2024

Trending News: Trump and the Chemical Industry, Salary Survey and Job Satisfaction and Dog Bones and Process Safety

Grab a cup of coffee and leftover pumpkin pie and spend a few minutes going over the top news in the chemical industry with CP’s Executive Editor, Jonathan Katz. Listen now >> https://www.podbean.com/eas/pb-6xmiz-174e03d