Chemical Processing is much more than a magazine. In fact, chemicalprocessing.com houses a great deal of web-exclusive content in addition to the articles and columns that appear in the pages of our monthly publication.
While the backbone of the brand is the magazine that lands on desks every month, our online presence offers complementary resources from our Ask the Experts feature, to podcasts, to our Comical Processing cartoons. Here’s a glimpse into some of what we offer:
Ask the Experts (chemicalprocessing.com/experts): We have 29 experts on deck to field questions you can pose on anything from combustion to steam and thermal systems.
One category that draws a lot of inputs is mixing, which is moderated by David Dickey, senior consultant for MixTech Inc., Coppell, Texas, which focuses on mixing processes and equipment.
He boasts broad, likely unique, experience in the field of mixing and scale-up because he has had exposure to both the theoretical and practical aspects of real problems. Prior to starting MixTech, he had more than 25 years of experience with process equipment manufacturers. He has built pilot-plant reactors and systems and spent 16 years working directly with manufacturers of liquid mixing equipment. Dave has also engineered dry-solids mixing equipment, static mixers, heat exchangers, pumps, distillation and other process equipment.
The library of questions Dickey and our other 28 experts have addressed is impressive and may prove helpful to others with similar questions.
Comical Processing Cartoons: Now in its 13th year, our caption contest features cartoons by award-winning artist Jerry King. For the 10-year anniversary, I chatted with King about his career.
In my column (“Comical Processing Celebrates 10 Years”), he notes that a kind teacher who realized King didn’t have a knack for the electrical engineering coursework he was taking at the time introduced him to the world of art. “He knew I was struggling but he also knew I was good at drawing. He said ‘Maybe we can get you in a class about art because that's where you belong,’” recalls King.
From there, a career was launched. He’s illustrated children’s books, worked at numerous greeting card companies, spent 20 years as a cartoonist for Playboy magazine and currently creates between 200–300 cartoons per month for myriad publications including Chemical Processing. He credits the diversity to his longevity in the business.
The Comical Processing Gallery features over 180 cartoons all aimed at the Chemical Processing audience. If you need a quick break, check out King’s work and the funny captions your peers have submitted.
Podcasts: We have two podcast series. The first, Process Safety with Trish & Traci, is hosted by yours truly and features Trish Kerin, director of IChemE Safety Centre, as the safety expert. The podcast aims to share insights from past incidents to help avoid future events. We just wrapped up episode 34 with a guest, Tony Bocek, a process operator at bp Cherry Point refinery in Blaine, Washington. The topic was a unique process-safety program that empowers operators to become safety champions via two-year programs (Listen to the podcast or read his case study: “Refinery Drives Engagement in Process Safety.")
Our other podcast, Distilled Podcast, covers various topics, with new episodes added often, to create a robust library of short, informative material. A subset of Distilled is our sponsored Solutions Spotlight podcasts that offer an industry perspective from vendors in the chemical industry.
Rounding out the major sections of web-only content is industry news. We focus on news that matters to folks in the chemical industry with coverage on emerging trends, acquisitions, regulations and achievements.
Whether in print or online, our goal is to provide authoritative, practical and impartial technical information as well as details on best practices, key trends, developments and successful applications to help you be as efficient, safe, environmentally friendly and economically competitive as possible.