AI, Digital Twins, Machine Learning and Smart Automation
Photo by Conny Schneider on Unsplash
In my recent Chemical Processing Magazine column, "Barry on Batteries: Digitalization Tackles Battery Recycling's Operational Challenges," I posited that the battery recycling sector must evolve from simple physical processing into sophisticated…
Manual Revolution for Summer Driving
May 26, 2026Innovation Mindset
Photo by Alok Sharma on Unsplash
Sometimes after a hard day of solid-liquid separation testing or lithium ion battery recycling, it’s nice to unwind on the winding roads of North Carolina’s Smoky Mountains. And what better way to travel than with a mechanical click of a manual gear shift.
I…
Black Mass and Battery Materials Need Industrywide Testing Standards
In February, I had the opportunity to share my perspective on battery material testing standards in Avicenne Energy's Expert Corner. This is an abbreviated version of the article:
Right now, the lithium battery value chain has a blind spot: there’s no consistent, industrywide way to measure what’s…
Trekking with Gorillas and Solid-Liquid Separation Testing
March 31, 2026International Experience
Whoa, here we go. This is a blog on seemingly unrelated topics. Searching for gorillas in the jungles of Rwanda and solid-liquid filtration testing.
This past summer, my wife and I had the unique opportunity to go Trekking with the Gorillas in Rwanda. We hiked about 2.5 miles…
Environmental Controls for Lithium-ion Battery Recycling from Black Mass to Downstream Hydromet Processes
Lithium-ion battery recyclers and Hydromet processors can think like recyclers but must act like chemical plants. This is especially true for environmental emissions.
The lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) value chain a complex process from recycling to the…


