Albemarle Potential: Production Supervisor Longai Wang

Albemarle Potential: Production Supervisor Longai Wang

Albemarle Safety

Safety is at the core of how we operate at Albemarle. Our personal responsibility is to put the well-being of our employees, contractors, and community members at the forefront, and employees like Production Supervisor Longai Wang ensure we reach these goals. His quality of work drives our success around the globe, and we want to recognize the great work he does at Albemarle.

Longai has loved chemistry since he was young. This lifelong passion propelled him to pursue a bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering from the Nanchang University in Nanchang City, Jiangxi Province, China.

"Chemistry is a science that constantly invents and manufactures new substances beneficial to human beings," Longai said. "I'm lucky to work in an industry where technology and chemistry are always evolving; we have yet to maximize their full potential."

For over 17 years, Longai has worked in the Chemical Processing Industry. He came to Albemarle in March 2020 and has worked to ensure our Xinyu site in China operates efficiently and safely.

In 2021, he set on a project with his team to improve our Mechanical Vapor Recompression Evaporator (MVR) at the Xinyu plant. This equipment is a highly efficient and energy-saving evaporation system that uses low temperature and low-pressure steam technology and clean energy to produce steam and separate water from media. The team's goal was to eliminate potential safety hazards in the MVR. They determined emptying the evaporator before replacing the bottom drain valve would make blockages dissolve completely and safer for the operators. They also standardized operations by verifying the emptying of the evaporators with an endoscope. The endoscope would visually show them if any residual solution was still inside the evaporator. If there was, this could cause injury to operators when replacing valves.

Thankfully, all this work done by Longai and his team increased safety measures and decreased compressor surges that caused the blocking. These improvements also helped the MVR evaporator be more efficient, saving cost and improving product quality and quantity.

Longai is proud of the work he's doing for Albemarle. His curiosity and care for others push him to strive for better solutions and work environments for himself and his co-workers.

Outside of work, Longai has many hobbies, but his favorite is watching football (soccer) games, which helps him relax after a long day at work.