NARICT engineer wins national chemical engineers’ award

An engineer with the National Research Institute for Chemical Technology (NARICT), Zaria, Dr. Diya’uddeen Basheer Hassan, has won the Best Prize for the prestigious Boskel Chemical Engineering Award with a cash reward of N1m.

Dr. Hasan, who is the Head of Industrial and Environmental Technology Department (IETD) of NARICT, won the award for his work on ‘Design and Development of a Fenton Oxidative Water Treatment Plant.’

The Fenton Research Project, according to Professor Idris Bugaje, the Director General of NARICT, is an on-going research work and the flagship project of the IETD.

“The research demonstrated, for the first time, that raw Petroleum Refining Effluent (PRE) can be effectively treated without any pre-treatment step using Fenton Oxidative Technology. To date, the petroleum industry treats its effluent in multiple stages. A publication from the work was also ranked by Elsevier Publishers (Netherlands) as the 4th in the Top 25 Hottest Articles ranking of the most downloaded articles in 2012.

“The research potential of the work is being recognized both locally and internationally. This assertion is informed by the interest generated from different Governments, Agencies and the Industry,” Professor Bugaje said.

The award was presented by Dr. Abubakar L. Yar Adua, a former Group Managing Director (GMD) of the NNPC and President of the Nigerian Society for Chemical Engineers (NSChE) at the 44th Annual Dinner/Award Programmme of the NSChE held at Concorde Hotel, Imo State.