PETRONAS make their mark at Malaysia chemical engineering awards

Tonight’s Institution of Chemical Engineers’ (IChemE) Malaysia Awards celebrated outstanding achievements in the Malaysian chemical engineering community. An annual event, it concluded the second leg of the Institution’s Global Awards programme.

It was a successful night for PETRONAS, who claimed three trophies and four runner-up mentions.

IChemE president, Dr Andrew Jamieson, welcomed guests to the dinner, and presented the first award of the night: Industry Project of the Year, to the Malaysian Pepper Board. The board has supported the development of a novel fertilizer, which increases soil pH and boosts the efficiency of nutrient uptake by black pepper plants.

Dr Ho Wai Shin was named best Young Chemical Engineer in Research. A lecturer in renewable energy engineering at the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), his latest work in sustainable energy and water impressed the judges. UTM’s community education project, Education for All also took home the Education and Training Award, sponsored by PETRONAS.

PETRONAS was well-represented in the Young Chemical Engineer in Industry category. Process safety engineer Ezmad b Ab Rashid won the award, but couldn’t attend the ceremony. Chemical engineer Ainul Najwa Sazali, also at PETRONAS, was a close second.

The company also went on to win the Oil and Gas Award, for a new low-viscosity drilling fluid. They also scooped the Sustainable Technology Award, sponsored by Schaefer Kalk.

Sime Darby Plantation triumphed in the Palm Oil Industry Award category. Their winning project focuses on increasing olein yield to tackle the problem of stockpiling.

Asean Bintulu Fertilizer (ABF) picked up the Process Safety trophy for their work 'Leading indicators Approach to Process Safety'. ABF’s new operational risk approach identifies potential hazards using dynamic risk analyzer technology.

Away from the main awards programme, six process safety specialists from ERM and PETRONAS were awarded with IChemE's new Associate Member (Process Safety) registration - the first safety professionals in Malaysia to do so.

IChemE’s Malaysia board chair, Paul Ellis, closed the show and he said: 'Chemical engineering matters in Malaysia and tonight was all about recognising some of our nation’s great achievements in the discipline. We’ve celebrated both individual and corporate success. Our national awards programme has gained real momentum this year - with a record-breaking number of entries, and an fantastic turn-out tonight.'

The IChemE Malaysia Awards 2015 were held at the Le Meridien Hotel, Kuala Lumpur, on 26 October 2015.

Official winners of the IChemE Malaysia Awards 2015

Chemical Engineering Industry Project of the Year Award (Malaysia) sponsored by IChemE Biochemical Engineering Special Interest Group

Winner: 'A Fertilizer Composition for Black Pepper', Malaysian Pepper Board (MPB)
Highly commended: 'Energy Solution Through Heat Loss Recovery', PETRONAS Chemicals Derivatives Sdn Bhd

Summary of winning entry: This fertilizer comprising both inorganic and organic components enriched with supplemental microorganisms. It increases soil pH and boosts the efficiency of nutrient uptake. The composition also enhances the long-term retention of nutrients in soil and improves pepper berry quality. This invention has been filed for patent and MPB have transferred this technology for commercialization purposes. Approval is pending for international product marketing.

Education and Training Award (Malaysia) sponsored by PETRONAS GTS

Winner: ‘Education for All', Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
Highly commended: 'Process Plant Safety Leadership Program', Asean Bintulu Fertilizer

Summary of winning entry: Education for All: Democratising Knowledge for the Community is the Universiti Teknologi’s programme of transferring relevant knowledge and practical skills to the community. To create economic opportunities and to promote healthy living, it utilises the biodiversity of herbs or medicinal plants, either from the forest or through a sustainable farming programme. This programme has been adopted and adapted by Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

Oil and Gas Award (Malaysia) sponsored by PETRONAS

Winner: 'MG3DF - 1st PETRONAS Drilling Fluid', PETRONAS Penapisan (Melaka) Sdn Bh
Highly commended: 'De-acidification of High Acid Crude Oils', PETRONAS

Summary of winning entry: MG3DFTM is the first PETRONAS drilling fluid to be produced at their Melaka Refinery. The product exhibits superior drilling fluid performances in low-temperature conditions. Low viscosity delivers improved drilling performance. MG3DFTM also has a low aromatic content and a higher flash point for improved safety and environmental performance.

Palm Oil Industry Award (Malaysia) sponsored by KLK Oleo

Winner: 'Palm Oil Olein Yield Improvement Project', Sime Darby Plantation Sdn Bhd
Highly commended: 'Pioneer and Innovative Palm Olechemcal Producer', IOI Oleochemical Industry Berhad

Summary of winning entry: As one of the largest producers of palm oil, Sime Darby Plantation is periodically faced with stockpiles that can reduce the price of refined palm oil product. In order to sustain downstream business, refiners must reduce oil loss in physical refineries and increase high value olein yield. Sime Darby’s project resulted in improved yields through a Lean Six Sigma approach and registered a cost saving of RM1.6 million per annum in 2013.

Process Safety Award (Malaysia) sponsored by MMI Engineering

Winner: 'Leading indicators Approach to Process Safety', Asean Bintulu Fertilizer Sdn Bhd
Highly commended: 'Deep Dive Audit: Future of PSM', PETRONAS Chemicals Ammonia Sdn Bhd

Summary of winning entry: ABF has embarked on a new operational risk approach, focusing on leading and hidden risk indicators through the utilization of Dynamic Risk Analyzer (DRA) tools. Since the initial roll-out, ABF has benefited by early identification of plant problems leading to avoidance of potential process safety and plant reliability issues.

Sustainable Technology Award (Malaysia) sponsored by Schaefer Kalk

Winner: 'Palm-Based Polyester Polyols and Polyol Esters', PETRONAS
Highly commended: 'Integrated Recovery and Regeneration System', Eureka Synergy Sdn Bhd

Summary of winning entry: A new synthesis approach was developed for the production of bio-based polyols and polyol esters from palm oil based fatty acids. These chemicals are important intermediates in the production of polyurethanes and lubricants. The products from this process have proven to perform on a par with petroleum derived equivalents.

Young Chemical Engineer in Industry Award (Malaysia) sponsored by PETRONAS

Winner: Ezmal b Ab. Rashid, PETRONAS
Highly commended: Ainul Najwa Sazali, PETRONAS

Summary of winning entry: As a process safety engineer, Ezmal is committed to managing risk effectively. He gained prominence as a PETRONAS Certified HAZOP Leader and now plays a pivotal role in design safety for major capital projects.

Young Chemical Engineer in Research Award (Malaysia) sponsored by IChemE Education Special Interest Group

Winner: Ho Wai Shin, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
Highly commended: Poh Phaik Eong, Monash University Malaysia and Adi Aizat bin Razali, PETRONAS

Summary of winning entry: Dr. Ho Wai Shin specialises in process planning/scheduling, modelling, simulation and optimization focusing on mathematical modelling approach and pinch analysis. His research activities are focused on sustainability which includes energy, water, and waste management. He contributed to the Low Carbon Society Blueprint for Iskandar Malaysia 2015 and set-up of the first low carbon village of FELDA Taib Andak, Malaysia.