Dateline 2013-11-11, Azom (?):
The project by Queen’s University Ionic Liquid Laboratories (QUILL), in collaboration with Malaysian oil and gas giant PETRONAS, was the major winner at the Institute of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) Awards. As well as collecting the award for Outstanding Achievement in Chemical and Process Engineering, the team won the Sustainable Technology Award and Chemical Engineering Project of the year, marking it out as the best chemical engineering project for innovation in waste reduction.
This is The Apprentice’s Nick Hewer with Professor Jim Swindall, Co-founder of QUILL and Paul Haworth, Chief Process Engineer at Sellafield Ltd. Credit: Queen’s University Belfast
The QUILL and PETRONAS team were presented with their awards by The Apprentice star and Countdown host Nick Hewer at the awards ceremony in Bolton.
QUILL scientists beat off competition from companies and universities around the globe to win the awards. Their lab, the first of its kind in the world, developed a new ionic liquid material to remove hazardous mercury from natural gas. Ionic liquids or ‘super solvents’ are salts that remain liquid at room temperature and do not release hazardous vapours. They can be used as non-polluting (green) alternatives to conventional solvents, and are revolutionising chemical processes by offering a much more environmentally friendly and sustainable solution than traditional methods.
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Wata - Malaysian Oil and Gas Engineer 