Chemical Engineering January 2022 - 22

Cover Story
Process Commercialization:
The 2021 Kirkpatrick Chemical
Engineering Achievement Award
IN BRIEF
HALDOR TOPSOE
BQE WATER
DOW DEUTSCHLAND
DOW INDUSTRIAL
INTERMEDIATES &
INFRASTRUCTURE
SAPPHIRE
TECHNOLOGIES
T
o honor the efforts of those chemical
engineers and their companies that
have successfully commercialized a
new process for the first time, Chemical
Engineering magazine has been bestowing
its Kirkpatrick Chemical Engineering
Achievement Award since 1933.
The aim of the Award is to recognize
and honor the most noteworthy chemicalengineering
technology
commercialized
anywhere in the world during the two years
prior to a given award year. The results for
the 2021 Kirkpatrick Chemical Engineering
Achievement Award are as follows:
Winning Award
* Haldor Topsoe A/S (Lyngby, Denmark;
www.topsoe.com), for its hydrotreating
catalyst TK-6001 HySwell (Figure 1)
Honor Awards
* BQE Water (Vancouver, BC, Canada;
www.bqewater.com): Selen-IX Technology
* Dow Deutschland Anlagengesellschaft
mbH (Walsrode, Germany; www.dow.
com): Walocel Cellulose-Ether Product
* Dow Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure
(Midland, Mich.; www.dow.com):
Syntegra Solvent-Free PU Dispersion
* Sapphire Technologies (Cerritos,
Calif.; www.sapphiretechnologies.com):
FreeSpin Turboexpander Generator
These companies join the long and distinguished
roster
of
past winners, which
includes such milestones as LanzaTech for
Emissions-to-Ethanol Fermentation Technology
(2019); CB&I and Albemarle Corp. (2017),
for the AlkyClean process - the world's first
solid catalyst alkylation process; Lucite International
for
2021
BOARD OF JUDGES
Jean-Claude Charpentier, Université de Lorraine
École Nationale Supérieure des Industries Chimiques, France
Abhaya K. Datye, University of New Mexico
Mario Richard Eden, Auburn University, Alabama
Mark Swihart, University at Buffalo, New York
Thomas Turek, TU Clausthal, Germany
Michael S. Wong, Rice University, Texas
22
its Alpha process
for making
methyl methacrylate
(2009);
Cargill Dow LLC
for its production
of thermoplastic
resin
from corn (2003); Monsanto hollow-fiber
membranes for gas separation (1981); Union
Carbide low-pressure low-density polyethylene
(1979); M.W. Kellogg single-train ammonia
plants (1967); the U.S. synthetic rubber
industry (1943); and Standard Oil Development
Co. aviation fuels (1939). A complete
list of all past winners can be found at: www.
chemengonline.com/kirkpatrick-award.
Although the staff of Chemical Engineering
organizes and bestows the award, neither
the editors nor others associated with
the magazine play any role in the selection or
judging of the winner. Instead, the winner is
selected by a Board of Judges (BOJ) comprised
of current chairs of chemical engineering
departments at accredited U.S. and
E.U. universities (box below). The members
of the BOJ are, in turn, selected by chemical
engineering department chairs of accredited
U.S. and E.U. universities. It is this unbiased
selection process, combined with a more
than 88-year tradition that makes the Kirkpatrick
Award one of the most prestigious
honors that a chemical process industries
(CPI) company can receive.
This article presents more details about
the process technologies honored in 2021.
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM
JANUARY 2022

http://www.topsoe.com http://www.bqewater.com https://www.dow.com/en-us https://www.dow.com/en-us http://www.dow.com https://www.chemengonline.com/kirkpatrick-award http://www.sapphiretechnologies.com http://WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM

Chemical Engineering January 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Chemical Engineering January 2022