4 November 2011

Costain Energy & Process has received four coveted industry awards at the prestigious IChemE Awards for Innovation and Excellence.

The awards, presented by the Institution of Chemical Engineers, recognise all aspects of chemical, process and biochemical engineering, and attract submissions from around the world.

Robert Smyth, a Process Engineer with Costain Energy & Process, received the Young Engineer of the Year Award. Robert has both a B.Eng (Hons) in Chemical Engineering and an MSc in Chemical Process Design from Manchester University. He had previously been recognised in the 2009 NOF Energy Awards as Best Newcomer to the Industry. Robert was shortlisted with entries including BP, Sabic and Shell.

Steve Jackson, who led the development of Costain’s carbon capture technology, which was also recognised by the IChemE, received the Innovator of the Year Award. Steve is a leading authority in carbon capture and heads Costain’s technology development team in this field. Other shortlisted nominations included entries from leading academics from University of Tokyo, University of Queensland, University of Colorado and University of Singapore.

Costain’s next generation carbon capture technology received the Highly Commended Award in the Core Chemical Engineering category. The innovative process, developed by Costain, significantly reduces the amount of carbon dioxide produced by coal-fired power stations. Costain received funding from the Energy Technologies Institute in July of this year to develop the technology for advancing capture rates in a pre-combustion application.

Costain was also awarded Highly Commended in the Chemical Engineering Project of the Year category for the Holford Underground Gas Storage project.  Costain designed and constructed the gas processing plant for E.ON’s underground gas storage facility in Cheshire. The facility will play a vital role in meeting the UK’s energy needs, with a storage capacity of up to 160 million cubic metres, with a daily withdrawal capacity to supply 3.5 million homes.

Costain also sponsored the Education and Training award. Frank Millar, Costain Hydrocarbons & Chemicals Sector Director, who presented the award on the night, said: “Costain is committed to encouraging the next generation of engineers, and places a high priority on skills and people development within our organisation.”

Costain Energy & Process Managing Director, Charles Sweeney, said: “At Costain we are committed to bringing forward innovative solutions to meet the challenges facing the energy and process industry.’’ He added, “We were delighted to receive the awards from the IChemE as they are internationally recognised as a standard of excellence and achievement.’’

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