Prof. Junwang Tang was presented with the IChemE Global Awards 2022 - Oil and Gas Award

Prof. Junwang Tang is a Member of Academia Europaea, Fellow of the European Academy of Sciences, Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and Professor of Materials Chemistry and Engineering in the Department of Chemical Engineering at University College London.

His research interests encompass photocatalytic small molecule activation (eg. CH4, N2, H2O, C6H6 and CO2) and microwave catalysis (e.g. plastic recycling), together with the investigation of the underlying charge dynamics and kinetics by state-of-the-art spectroscopies. In parallel, he also explores the design of the chemical reactors for the above-mentioned processes, resulting in >220 papers published in Nature Catalysis, Nature Energy, Nature Reviews Materials, Chemical Reviews, Chem. Soc. Rev. Materials Today, Nature Commu., JACS, Angew Chemie with >22,000 citations.

The IChemE Global Award is to commend groups or individuals who have made great contributions in the fields of chemistry, process science, biochemistry and other engineering areas, and this award is also considered the most influential award in the field of chemical engineering in the world.

The Oil and Gas Award is one of the most competitive awards, nominees for this award are generally large international petroleum and petrochemical companies or organizations, and in rare cases it will be awarded to individuals. This year's finalist of nominees includes:

BP International and Baker Hughes, UK – Greener Chemistry

BP International, UK and Veolia WTS, Germany – Anti-fouling Treatment with Dynamic Predictive Modelling

National Energy Technology Laboratory, Energy and Environmental Research Center (EERC), North Dakota Industrial Commission Oil and Gas Research Program (NDIC OGRP) and Nuverra Environmental Solutions, USA – Produced Water Management Through GHCR

North Carolina State University, USA, Norwegian University of Science & Technology and SINTEF Industry, Norway – 2nd-Generation Carbon-capture Polymer Membranes

PETRONAS Group Research and Technology, Malaysia – Nanobubble for Enhanced Separation

University College London, UK – Methane to Valuable Chemicals

University of Alberta, Canada – Research Associate/Instructor

Professor Junwang Tang's nominated technology "High-value conversion of methane" is appraised by the IChemE Gloabal Awards Judging Panel as ‘development and innovative of photocatalytic technology, which could produce liquid fuels and other high-value chemicals, not only could tackle the environmental challenges, but also create significant environmental benefits.