Prof Baba El-Yakubu will speak on fluid catalytic cracking zeolite-based catalysts in ABU tomorrow
. At the ABU-PTDF Professorial Chair close-out seminar
The outgoing Occupant of the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) Professorial Chair in Chemical Engineering, Ahmadu Bello University, Prof Baba El-Yakubu, will tomorrow make a presentation at a close-out seminar, marking the expiration of his tenure as the head of the research body.
Prof El-Yakubu will speak on ‘Refinery Fluid Catalytic Cracking Zeolite-Based Catalyst: Its Deactivation and Passivation’.
The close-out seminar is part of the requirements for the PTDF Chair Professor to give a lecture as he or she is exiting after the tenure expiration.
The hybrid event, which will be chaired by the former National President, Nigerian Society of Chemical Engineers, Prof S S Adefila, will take place at 11: am at ACENPEE Building, Engineering Phase III, ABU, Zaria on Thursday, 3rd July, 2025.
The Vice-Chancellor, Prof Adamu Ahmed, is expected to declare the event open, just as the Executive Secretary, Petroleum Technology Development Fund, Ahmed Galadima Aminu, will serve as a Special Guest of Honour.
For over two decades, the PTDF – Chair Research Group at Ahmadu Bello University has made significant contributions to zeolite-catalysts.
This is largely because of the materials’ scientific importance and the potential for import substitution in a hydrocarbon-rich country like Nigeria.
The PTDF Chair has extensively worked on the Fluid Catalytic Cracking (FCC) catalyst, and more recently, on the Residue Fluid Catalytic Cracking (RFCC) catalysts.
The research topic is important as the FCC unit is considered the most vital catalytic conversion unit and the primary source of revenue for refineries.
For example, the largest upcoming refineries with FCC units worldwide (from 2021 to 2025) include the Dangote Refinery in Nigeria.
Now, the primary aim of the Chair is to provide further insights into the synthesis, deactivation, and passivation of zeolite-based catalysts.
After the Chair has secured intellectual property, the next step is to commercialise zeolite-based catalyst production in Nigeria, building on over twenty years of academic research, industry collaboration, and International partnerships.
The newly appointed PTDF Chair Occupant, Prof Abdulazeez Yusuf Atta, said by establishing an indigenous value chain for zeolite catalyst manufacturing, Nigeria could improve its refining efficiency, conserve foreign exchange, and support environmental sustainability.
Prof Atta, who released the information about tomorrow’s event, will give a closing remark at the close-out seminar.
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Public Affairs Directorate,
Office of the Vice-Chancellor,
Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria (NAM)
Wednesday, 2nd July, 2025
