Heartland Polymers has successfully started up its propane dehydrogenation (PDH) plant, which is now providing on-site feedstock for North America’s only integrated, single-site commercial polypropylene (PP) production.

“Thanks to the dedication and hard work of our operations team, I am proud to report that our propane dehydrogenation plant has been providing a reliable onsite source of feedstock to our polypropylene production since the end of 2022,” says Todd Karran, CEO at Heartland Polymers. “Heartland is responsibly producing and shipping polypropylene to customers daily, and we continue to focus on optimizing our service.

“As the new entrant to the market and one that brings Heartland’s promise of reliability, service and sustainability, there is high interest in our products,” he adds. “We expect it will continue to grow now that we have achieved commercial production.”

Heartland Polymers produced approximately 200 million pounds of polypropyelen in 2022 after initial production began in July, followed by the PDH plant’s start-up in October 2022. Located in Alberta, Canada, east of the Rocky Mountains, Heartland is unique to the industry, producing both polymer grade propylene (PGP) feedstock and PP product at a single site.

Heartland’s PP plant and its cogeneration central utilities block (CUB) were commissioned earlier in 2022. Before the PDH plant entered into service, Heartland was producing PP with PGP feedstock from parent company Inter Pipeline’s NGL business, Canada’s only PGP producer prior to PDH entering into service. This alternate feed source enabled Heartland to begin PP production in late fall 2022 and remains a key aspect of Heartland’s reliability in addition to its optimal geographic location.

Heartland is currently producing a range of homopolymers with a plan to add random copolymers to its production schedule later in 2023. Production currently focuses on serving the high demand for film, sheet extrusion, fibers and injection molding.