Aux Sable’s Heartland Offgas Plant is an “Alberta First”

This past September marked another first-in-Alberta in Alberta’s Industrial Heartland. Aux Sable’s Heartland Offgas Plant (seen in photo) hit the start button, making them the first company in the province to extract ethane and hydrogen from an upgrader or refinery offgas stream. This “first” adds incredible potential for a new feedstock supply for Alberta’s petrochemical industry. It also adds yet another operation to the Heartland region’s growing list of industry and technology leading facilities.

Upon signing a long-term processing agreement with Shell Canada back in June 2010, construction and modifications began on the Heartland Offgas Plant. The agreement with Shell provided the necessary source of offgas feedstock to make the plant a reality, which was originally intended to process offgas from the on-hold BA Energy Upgrader.

The plant, now having operated for several months, turns the byproduct of upgrading and refining into a valuable feedstock. Instead of being retained and used as a fuel source for Shell Scotford’s operations, offgas is collected from Shell by Aux Sable. The Heartland Offgas Plant removes the NGLs and contaminants from the offgas to produce hydrogen, ethane, propane-plus mix and residue gas. These products are then returned to Shell through new pipelines sized to accommodate additional future volumes.

The positive environmental impact of converting a byproduct into several different components of notable value is significant. Swapping out offgas with cleaner burning natural gas for a fuel source reduces the greenhouse gas footprint of the upgrading and refining process. With world audiences paying interest to Alberta’s oil and gas industry and its environmental performance, operations like Aux Sable’s Heartland Offgas Plant play a very worthy role. In fact, the Heartland Offgas Plant project reduces Shell Scotford’s carbon footprint by about 200,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually, which is equivalent to taking 40,000 cars off the road.

Aux Sable’s commitment to adding value to Alberta’s upgrading and petrochemical industries is evident in their long term plans. Working alongside Shell, they are exploring development of similar offgas processing facilities in the Heartland region. Aux Sable has also formed an alliance with Dow Chemical Canada to develop processing facilities for upgrader offgas in other locations of the province.

The company’s long term plans also include dedicated local community involvement. Their support of charities and organizations with a focus on education and advocacy services help promote safe and healthy communities. This year alone, Aux Sable Canada sponsored the Boys and Girls Club in Fort Saskatchewan with a $5,000 donation and sponsored the Men’s Quarters Building of the North West Mounted Police Fort in Fort Saskatchewan with a $40,000 contribution.

As 2012 draws near, Aux Sable’s recently commissioned offgas plant is settling into their role as another Alberta-first in the Heartland. Creating additional exciting opportunities in environmental sustainability and Alberta’s petrochemical industry, the Heartland Offgas Plant is a very valuable “first” for the region.

For more information on Aux Sable, visit www.auxsable.com.