Twelve propane dehydrogenation (PDH) plants are in different stages of construction and when they become operational, Iran will turn into a major producer of polypropylene, managing director of the National Petrochemical Company said.
According to Morteza Shah-Mirzaei, the executive operations of Pars Petrochemical PDH project with an investment of about $900 million and the PDH project of Parsian Sepehr Refining Company with an investment of $860 million started earlier this week, the Oil Ministry’s news agency Shana reported.
The annual feedstock of PDH at Parsian Sepehr Refining Company will be 600,000 tons per year of propane and will produce 300,000 tons of polypropylene, 140,000 tons of acrylic acid and 180,000 tons of superabsorbent per year.
The plant will be built on a 31-hectare land in the Pars I site of Asalouyeh, southern Iran.
The projects seek to complete the propane value chain. PDH is used to produce polymer-grade propylene from propane independent of a steam cracker or fluid catalytic cracking unit.
Propylene is the second most important product in the petrochemical industry after ethylene. It is the raw material for plastic polypropylene, which component is mainly used in the automotive, textile and packaging industries.
The primary source of propylene is from cracking naphtha and other liquids such as gas oil and condensates to produce ethylene. However, propane can also be used to produce propylene.
In Iran, propane is produced at the Bandar Imam Khomeini Petrochemical Complex and Bidboland Gas Treatment Plant and will be used as feedstock for the new PDH plants.
At present, about 1 million tons of propylene are produced annually in the country and the output is expected to increase by 3 million tons or 300% over the next three years.
Propylene is a strategic commodity in the petrochemical industries. It can be transformed into value added products like polypropylene and create jobs in the downstream petrochemical sector.
Polypropylene – the world's second-most widely produced synthetic plastic, after polyethylene – is used in a variety of applications, including packaging, labeling, textiles, carpets, stationery, plastic parts and reusable containers, laboratory equipment, loudspeakers, automotive parts and polymer banknotes.
