Readying Heartland’s quality lab
An inside look at our lab as we prepare to launch.
Agnieszka Lis, Laboratory Supervisor • HPC Operations
“The opportunity to build and design a brand-new laboratory only comes once, maybe twice in your lifetime”
Helping prepare North America’s first integrated PDH/PP facility for operational readiness is literally the opportunity of a lifetime, says Agnieszka Lis – known to her colleagues as Nish. As Laboratory Supervisor for product quality at Heartland Petrochemical Complex, Nish and her team of experts are busy testing and optimizing the leading-edge equipment and technologies that will ensure the highest quality-control standards as the facility prepares to certify product for delivery to global customers.
“The opportunity to build and design a brand-new laboratory only comes once, maybe twice in your lifetime,” Nish shared recently during a break in her work at the world-scale facility.
So, everyone who’s here right now, they’re extremely fortunate to be working on a project of this scale. It’s a very, very exciting time and process for us.
With the spirit of innovation and world-leading sustainability informing every aspect of the facility’s design, Nish says attracting top talent for the quality lab was paramount.
“This lab is unique because it supports three different industries,” she says. That includes supporting quality control for the Central Utility Block (CUB) power generation, the Propane Dehydrogenation Plant (PDH), as well as the Polypropylene Plant (PP). “We’ve had to bring in a diverse group of people who are able to support and sustain the operations.”
The team of highly specialized chemists and technicians has commissioned all equipment and is in the process of validating quality control samples. While Nish and her team “can’t wait for start-up”, they understand the importance of getting the lab set up just right to meet the highest standards of the rapidly expanding polymer industry.
“Bringing such high-level technology into the laboratory really assures the quality of the product coming out of the lab,” she explains.
This is extremely important for our customers, especially because every product that we make is going to have different specifications. The ability to manage all the controls for polypropylene and all the quality of the instruments is extremely critical.
To find out more about the technology and the people behind Heartland, visit our technology page. Sign up to hear more from us as we get ready to launch Heartland Polymers, and make sure to follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.
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