(33d) Virtual Reality Technology for Knowledge Transfer in Process Facilities

Traditional chemical engineering has been undergoing several innovations related to market dynamics, especially in the oil and gas industry where the apparent sudden entry of natural gas is driving creative technology strategies to resolve resource, environment and safety topics.  To summarize the problems, in addition to the growth in certain process engineering sectors there is a decrease in human resources as a result of the retiring work force and a dramatic increase in data as a by-product of complexity and innovation.  As a result, one of the areas that has seen a lot of interest recently is interactive visualization of process facilities.  Major companies are looking at this technology to facilitate digital retention of retiring knowledge as well as enable new engineers. Universities have also started to look at these technologies to train students on complex engineering topics.  

This papers overviews the different interactive visualization technologies and their drivers.  How are technologies such as virtual reality and augmented reality used to improve process facilities engineering?  The paper also reviews when and how interactive visualization tools add value in the asset lifecycle. Finally this paper will present the maturity of these technologies in the industry and provide forward looking ideas of what is to come.