Specific benefits for Process
industries
Design integrity and design
practices
 Most large processing plants are
designed using 3D CAD systems. Although the 3D CAD viewer makes the
physical aspects of a detailed design easier to understand and
review, the potential benefit is lost to some degree by
non-technical people because the use of 3D CAD viewers generally
requires specific skills. Ease of use makes Walkinside an ideal tool
for review.
In the mining industry, projects in which new
technology is being developed and implemented can suffer from poor
engineering management or inappropriate engineering practices.
Operators require that best practices be applied by the design
engineer to ensure that any new concept is designed to be
safe.
Visualization of the entire asset during the design
stage allows early detection of design flaws and ergonomic
requirements. Users can highlight and make notes on the virtual
model to indicate design and construction observations.
Hands-on training in the mining industry is
generally very expensive. The use of virtual environments in the
first phases of the training process allows a company to avoid
operational mistakes and increase safety.
Through ProcessLife, custom-developed interfaces
provide additional functionality by linking equipment tags
interactively with dynamic process models and Process &
Instrumentation Diagram-based prototype control systems. This
links a level of detail that is best shown in 2D with a spatial
awareness that is only possible in 3D.
Live interactivity between the 3D model, the control
system, and the dynamic process model enables many functions,
including:
From Process & Instrumentation Diagrams:
-
tagging in the 3D model
-
opening and closing valves
-
starting and stopping equipment
-
switching equipment between auto and manual modes
to enable or disable interlocks and logic
-
seeing live analog tag values, bar indicators, and
short-term trends
-
recalling data from history files long-term
trends
-
changing P&ID modes between auto, manual,
cascade, and slave
-
setting P&ID tuning parameters and controller
output when on manual
-
logging on in multiple languages to see tool tips,
descriptions, and help
-
logging on as a learner or instructor to see
additional information and initiate faults
From within the 3D model:
-
jumping to tags selected from the search
list
-
seeing value, status, and description for an
object you are standing in front of
-
opening and closing (partially or fully) manual
valves
-
starting or stopping equipment
-
locking out or unlocking equipment to prepare for
maintenance tasks
-
breaking or fixing equipment
Asset
management
Management of large assets or modular complex
systems is facilitated in VR environments. Users can navigate or
walk through models, and they can zoom to equipment components by
clipping away casing and other layers.
Control
room
VR models allow operators to view real-time
production data and to quickly identify the closest available field
operator. | 