Chemical Engineering March 2023 - 13

ECOM Instrument
NavVis VLX, " says Bridges. Henkel
AG (Düsseldorf, Germany; www.
henkel.com) used
NavVis' technologies
to create a complete digital
copy of a manufacturing facility
in
FIGURE 3. In addition to its intended functionality,
any wearable device should also be designed for
the wearer's comfort
documentation of incidents not only
quantitatively, but also qualitatively. "
Geolocation and mapping
A new frontier for wearable technologies
is in mapping, location and scanning
applications. The NavVis VLX
wearable
mobile
mapping
system
(Figure 4) developed by NavVis GmbH
(Munich, Germany; www.navvis.com)
is said to enable up to 10 times faster
data capture than terrestrial laser
scanners, even in complex outdoor
environments like chemical plants and
petroleum refineries. " This makes it
possible for projects to capture larger
areas at earlier project phases, " explains
Nate Bridges, senior account
executive at NavVis. The NavVis VLX
captures data in three dimensions
using two multi-layer light-detection
and ranging (LiDAR) sensors and a
proprietary simultaneous localization
and mapping (SLAM) algorithm to develop
point clouds (Figure 5). Whereas
other scanning tools require significant
training for users, the NavVis VLX
system has built-in features to help
mitigate human errors during data
capture, and is compatible with industry-standard
tools, adds Bridges.
" The versatility offered by a wearable
laser scanner like NavVis VLX allows
the user to capture more complete
datasets in some of the most complex
environments while obtaining
highly accurate point-cloud data and
panoramic imagery, all without having
as many personnel on site. "
The NavVis VLX has been used in
plants during conceptual planning,
model verification, maintenance and
turnarounds. " Turnaround management
groups are utilizing NavVis VLX
technology to digitalize their turnaround
planning, and inspections divisions
are managing their inspection
points using 3D data captured with
Serbia, which engineers could remotely
" visit " for inspection, optimization
and training activities. This virtual
plant was made possible by the
use of wearable and wheel-mounted
mapping systems.
Monitoring worker safety and
health is one of the key drivers behind
advancements in wearable devices.
The Safety Watch real-time
location-monitoring solution (RTLS)
from Honeywell Process Solutions
(HPS; Phoenix, Ariz.; process.
honeywell.com) aims to help mitigate
operational and safety risks by using
radio-frequency identification (RFID)
to monitor employee assigned location
and fatigue, and identify when
an employee enters a restricted
area. Beyond employee health, the
Smart Watch's geolocation capabilities
provide benefits for security and
emergency response, says Veronica
Turner, industrial safety solutions
leader for Latin America at HPS. " The
old method of emergency mustering
is that employees needed to approach
a mustering area, and they
typically would have to swipe their
badge to get accounted. With this
solution, they just need to approach
the area and then a receiver will get
the signal from their specific device
and count them, " she notes. According
to Honeywell, Smart Watch use
can reduce mustering time by up to
80% when compared to more manual
processes. This functionality is especially
useful during major events, such
as turnarounds, when there could be
hundreds of additional contractors
on site who must be accounted for.
For security, the platform can implement
" virtual walls " within a plant site
to minimize the number of people entering
hazardous areas, or to ensure
that there is no unauthorized entry to
sensitive locations. " The platform can
quickly create geo-fencing that can
immediately start giving alerts based
on company protocols. There is a lot
of flexibility - you can block an area
for a few hours during maintenance
work, or you can permanently block
certain areas, " notes Turner. For perCHEMICAL
ENGINEERING WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM
MARCH 2023
The industrial metaverse
A category of wearable devices that
has been quickly gaining ground in
industrial applications is headsets
that
support virtual
reality
(VR)
or
augmented reality (AR) technology
platforms. Such headsets are just
one facet in the burgeoning industrial
" metaverse " - a term essentially
encompassing the collaborative and
connected, persistent virtual environment
enabled by 3D digital
sonnel health and safety, the devices
can detect falls, and include a " panic
button " that sends a notification in the
event of a serious incident.
twins.
" People are getting somewhat hardwired
that when we use the word
'metaverse,' that means we wear a
headset, " says Simon Bennett, global
head of innovation and incubation at
Aveva (Cambridge, U.K.; www.aveva.
com). " But that's not how we perceive
it at all. We think that we should be
able to enter the metaverse on our
laptop, phone or tablet as well, because
the value of the metaverse is
about connecting people and data. "
Chemical processing facilities can
benefit greatly from the virtual nature
of the industrial metaverse because
of the massive volumes of data that
are constantly being collected, as well
as the hazardous and sensitive nature
of the products and processes that
are encountered. " Every single item
within a chemical processing environment
is a live machine or process that
needs to be tracked, and we should
be able to interact with the data feeds
coming from it, " adds Bennett. " The
metaverse provides an opportunity for
specialists to meet together in a 3D
space, but not a 3D space like a conference
room. The 3D space is their
actual asset. "
In Aveva's industrial metaverse concept,
people are able to enter a 3D
model of a running chemical plant
NavVis
FIGURE 4. This wearable system makes scanning
and mapping facilities much more streamlined
13
http://www.henkel.com http://www.honeywell.com http://www.navvis.com http://www.aveva.com http://WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM
Chemical Engineering March 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Chemical Engineering March 2023
