Plant-VR: Virtual reality system for designing modular process plants in the chemical and petrochemical industries

Plant-VR aimed to develop a virtual reality system for designing modular process plants in the chemical and petrochemical industries, taking advantage of the market opportunity offered by the modularization of industrial plants.

The project's objectives were:

• To develop an engine that generates virtual environments from CAD3D files, with plant models optimized through modularization.
• To automate the conversion of surface models (CAD3D) into mesh models, which virtual reality engines require.
• To validate the system through tests from the perspective of the design and assembly of modular plants.
• To evaluate the means of integrating the virtual reality engine and to study the physics applicable to the virtual environment.

The core areas of Plant-VR were:

• Virtual reality engine: development of an engine that generates virtual environments from CAD3D files, with a method for dividing the original models into independent parts for individual processing.
• Design and assembly tests: validation of the system through test reports from the perspective of the design and assembly of modular plants.
• Integration and physics of the virtual environment: evaluation of the means of integrating the engine and study of the physics applicable to the generated virtual environment.

The consortium formed by IDESA Industrial Plants, AST Ingeniería, Fluid System, and Vortica had the collaboration of CTIC, which contributed the development of the engine that generates virtual environments from CAD3D files.