Invensys creates Virtual Reality Training System to Help U.S. Department of Energy Advance Clean Coal Power

Invensys Operations Management, a global provider of software solutions, technology systems, and consulting services to the process and manufacturing sectors, announced today that the United States Department of Energy (DOE) will use the businesses innovative EYESim™ virtual reality training solution as the centerpiece of a new high-tech training center to support the development of new generation zero-emission IGCC (Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle) power plants with carbon capture.
The IGCC training center is part of the DOE’s initiative to develop new clean-coal power plants which produce environmentally friendly electric power through burning fuel more efficiently. Under the terms of the contract, Invensys will provide a high-fidelity, full-scope, concurrent dynamic simulator for a generic IGCC plant with carbon capture. The DOE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory will operate the simulator at both a satellite location at West Virginia University’s National Research Center and its Dynamic Simulator Training and Research Center in Morgantown, W.Va.
Tom Fiske, Ph.D., ARC Advisory Group stated; "Industry specialists agree that the age of clean near zero-emission coal power is here, and we deem that EYESim technology from Invensys is a scalable resource for the quickly emerging clean-coal industry. As a powerful training and design solution, it will develop a highly cost-efficient, safe training environment, as well as develop expertise in the operation, control, and analysis of commercial-scale IGCC plants."
In November 2008, Invensys was awarded a contract by the DOE to simulate the IGCC process using its SimSci-Esscor DYNSIM® process modeling software. The most recent contract includes a 3-D virtual reality experience within the simulation.
Maurizio Rovaglio, Ph.D. and head of innovation and emerging technologies for Invensys Operations Management commented; "Using the joint solution capabilities of our SimSci-Esscor EYESim and DYNSIM technologies, we will create a high-fidelity model of a generic coal-fired IGCC power plant that operators and designers can interact with in real-time. Comparable to an immersive 3-D computer game, this simulation is derived from complex software that exactly models the physics of the plant’s operations, and is not merely based on an artistic rendering."