Next* Magazine, Issue 4 - Chevron

Renner immerses himself in a virtual conferenceroom while waiting for operations colleagues at theSalt Lake and Richmond refineries to enter. Rennerrecounts an experience in which trainees, when theywere in the physical refinery, identified aspects thathadn’t been discussed during the virtual training butthat they had noticed on their own.colleagues from around the world in real time. In this virtual world are note-taking tools, processdocuments and all the necessary resources for collaboration. If it sounds like something out of avideo game, you’re not far off.“I saw how my kids became so immersed in gaming that they were in another world, and Iknew educators were leveraging that in school and home-learning environments,” said Renner.“I thought it would be interesting and useful to try and bring those same 3-D immersive advantagesto Chevron. It has proved to be a powerful tool with almost limitless possibilities to help uswork smarter, more safely and more effectively.”The journey from concept to reality, or virtual reality, required collaborating with operationsthroughout Chevron. They needed to buy in to this new technology and the real-world advantagesit offered. After evangelizing his vision and allocating a budget, Renner and his partnersbuilt a proof-of-concept model—a precursor to the pilot—of the Salt Lake Refinery.“Funding and building the system were just the initial hurdles,” said Renner. “The level ofcomputer savvy varies across the company. Some people are more used to manipulating avatarsand exploring 3-D virtual environments. With others, their eyes sort of glaze over when youbegin to talk about technology like this. So we had to find the right way of communicating ourvision to those who would be using it and get them not only proficient in it but excited to use it.”Three test casesThe Salt Lake Refinery offered the perfect proving ground for Renner’s program because a 3-Dvirtual model of its new hydrotreating unit already existed and could be imported into the newsystem with no additional design time or costs.Three test cases were designed for the virtual environment. For operations and maintenanceplanning, Renner created a scenario in which a compressor wasn’t operating properly;colleagues from different parts of the refinery had to collaborate on how to rearrange the plantwhile maintenance was conducted.“Colleagues in specific roles look at a compressor differently in this situation,” said Renner.“Our program allowed all of these people to interact in a virtual room, bringing their specificarea of expertise and the ability to access all relevant documents.”PHOTOS: MAURA WARNECKE26 | Next*