Virtual tour of the catalysis lab

News - 15 February 2018 - Communication TNW

The new industrial catalysis lab is still under construction, but a few colleagues were already able to go for a walk inside the building last Monday. In 3D virtual reality, that is. A nice and very useful experience, as it turned out!

There is a limit to what can be shown in text and drawings. You can really only get a good impression of the spatial layout of a building by walking walk through it. And that is exactly the opportunity that Harrie Jansma, research technician at Chemical Engineering, was given. After a brief plenary explanation of the various spaces, Harrie immersed himself in the world of VR. He reviewed the installations and connections extensively. Apart from other participants from our faculty, the project group and the design team were also able to ask the installer about dimensions, distances, equipment and connections.

β€˜It was very valuable to take a look at my future workplace,’ Harrie said. β€˜I could even look under a table top, to see where exactly the connection for the special power supply will be. We could also see where the fume hood and the furniture will be positioned. This is an excellent way to get an impression of the amount of movement space, among other things. We were able to critically review everything in order to get the exact building we would like to get. I could have walked around the virtual lab for hours.’

 

The catalysis lab is a technically complex building, due to the specific requirements for the research that will take place there. There will be quite a number of installations for air treatment, various gases under high pressure, electrical equipment and - staged - safety mechanisms, all on a relatively small surface area. The construction of this new lab is in full swing and will be completed by the end of this year.