VR Training for Carbon Capture Plants: Preparing Operators for New CCS Processes

Relevant case studies

Blog post: 04/11/2026 9:33 am

Author: Spark Team

VR Training for Carbon Capture Plants: Preparing Operators for New CCS Processes

Carbon capture is bringing unfamiliar process equipment and operating procedures into power generation, cement, chemicals, refining, waste-to-energy and other industrial environments.

For the people who will operate and maintain these systems, the challenge is not simply understanding what carbon capture is. They need practical competence in the actual process installed at their facility.

Training for a New Layer of Process Plant

A carbon capture installation can add new process stages, equipment and interfaces to an existing industrial facility.

Personnel may need to become familiar with:

• Capture equipment.
• Absorption or separation processes.
• Regeneration systems.
• Pumps and compressors.
• CO2 conditioning.
• Pressure equipment.
• Monitoring systems.
• Connections to transport infrastructure.

VR can provide a digital training facility in which these systems are explored interactively.

From Process Diagram to Operational Understanding

Process diagrams remain essential engineering tools, but immersive environments can help personnel understand how the diagram relates to the physical plant.

A trainee can follow the process through the facility and identify the equipment associated with each stage.

Interactive overlays could demonstrate simplified flows during training before the learner is required to navigate the environment without assistance.

Practising Start-Up and Shutdown

Start-up and shutdown procedures frequently require multiple actions to be completed in the correct sequence.

A bespoke VR simulation can turn the client's SOP into an assessed exercise.

The learner might need to:

1. Confirm prerequisites.
2. Inspect equipment status.
3. Check relevant utilities.
4. Initiate the correct sequence.
5. Monitor process indications.
6. Respond to deviations.
7. Confirm stable operation.

Introducing Abnormal Situations

Operators also need experience of what happens when conditions deviate from normal.

Immersive scenarios could introduce:

• Unexpected equipment trips.
• Pressure anomalies.
• Pump failures.
• Instrument discrepancies.
• Process deviations.
• CO2 detection alarms.

These situations can be practised repeatedly without deliberately disturbing the actual process.

Supporting Maintenance Teams

Maintenance technicians can use the same virtual facility differently.

Rather than operating the process, they might practise:

• Finding equipment.
• Identifying isolation points.
• Planning access.
• Reviewing maintenance sequences.
• Locating inspection points.
• Responding to abnormal indications.

AR Support in the Capture Plant

Once trained, technicians can potentially use AR to access approved asset-specific information in the physical facility.

A worker looking at a pump, valve or instrument could access its identity, inspection sequence or relevant maintenance procedure.

This creates continuity between the virtual training environment and the real operational environment.

Training Before Completion

Major CCS developments can involve lengthy engineering and construction programmes.

If appropriate engineering models are available, operator familiarisation can potentially begin using the virtual facility before the physical plant is fully accessible.

This creates an opportunity to develop operational readiness alongside construction and commissioning.

Bespoke Training for Bespoke Plants

CCS facilities are not identical. Different capture technologies, host processes, layouts, transport arrangements and operating philosophies create different training requirements.

Spark therefore only develops bespoke solutions.

The digital environment, scenarios, interactions and assessment rules can all be designed around the client's particular installation.

Conclusion

Carbon capture projects introduce new technology, interfaces and procedures into already complex industrial environments.

VR can help operators understand and rehearse those procedures before working on the real system. AR can then support inspection, maintenance and other approved field activities.

For organisations investing heavily in CCS infrastructure, immersive training provides an opportunity to invest equally seriously in the people expected to operate it.

Contact Spark Emerging Technologies to discuss bespoke VR or AR training for carbon capture operations.

© 2026 All Rights Reserved | Company Reg No. 05327622 | Spark Emerging Technologies Limited

Privacy Policy | Terms and Conditions