KARLSRUHE/GERMANY, mid of December (bv). Meanwhile, the process industry has launched many digitalisation initiatives to make production more efficient and flexible. At the centre of its considerations is the realisation of digital twins of the production facilities. This requires a consistent tool infrastructure supporting seamless data exchange and data handover throughout the entire lifecycle of a plant.
With its fully integrated tool suite — from engineering to commissioning right through to operations — Siemens is providing the necessary foundation not only to create such a digital twin, but also to keep it up to date.
Broadly speaking, the digital twin is a living image of the real plant in operation. However, keep in mind that the digital twin of a process plant differs significantly from that of a machine or a car. All in all, five different categories of information can be identified that contribute to the design and benefit of the digital twin of a process plant.
First of all, there are the pure attributes that characterise the layout of the plant and the equipment used. It includes all characteristics from a mechanical point of view, the physical representation of which can be examined by the eye and visualised in 2D and 3D. The second category refers to the process-related behaviour of the components and the plant as a whole: What happens in the plant? Which substances are converted and how? Which time dependencies exist? A third aspect is connectivity. How are the individual components linked with each other? Connectivity combines functional units to describe higher-level production modules. Furthermore, there are activities, i.e. sub-processes during the operation of a plant. Not to be forgotten are the so-called events, shutdowns for maintenance or changes during operation, for example, if another substance is to be produced.
All these facets play an important role in the design of the digital twin. The digital twin of a process plant therefore includes much more than just the 3D CAD model! Read the full story here.
