Digital twin technology is being deployed to tackle industrial decarbonisation challenges, with a UK trial showing how ports could use the technology to optimise energy consumption, support electrification and model future emissions-reduction strategies.
UK-based Digital Catapult has completed its first Digital Twin Adoption Accelerator, a programme designed to showcase practical uses for digital twins across a range of industrial sectors.
Among the projects, technology firm Helix8 worked with Port of Larne to demonstrate how an AI-enabled geospatial digital twin could help ports manage their transition to net zero.
The platform analysed real-time data from port infrastructure to provide greater visibility into energy consumption and support decisions around electrification, electric vehicle charging and renewable energy generation.
By modelling future energy demand and simulating decarbonisation scenarios, the project showed how digital twins could help operators reduce emissions, optimise energy resources and improve efficiency.
“The solutions showcased today demonstrate the transformative potential of digital twins to improve performance, increase resilience and support more sustainable industrial operations,” said Sherrie Rad, Programme Lead at Innovate UK.
Helix8 worked with Port of Larne to showcase how digital twin tech could reduce emissions at the Port of Larne in Northern Ireland ©Port of Larne
Nine small and medium–sized enterprise partnerships took part in the programme, covering applications ranging from aerospace design and drone operations to maritime transport, customs logistics, advanced manufacturing and defence systems.
The findings may also be relevant to the industrial gas sector, where companies are increasingly exploring digital tools to improve plant performance and reduce operating costs.
Industrial gas major Nippon Gases is digital twin technology through its MiruGas platform to optimise wastewater treatment operations.
“MiruGas is our virtual operator that works 24/7 for us to gather information on what’s going on in the wastewater treatment plant,” José Vicente Sánchez told delegates at the EIGA Winter Summit in January.
The company uses simulations and real-time operational data to model plant behaviour, predict disturbances and optimise oxygen dosing.
“The digital twin is a live replica of the wastewater treatment plant and we are continuously adapting the results and changing the twin to reflect what is going on in real life,” said Sanchez.
Digital twins are also gaining interest in the , where developers are using process models during the pre-front-end engineering design phase to assess project viability, optimise plant design and improve safety.
“Having a process digital twin is a really great starting point because it requires little information to get going – you don’t need to have selected all of your vendors or a vast amount of engineering data to get that started,” said Ben Laws, Solutions Consultant at Siemens, speaking previously on an H2 View webinar.
The technology forms part of a market that McKinsey expects to grow by around 30 to 40% annually over the coming years, reaching $125bn to $150bn by 2032.
