Using Digitalization to Decarbonize Production: Creating a Foundation with Digital Models for Future Digital Twins

The rapid development of digital technologies has significantly driven progress in industry. At the same time, industrial CO2 emissions have become a serious problem that needs to be addressed urgently. In this context, digital twins can play a crucial role. However, there is currently a lack of common norms, standards, and models for digital twins. Although the term “digital twin” is widely used in the literature, few sources actually describe what constitutes a digital twin, namely bidirectional data transfer between the real model and the software model. Until now, digital twins have focused on individual areas of interest and have not addressed the broader challenge of CO2 emissions.

The project focuses on how CO2 emissions for production operations can be predicted by combining three digital models (building, production, and energy). This approach shows how CO2 emissions during operation can be reduced by selecting a suitable production scenario and a specific energy source combination in the planning phase. The main task is to reduce CO2 emissions by simulating different production scenarios and identifying the best energy source combination with the visible CO2 emissions from the energy simulation. By combining the three digital models, an overview of the expected CO2 emissions can be created, which can serve as a basis for further developments for digital twins.

Related Article:

Deininger, I. et al. (2024). Using Digital Models to Decarbonize a Production Site: A Case Study of Connecting the Building Model, Production Model and Energy Model. In: Fottner, J., Nübel, K., Matt, D. (eds) Construction Logistics, Equipment, and Robotics. CLEaR 2023. Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering, vol 390. Springer, Cham. doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-44021-2_8

https://www.springerprofessional.de/using-digital-models-to-decarbonize-a-production-site-a-case-stu/26057170

https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-44021-2_8

and:

https://blogs.sw.siemens.com/tecnomatix/category/customer-success-story/page/2/

https://blogs.sw.siemens.com/tecnomatix/decarbonization-strategies-plant/