The most advanced digitization has arrived in the chemical industry. Supercomputing, Augmented Reality and the first digital twins are already in use. The objective: to optimize the search and production, and make all processes safer and more efficient
The Terracotta Warriors are more than 8,000 life-size figures modeled by the order of the Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang, in 210-209 BC. C. Each of these figures is a true copy of a true warrior. With them, the emperor secured a troop under his command beyond the limits of life. Two hundred years before Christ, the “terracotta twins” had no 5G connection, nor could they be modeled in a virtual environment. Today if.
The digital twin is a concept NASA invented several decades ago, but has now become one of the top strategic technology trends for any company looking to set foot in the future.
A digital twin is the virtual representation of an object, a factory, a production system, a … whatever each one wants to add. It covers the entire lifecycle of what it represents, is updated from real-time data and uses artificial intelligence to learn by itself and help in decision making thanks to simulation, forecasting and optimization of the product and/or production system.
Not only are they an accurate simulation of something real, they’re also alive, they evolve thanks to an arsenal of sensors that intertwine the two systems as if they were subatomic particles. They excel on the no-return path to digitization in research and industry.
An example: oil and gas organizations suffer, on average, losses of more than 32 million euros annually due to unplanned outages, which would be solved with a digital twin. According to a report of World Economic Forum this would reduce the carbon footprint by approximately 1,300 million tons. In addition, it can save 3 billion liters of water and prevent 230,000 barrels of oil from leaking.
According to a Kimberlite study, just 1% of annual downtime can cost oil and gas companies 4.2 billion euros. The digital twin would solve that dead time.
But for the digital twin to be possible, a spectacular technological development is needed that includes supercomputers that support the management of a huge amount of data (Big Data) and the boost that 5G will give to the Internet of Things (IoT).
Supercomputing: The Cloud Lab
Research today, in all disciplines, biomedicine, physics, engineering and chemistry, uses supercomputing. The ability to perform complex calculations, process, analyze data and experiment in a simulator has become imperative, and to make it possible on a large scale, megacomputers are available.
O Barcelona Supercomputing Center-National Supercomputing Center (BSC-CNS) provides a world-class supercomputing infrastructure in the world and in history, available to European researchers. But, in addition, two of its researchers, Mónica de Mier and Stephan Mohr, created a spin-off, Nextmol (Bytelab Solutions SL), especially for the chemical industry.
From Nextmol they offer tools for performing atomic scale modeling and data analysis that allow you to accelerate the design of new chemicals and new materials. Using these tools, it is possible to characterize the behavior of molecules, predict their performance and identify the best candidates to meet certain physicochemical properties. Everything is done in the cloud, in a virtual environment, and without the need to synthesize each molecule in the laboratory.
CEPSA OPERATOR 4.0 is a sample of the digitization of the industrial sector and offers a new way of operating a chemical plant
Augmented Reality to see beyond
In the Mallorcan town of Alcudia, at its bitumen factory, CEPSA used Augmented Reality technologies for the inspection of one of the works. Security technicians in Madrid guided the operators on the ground with holograms superimposed on what they were seeing.
These holograms were the “augmented” part of reality. Thus, both the plant operator and technicians could interact through audio and video, and include holograms in the real environment with which to mark tasks to be performed or delimit areas of action. He could see perfectly from Madrid and in real time everything that the operator observed in the center of Mallorca, second by second.
Augmented Reality can be used alone or as part of a set. Imagine, for example, an engineer in Madrid who uses Augmented Reality and has a digital twin to diagnose a jet engine on an airplane in the Barcelona airport hangar. You will literally see every detail of that real engine, with all the data of what produced the failure. Or engineers who visualize the entire length of the Channel Tunnel, traversed by thousands of sensors that collect images, sound, vibration, altitude, etc. An expert can analyze and “operate” any large company from anywhere in the world.
Siemens, EOS and DyeMansion started a pioneering project combining their latest technologies to create a 3D printing digital twin.
From the computer, the user can model the midsole that would serve as shoes, choosing textures, colors, and can even “try” virtually. Once the ideal and more respectful project with the environment was concluded, the additive manufacturing process would be started, at a very competitive cost in the market.
The main challenge is how to implement these technologies, starting with sometimes outdated systems. Where to start? Several consulting firms are on the starting line, including In process, who specialize in offering services and consultancy in virtual process simulation to the global chemical industry in general and to the Spanish industry in particular.
Internet of Things and 5G
If digital twins are possible today, it’s because of the impetus the Internet of Things will have thanks to 5G. BASF Spain announced its pilot project to install the first private 5G network in our country, which will be installed at its production center in Tarragona. And BASF is just one example among the pioneers.
Thanks to 5G, the acclaimed Internet of Things will spread much further. Vehicles, industrial robots, urban furniture (speed bumps, roads, bus stops and also the washing machine, refrigerator or robot vacuum cleaner at home) will be able to connect via Wi-Fi to any device and share information in real time.
The material object is equipped with sensors in charge of collecting data about its real-time state, working conditions or its position. All this data is processed to recreate the digital model. From here, it’s time for artificial intelligence to take action, learning from what’s going on and delivering solutions with speed and accuracy unattainable for even the most talented human brain.
looking to the future of the future
Covestro and Google signed an agreement to apply quantum computing to the chemical industry. Thanks to this tool, Covestro wants to lay the foundations to investigate new possibilities in the field of chemical simulations.
The agreement will allow complex simulations to be solved in much less time than traditional computers. Covestro’s goal is to help the development of quantum technology to solve the chemical problems of the future.
SIMATIC PCS neo, from SIEMENS is a new digital control platform in the process industry
the twins of the future
Siemens collaborated with Acciona to create a digital twin of its water treatment plants at one of the largest desalination plants in the Middle East.
The Middle East is one of the areas suffering from the greatest water scarcity caused by climate change, conflict and economic recession. Acciona’s digital twin will enable more efficient management of water treatment plants in a place where every drop is gold.
BONDALTI developed a water treatment system (WAVE by Enkrott) with data acquisition, secure cloud storage and real-time monitoring through web panels
But for the digital twin to spread, it is necessary to prove that it works, that it is possible to connect phases of the process, workflows that today are not. To do this, Siemens and Dow have created what they call a “test bench” with which they want to propel the digital twins across all industries: aerospace, electronics, transportation, manufacturing and medicine. These test benches propose, for example, testing how to automate a biofuel plant or how to optimize and bring a fertilizer plant to the forefront.
On everyone’s horizon is the Smart Factory, a factory that is more respectful of the environment, more efficient in terms of energy and human resources, and which contemplates flexible production to the continuous changes in the markets.
The future? We will not recognize the future.