Fidelity

Algorithm

Process (computing)

Engineering

Microeconomics

Systems engineering

Modeling and simulation

Operating system

Telecommunications

Economics

Computer science

Visual arts

Distributed computing

Process simulation

Replica

Simulation

Industrial engineering

High fidelity

Simulation modeling

State (computer science)

Electrical engineering

A Digital Twin (DT) of a production plant is a digital replica of the plant's physical assets which contains the structure and the dynamics of how the devices and process operate. Simulation-based DTs (SBDTs) are those based on online first-principles simulation models. In these systems, model parameter estimation techniques keep an online plant simulator in the same state as the targeted device or process. As a result, non-measured information of the current state of the plant can be obtained from the model. SBDTs can be used for a number of important applications and they have various advantages compared to DTs based on data-driven models. However, wider industrial adoption of SBDTs is hindered by laborious development of their underlying first-principles simulation model as well as by a lack of integrated lifecycle-wide implementation methods and simulation architectures. This paper focuses on applying previously presented methods for reducing implementation effort of SBDTs. Firstly, laborious simulation model development is tackled by applying an automatic model generation method. Secondly, an integrated implementation methodology of a lifecycle-wide online simulation architecture is followed for developing the SBDT. A SBDT of a laboratory-scale process is implemented to demonstrate the proposed method. The results show a higher level of fidelity compared to previous publications.

Automatic Generation of a Simulation-Based Digital Twin of an Industrial Process Plant