When our daughter was young, she had friends who were identical twins, and they often dressed identically (not helpful). In order to tell them apart she had a clever strategy: she'd turn to one of them and ask a question. "Hey Beth, what's your favorite color?" or, "Mary, when do we have to leave?" And when one twin answered, the identities of both twins was revealed.
Now imagine having a single, powerful "twin" by your side - not a person, but a digital twin - a virtual replica of your paper mill, fueled by cutting-edge technology. This digital companion currently has the potential to revolutionize your operations and capital projects, delivering measurable and impressive results. It can:
- reduce heat loss by 5%
- cut NOx emissions by more than 10%
- decrease maintenance outlays by 20% and
- increase production rates by 15%
This digital twin is a practical and proven tool, particularly valuable for capital projects, where it improves design accuracy, cuts construction delays, and unlocks significant cost savings. (1) In the U.S. paper industry, where annual capital investments range in the billions of dollars to modernize mills, these efficiencies pile up quickly.
How do digital twins work? They get their information by integrating AI, the Internet of Things, and the bazillion bits of interconnected data at the mill - think sensors on every machine. The "bazillion bits" isn't just noise, it's a goldmine. And the beauty of a digital twin is with capital projects, the precision of modeling and monitoring directly translates to better planning, smoother execution, and timely completion. A digital twin can also simulate equipment layouts during design, and monitor construction in real time to catch issues like misaligned piping, saving weeks of rework.
For a better understanding of how a digital twin works, consider the following differences (1):
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Parameter
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Traditional Mill
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Digital Twin-Enabled Mill
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Process Visibility
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Low
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High - Real-Time
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Downtime Response
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Reactive
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Predictive & Proactive
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Innovation Cycle
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Slow
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Agile & Continuous
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Energy Efficiency
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Variable
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Optimized by Simulation
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Digital twin usage in pulp mills is expected to grow at an annual rate of over 25% through 2030, and the table above makes it clear why. This surge is largely driven by regulatory environments in North America and Scandinavia, which encourage technological advancement, driven by the need to address high operational costs and enhanced efficiency.
Now naturally, implementing a digital twin isn't without its hurdles. The upfront cost often exceeds $1 million, plus the workforce needs to be trained (why is it that everything that saves money costs so much money? - Don't answer that question.) But the ROI should make it do-able and within reach.
Side note: One "hard no" worth mentioning about digital twins is the concept of the "The Autonomous Mill: Utilizing Digital Twins to Optimize the Pulp & Paper Mill of the Future", where some (armchair) researchers decided to use a digital twin to see if a mill could "run itself with little or no human intervention." My input on that? Mix high speed equipment with chemicals and things under pressure and then walk away. Sounds like a recipe for trouble.
The upsides are compelling. Digital twins streamline capital projects by refining design and construction, shortening project time, saving energy through optimized operations, and improving predictive maintenance. And digital twins reduce downtime by up to 15% as well.
So, just as our daughter learned to distinguish her twin friends with a simple question, the paper industry can leverage digital twins to unravel the complexities of capital projects - one virtual model at a time.
See you next month when we discuss a closely related topic: Energy
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