Digital twins mirror physical entities such as assets, systems, individuals, or processes digitally. Employing artificial intelligence (AI), real-time analytics, visualisation, and simulation tools, they aid in detecting, preventing, predicting, and optimising the physical environment.
More specifically within the oil and gas sector, digital twins play a crucial role across the entire project lifecycle, from project design to commissioning. They also help with monitoring asset performance during operations and contribute to personnel training, according to GlobalData.
GlobalData’s thematic report, “Digital Twins in Oil and Gas,” provides an overview of digital twin technology and its potential implications in oil and gas operations. It sheds light on major oil and gas companies and showcases their involvement in developing and adopting digital twins to align with their business objectives.
“Digital twins are rapidly becoming a mainstay in oil and gas operations as companies strive to optimise asset performance and minimise unplanned outages,” said Ravindra Puranik, Oil and Gas Analyst at GlobalData. “This aims to make oil and gas operations relatively safer while lowering the carbon footprint and improving profitability. Besides, companies are also deploying these tools for remote monitoring and predictive maintenance, among other benefits.”
Digital twins can effectively simulate the management of oil and gas assets and forecast potential scenarios. They possess the capability to dynamically model asset performance in real-time.
Puranik went on to explain: “By harnessing real-time data, simulation, and analytics, digital twins can offer profound insights about operational assets. They can enable oil and gas companies to streamline processes, pre-empt breakdowns, bolster safety measures, and thus, enhance overall profitability. With their ability to provide a comprehensive view of operations, digital twins assist in formulating more informed and precise decisions, rendering them indispensable tools in oil and gas operations. The eventual goal is to achieve autonomous operations at production units to boost safety and productivity.”
Initially deployed in capital-intensive oil and gas production facilities, digital twins have expanded to include pipeline systems, gas plants, LNG terminals, refineries, and petrochemical complexes.
“Oil and gas companies are also keen on using this technology for their newer ventures beyond oil and gas, including in carbon capture and storage (CCS) and renewable power projects. There is considerable potential for digital twins in improving the efficiency and effectiveness of CCS projects and to predict the power output from wind or solar farms.
“Another emerging use case is in supply chain and inventory management, where products can be tracked in real-time to ensure their timely availability for end use applications. This would help in streamlining logistics costs and maintain product quality for end consumers,” concluded Puranik.
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