What is a digital twin?

In the GT&M Hydrogen team, we’ve been looking into digital twins and the ways this technology could support us in our transition to hydrogen, but what exactly is a digital twin?

Put simply, a digital twin is a digital representation of an object, process, or service. Digital twins can be used for a wide range of activities and are already used across several different industries including manufacture, automotive, retail, healthcare, construction, and disaster management.

As well as being used to represent physical assets, digital twins can also be generated to replicate various processes and collect data to predict how they will perform in different scenarios.

To create a digital twin, extensive data is gathered to give an accurate view of the physical and operational characteristics of the ‘real-life’ object or system in question. This will be used to generate a mathematical model which directly simulates the behaviours and states of the original. This virtual model will use real-time data and feedback to gather useful insights.

Data that is often used to generate a digital twin includes:

·??????Lifecycle information: design specifications, production processes, engineering details

·??????Production information: equipment, materials, parts, methods, and quality control

·??????Operational information: real-time feedback, historical analysis, maintenance records

Once this data has been gathered, it will be used to create analytical models which can show operating effects, predict states such as fatigue and determine behaviours, which can be used to identify suitable actions to take based on the data available. The models can be displayed in a variety of ways including using 3D representations and augmented reality modelling to help build understanding.

The findings from multiple digital twins can be linked to create an overarching scenario overview. This allows for the use of smart applications to support real world developments and improvements.

To meet the net zero targets, we’re exploring the use of hydrogen as a cleaner alternative to natural gas. Transitioning our network in this way comes with a range of challenges and complexities. Digital tools such as digital twins could be used to simplify these complexities and provide useful insights into the National Transmission System (NTS), to help us gain a greater understanding of how the network is behaving.