Norwegian industrial software provider Kongsberg Digital and Yara International, the country's fertilizer company and ammonia player, have signed a two-year agreement under which Kongsberg Digital will provide support for Yara's plants in Heroya, Norway, and Sluiskil, the Netherlands. It was decided to develop digital twin technology.
The contract includes an operational twin for Yara's production facility in Heloja, Poorsgrund, and a project twin for a carbon capture project in Sluijskir, the Netherlands.
The goal, the duo said, is to implement the solution in Yara's production facilities around the world.
Heroya's production facility operations twin utilizes industrial data from the factory in combination with technical data and equipment documentation. Based on this, a contextualized work surface containing detailed 3D models of the plant and various units is created, along with relevant maintenance, operational, and equipment information gathered from the factory's sensors and data sources. Work surfaces help users make the right decisions at the right time by providing relevant information.
“Yara works with multiple partners for its digitization program. We chose Kongsberg Digital for its technology solutions and flexible user interface. We are the first fully Norwegian industrial company to use this technology. This technology is expected to significantly improve work processes and increase work efficiency in engineering, maintenance and operations.” Merete Ostbycommented Yara Porsgrunn Digital Manager.
“It is a great recognition that Kongsberg Digital has developed and provided the twin technology to Yara. For Kongsberg Digital, this agreement is about the use of digital twin technology and how it solves common challenges across the process and chemical industries. This marks an important milestone.” Shane McArdlesaid the CEO of Kongsberg Digital.
The twin technology will also be implemented in a carbon capture project at Yara's facility in Sluijskir, the Netherlands, where CO2 gas will be converted into a liquid before being transported by ship and then injected into a reservoir in the North Sea for storage. A new carbon capture unit is being built for the
Twin technology is expected to play a key role in this project by contributing to efficient collaboration and preparation of data transfer from project to operations before plant commissioning. A digital twin establishes a “digital thread” from all phases of a project all the way to the operations and maintenance phase.
“With digital twin technology, Yara has taken another big step forward in the digitalization of production. This technology allows Yara to optimize its operations by collecting and visualizing large amounts of data and information on a simple and easy-to-use platform. Combined with Yara's digital production platform, our industrial IoT platform, it opens up entirely new possibilities for data-driven insights.” Lor Nilsenconcluded Program Manager Yara International ASA.
