Let’s
go back to the essence and the reason why we have technology. Correct us if we
are wrong, but don’t we have technology to simply make our life better?
Do you prefer writing a letter to your uncle in Australia or would you rather
call him? We are convinced that 99,99 % of the people you know would go for the
call. Technology is developing rapidly and our life is getting easier at the
same pace.
This is exactly the purpose
of Digital Twins; getting a better understanding of the most complex
technologies to make our life easier. As already mentioned in our last article,
Digital Twins are a virtual model of a certain process, product or even
service. By combining both physical and virtual world, we are able to analyse
data in real time to solve problems before they even occur. We can also
develop new opportunities and even plan the future by using simulations.
In fact, it simply makes our life better and easier!
Digital Twins are going even
further, they make our life better but also contribute to a better planet and
environment. What are the first things that come into your mind when you think
of a better planet? Right, renewable energy! This is exactly what is happening
at the moment, wind turbines are building on Digital Twin technology and Digital Wind Farms are breaking through. The reason for this is the fact that
by combining both together, energy production can be increased significantly.
Every wind farm is unique and
therefore capturing real-time data is just as important as the wind itself to
predict and maintain the wind turbine to make it significantly more efficient.
Capturing this data will be done by a network system of sensors that will be
applied to the live wind turbine. After this, the wind turbine will be able to
interface with its digital twin. Only after connecting both digital and
physical wind turbine, we are able to provide suggestions, analyze performances
and detect faults. Digital Twins are built for each wind farm and used to
create the most efficient turbine for each pad on the farm. Isn’t this one of
the most amazing things you have ever heard? More wind energy without more wind.
High performance cloud
computing, system fault modelling, data analytics and visualisation are all
technologies that make out digital turbine so accurate and reliable.
Fluctuations in performance are noticed, failing wind turbines are minimized
and maintenance can be done very effectively. The digital twin of the wind
turbine is able to make his physical twin way more efficient. GE Renewable
Energy, a subsidiary of General Electric, is manufacturing and selling wind
turbines to the international market. However, they are one of the first that
started developing the digital twin technology into their wind turbines.
According to them, it isn’t only making wind energy more efficient but also
more profitable. Digital Twin Technology can lead to a 20 % increase in
production and consequently a $100 million extra revenue over the wind
turbine’s life.
To get a better understanding
of the GE Digital Wind Farms, have a look at this video:
We can say that digital twins have the possibility to make life easier and better for everyone. Even more, digital twins will be able to make our world a better place by helping and optimizing all sort of technologies. Improving wind farms is a great example to show this. With Digital Twins, wind farms become more efficient and consequently generating renewable energy will be more accessible.
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