Digital Twins in Industry: Enhancing Safety through Visibility

The Construction, Energy, OGM, and Nuclear industries are leveraging 2D/3D digital twin technology to improve safety management. These digital models offer detailed virtual representations of physical assets, supporting better safety programs, turnaround planning, and incident response.

What are Digital Twins?

• 2D/3D digital twins are virtual models of physical objects or entire sites created from data sources like LiDAR scans or high-resolution images.

• These models allow remote asset inspections, visualizations, and project planning, enhancing operational efficiency and safety.

Optimizing Safety Asset Placement

• Digital twins help visualize the placement of safety assets (fire extinguishers, first aid kits, etc.), ensuring quick access in emergencies and compliance with safety regulations.

• They allow HSE teams to identify high-risk areas and optimize asset placement for risk mitigation and effective emergency response.

Turnaround Safety Planning

• Digital twins improve planning and scheduling of turnarounds by providing detailed “as-built” views of facilities.

• They help identify potential safety risks, equipment bottlenecks, and streamline safety protocols before and during the turnaround process.

Training and Drills

• Digital twins enhance safety training by offering immersive pre-jobsite orientations for contractors, allowing them to explore work sites and safety protocols virtually.

• This leads to improved information retention, better preparedness, and risk mitigation.

Incident Investigation and Response

• Digital twins support incident response by providing contextual data analysis, allowing teams to investigate incidents through real-time visualizations of the affected environment.

• They aid root cause analysis by enabling teams to explore different scenarios and identify underlying causes to improve future safety protocols.

Case Studies

• Oil Refinery: Used digital twins to enhance incident response, resulting in reduced incident frequency by improving leak detection and response.

• Alkylation Unit Turnaround: Optimized turnaround planning and safety training by virtually walking through work sites, reducing risks and enhancing contractor training.

Challenges and Considerations

• Data Management: Ensuring accurate, up-to-date data collection for effective digital twin models.

• Training & Adoption: Successful integration of digital twins requires ongoing training and adoption to ensure personnel can effectively use these tools.

Looking Ahead

• Digital twins are transforming safety programs by improving incident investigation, turnaround safety, and asset management. As technology evolves, their potential to enhance safety in the energy sector is vast, ensuring safer working environments across the industry.