Paper Product Production Digital Twin for Energy and CO2 Tracking

The patent creates a virtual copy (digital twin) of the physical material flow system. Instead of using expensive physical sensors to track every material attribute, the system creates virtual representations of materials, energy, and resources that can be tracked and analyzed in a virtual environment. This virtual model mirrors the physical system's behavior and allows for precise tracking of CO2 emissions and energy consumption without requiring corresponding expensive physical measurement devices for every parameter.

The patent introduces a virtual material flow digital twin as an intermediary between the physical material flow and the measurement/analysis system. This virtual model acts as a mediator that captures and processes information about material attributes, energy consumption, and CO2 emissions. Rather than directly measuring all physical parameters with expensive sensors, the system uses the virtual model to infer and track these parameters, reducing the need for complex physical sensing infrastructure.

The system creates a virtual replica of the entire material flow process that can be monitored and optimized without adding complex physical monitoring infrastructure to every process step. The virtual model receives data from key points and simulates the complete material flow, allowing comprehensive online monitoring and optimization through the virtual representation rather than requiring physical sensors at every location.

The virtual material flow digital twin serves multiple functions simultaneously: it tracks material attributes, monitors energy consumption, calculates CO2 emissions, enables process optimization, and provides a basis for what-if analysis. This single virtual modeling approach replaces what would otherwise require multiple separate physical monitoring and control systems, reducing overall device complexity while maintaining comprehensive monitoring capabilities.

The patent creates virtual copies of materials, energy flows, and resource consumption that can be precisely tracked through the digital twin model. These virtual representations allow for accurate measurement of energy consumption and CO2 emissions by following the virtual material flow through all process steps, applying appropriate conversion factors and calculations at each stage, without requiring direct physical measurement of every energy and emission parameter.

The patent replaces physical measurement mechanisms (sensors, meters, monitoring devices) with a virtual modeling and calculation system. Instead of using mechanical or electronic sensors to directly measure energy consumption and CO2 emissions at various process points, the system uses computational models that calculate these parameters based on virtual material flow data, process parameters, and embedded conversion relationships. This substitutes a software-based measurement approach for hardware-based measurement.