Common Practice in Plant Design with Interoperability Standards

Plant design as a phase of plant engineering comprises the activities in the conception and the planning of plants where chemical substances, biological agents, or auxiliary energy from available raw materials or existing energy sources are typically produced. Plant construction projects are usually defined as so-called engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) projects which include the provision of the engineering design, the procurement of the necessary materials needed for construction, and finally the actual construction. EPC contractors are responsible for planning, designing, manufacturing/assembling, and handover the plant to the operator. Hereby, planning activities of a plant are conducted by using CAD systems for mechanical engineering, civil engineering, and electrical engineering as well as ERP and PDM systems. In this context, the application scenario “Seamless and dynamic engineering of plants” (SDP) is explained and the overall principle is presented as an initial engineering process for engineering and construction of a plant. Here, an integrating plant model is created, which is maintained and kept consistent throughout the entire life of the real physical plant in permanently interrelated processes between engineering, operation, and service of the plant. Ever deeper standardization in Industry 4.0 entails tool vendor-neutral representations of piping and instrumentation diagrams (P&ID) as well as 3D pipe routing. For the sake of the digital twin, a complete digital plant model requires combining these two representations. 3D pipe routing information is essential for building any accurate first-principles process simulation model, in particular for a brownfield plant. Piping and instrumentation diagrams are explored as the primary source for control loops. The interoperability as a fundamental capability of the digital twin is the key constituent of almost every initiative and approach. An excerpt of the initiatives, the frameworks, and the standards regarding the digital twin in a process plant is highlighted. In the discussion section, the global goals of the digital twin are presented, and how they can be achieved in the case of a brownfield plant. Finally, the perspective of working with the digital twin of a brownfield plant is drafted.