GS Caltex builds factory in cyber space in digital replica of physical output

South Korea’s leading oil refiner GS Caltex Corp. is establishing a new factory – but not physically – as it is located in cyberspace.

The so-called digital twin factory is designed to seek greater operational efficiency by testing and evaluating all envisaged changes to the refiner’s physical production chain beforehand in the digital domain at zero risk.

A digital twin refers to a digital replica of potential and actual physical assets including product, factory, building and even human body. The pairing of the virtual and physical worlds allows simulations of difficult experiments such as instrument malfunction or factory failure to head off problems before they occur and prevent downtime. For its usefulness to business, it was named one of Gartner’s Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for 2017.

Digital twins are useful in areas such as the aerospace industry, where small miscalculations or trial errors can cause catastrophic damage, said a GS Caltex official, adding it can be used to optimize the operation and maintenance of physical systems like large power generation facilities.

The company’s latest digital twin is a replica of its Yeosu plant in Jeonnam. The twin is being built with facility information such as device designs and process drawings added to a 3D model created at the construction stage of the physical factory. Once the work is completed, another Yeosu plant will be created in cyber space.

GS Caltex expects more efficiency in the plant operation by closely analyzing the process from crude oil shipment to distillation to delivery of final products in cyber space to find which part can be optimized.

The digital twin is not yet fully built, but some outcomes are already emerging: a 30 percent decline in the time required to search for data such as facility repair history and drawings and a 70 percent decline in the time required to confirm a footprint to install a structure on site.

GS Caltex is speeding up efforts toward digital transformation in many other areas besides digital twin. It is building an integrated control center with a goal of opening in 2030. The integrated control center will monitor the status of more than 300,000 facilities on the nearly 60 million square meter Yeosu site in real time and reduce problem-solving time in case of facility maintenance.

The company has also run a training program called operator training simulator (OTS) since 2018 based on models that simulate real-world processes. OTS allows employees to experience lifelike emergency situations such as plant interruption due to boiler or pump failures.

By Won Ho-sup and Minu Kim

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