In today’s data-driven world, the efficiency, reliability, and sustainability of data centers are crucial for maintaining a competitive edge and achieving operational excellence. Azbil Corporation, a global leader in building automation and control solutions, is making waves with its AI-powered chiller plant digital twin solution.
This innovative technology is gaining traction across Southeast Asia, optimizing performance and energy management for data center operations. On a greater scale, digital twin technology is increasingly adopted to help create more resilient and sustainable cities, addressing global challenges in an ever-changing world.
Smart facility management of data centers
Southeast Asia is experiencing strong demand, fueling rapid growth in the data center market. As this demand continues to expand, the data center sector must transform, compelling operators and investors to continually find new ways to differentiate, compete, and drive value. With the expansion of data centers comes the challenge of implementing smart facility management.
In the context of smart building space and smart facility management, a digital twin provides a virtual representation of the physical environment using real-time data. Azbil's AI-powered chiller plant digital twin solution addresses this challenge head-on.
By leveraging advanced building AI analytics, Azbil provides data centers with the right solution to simulate their chiller plant operations and achieve optimal results. Coupled with the use of an intelligent building management system (IBMS), data centers can integrate and centralize their operations, enhancing facility performance and energy efficiency.
How Azbil’s AI-powered chiller plant digital twin works
Azbil’s chiller plant digital twin is an innovative application designed to realize smart facility management. The technology identifies whether the current operation is optimal, considering external conditions such as cooling load, outside air temperature, and humidity. Additionally, it calculates the optimal set-point for chiller supply water temperature, recommending these values to operators for enhanced efficiency and performance.
Azbil’s AI-powered digital twin aims to streamline operational processes and achieve optimal results by allowing users to run simulations based on real-world parameters. This enables users to test and evaluate potential improvements that maximize the efficiency of both new and existing systems.
Operators can develop strategies to simulate control, prioritize, and select the best alternatives while calculating potential savings. For example, with real-time monitoring and predictive capabilities, Azbil’s AI-powered digital twin solution enables easy and smart management and performance optimization of data centers, including forecasting the impact of power usage effectiveness (PUE) and providing actionable insights for chiller plant operation improvement options.
Moreover, the machine learning (ML) analytics module enables predictive maintenance by generating an initial model of the chiller plant and comparing it against live data. The AI continuously updates the digital twin model whenever performance changes are detected. When behaviors exceed a tolerance threshold, indicating an efficiency gap, the digital twin provides actionable insights, such as recommendations for replacing or servicing equipment or parts.
Visualization
- Support for precise location identification
- Clear understanding of operational status
Optimization
- Trial and error testing in a virtual environment
- Enhanced energy optimization
Judgment enhancement - simulation and scenario analysis
- Detect operational faults by comparing with ideal status
Operation enhancement
- Receive actionable insights with operational advice
Furthermore, the digital twin application can integrate with a building information model (BIM) to reduce the labor intensity of plant operations. Operators can view the entire facility and its infrastructure layout in 3D format remotely which significantly saves time and effort by enabling virtual wayfinding.
Transform facility management with Azbil’s AI-powered digital twin
Azbil and its regional affiliates are actively exploring opportunities to introduce its digital twin solution to new markets, collaborating with renowned commercial developers for large-scale urban projects that prioritize green and sustainable design in Singapore and Indonesia.
Azbil’s digital twin offers strategic advantages in optimizing the operations of the chiller plants for HVAC systems in large and commercial buildings, including data centers, thereby promoting cost efficiency and energy savings.