On April 7th, Twinghy participated in the CYPHER Workshop on Renewable Synthetic Fuels and Industry Decarbonization, an event focused on advancing low‑carbon technologies for industrial applications. The workshop was organized by Professor Alessandro Parente and his team. CYPHER is a groundbreaking European collaboration focused on decarbonizing Energy-Intensive Industries (EIIs) through innovative approaches in combustion, fluid dynamics, and data science. It has a network spanning 33 countries and including academic experts, industrial partners, and policymakers.
During the workshop, Johannes Losacker from RWTH Aachen University presented the Twinghy project, focusing particularly on its digital twin component. The presentation covered the project’s two main pillars: using hydrogen as an alternative fuel and developing a digital twin to support the decarbonisation of high-temperature industrial furnaces.
The first part of the talk provided insight into the operational data currently being collected at the furnace and highlighted how this data forms the backbone of the digital representation of the process. This was followed by an overview of how the digital twin developed by the Barcelona Supercomputing Centre (BSC) will be utilised throughout the project lifecycle.
More specifically, the digital twin is expected to play a central role in:
- Monitoring furnace operation in near real time,
- Supporting operational decision‑making, including optimization strategies depending on priorities such as cost, productivity, or emissions reduction
- Enabling advanced control concepts, with the long‑term ambition of supporting burner cycle control.
The workshop also featured a complementary presentation by Sébastien Caillat, who discussed Fives‘ activities in decarbonising steel furnaces. This provided a broader industrial perspective that closely aligned with Twinghy’s objectives.
Overall, the CYPHER workshop provided a valuable platform for exchanging ideas, aligning ongoing research with industrial needs and discussing concrete pathways for reducing emissions in energy-intensive sectors. The discussions confirmed the increasing importance of digital twins in combination with hydrogen technologies as vital tools for transitioning to a more sustainable and competitive European industry.