AI-Driven Cognitive Digital Twin for Optimizing Energy Efficiency in Industrial Air Compressors
Energy efficiency is widely recognized as a critical strategy for reducing energy consumption in industrial systems. Improving energy efficiency has become a central point in industrial systems aiming to reduce energy consumption and operational costs. Industrial air compressors are among the most energy-intensive assets and often operate under static control policies that fail to adapt to real-time dynamics. This paper proposes a cognitive digital twin (CDT) framework that integrates reinforcement learning as, especially, a Proximal Policy Optimization (PPO) agent into the virtual replica of the air compressor system. CDT learns continuous from multidimensional telemetry which includes power, outlet pressure, air flow, and intake temperature, enabling autonomous decision-making, fault adaptation, and dynamic energy optimization. Simulation results demonstrate that PPO strategy reduces average SEC by 12.4%, yielding annual energy savings of approximately 70,800 kWh and a projected payback period of one year. These findings highlight the CDT potential to transform industrial asset management by bridging intelligent control.
Authors
- Thokozani Justin Kunene (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0363-9526)
- Lagouge Kwanda Tartibu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2111-7155)
- Mawande Sikibi
Institutions
- University of Johannesburg (ZA)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Technologies
- Published
- 2025-11-12
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3390/technologies13110519
- Primary Topic
- Digital Transformation in Industry
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- University of Johannesburg