Periodic Reporting for period 1 - BBTWINS (Digital twins for the optimization of agrifood value chain processes and the supply of quality biomass for bio-processing)
Berichtszeitraum: 2021-06-01 bis 2022-05-31
The EU agri-food sector suffers from losses and inefficiencies while company experts move between environmental protection, the need for safe and healthy food, and sustainable production. The EU-funded BBTWINS project will develop and validate innovative digital twins in two use cases in the meat and fruit sectors in Greece and Spain. The project will apply a multi-actor method and integrate AI, the Internet of things, software analytics, blockchain, and strategic and operational logistic solutions into a single platform. BBTWINS will increase biomass availability, resource efficiency and sustainability for the bio-based industry, reduce biomass losses from feedstock supply, permit a longer storage time before processing and validate three new products for the industry.
The EU agri-food sector is at a crossroads. The sector endures a string of crisis, suffering from losses and inefficiencies that affect the overall system efficiency, whilst the society expects always more to be done on environmental protection, and on providing secure, nutritional, and healthy food, demanding high added value products of sustainable production and verifiable traceability.
The digital twins developed will integrate enabling technologies such as artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, and software analytics, together with blockchain and strategic and operational logistic solutions in a single platform. BBTWINS digital twins will: (i) increase biomass availability, resource efficiency and sustainability for the bio-based industry, (ii) lower biomass losses from feedstock supply through the processing stages of the value chain; and (iii) allow a longer storage time before processing through more efficient pre-treatment steps and storage methods to better preserve the valuable components.
The EU agri-food sector is at a crossroads. The sector endures a string of crisis, suffering from losses and inefficiencies that affect the overall system efficiency, whilst the society expects always more to be done on environmental protection, and on providing secure, nutritional, and healthy food, demanding high added value products of sustainable production and verifiable traceability.
The digital twins developed will integrate enabling technologies such as artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, and software analytics, together with blockchain and strategic and operational logistic solutions in a single platform. BBTWINS digital twins will: (i) increase biomass availability, resource efficiency and sustainability for the bio-based industry, (ii) lower biomass losses from feedstock supply through the processing stages of the value chain; and (iii) allow a longer storage time before processing through more efficient pre-treatment steps and storage methods to better preserve the valuable components.
During this review period #1, BBTWINS saw significant progress in WP1 with the full definition of all steps of the value chains of PORTESA (pork) and DIMITRA (fruit), the data stemming from each step and the needs for additional data capture and the associated sensors (also partially installed). WP2 progressed towards the definition of all of inputs (biomass) and outputs (added value compounds) of the technologies applied to the selected wastes from each company. WP3 mainly focused on the development of a mathematical model representing the salting, water activity and proteolysis of the ham curing process; and also on the development of four logistics modelling cases for PORTESA. In WP4, the identification and definition of the requirements for the Blockchain platform to track and trace the products and waste for PORTESA and DIMITRA was fully accomplished. WP7 progressed with the input data collection (Life Cycle Inventory) needed for the Life Cycle Assessment both environmental and economic.
BBTWINS will be a true digital twin and this is the main progress beyond the state or art. It combines process simulation, data analytics, blockchain, logistics optimization tools, sensors and economic variables into a single tool simulating real-time the production chain of two different agri-food business. This, overall, is the true breakthrough, which goes even further when biomass is included as a way to more efficiently valorize wastes in a potential true digital transformation including new revenue streams. This will be achieved by the end of the project in the full sense of the term digital twin. During this reporting period still no breakthrough developments leading to a quantic, technical leap has been foreseen.