From Physical Asset to Digital Twin: Modelling a Gas Turbine Compressor in AVEVA PI AF
A tag list tells you what a sensor reads. An engineering digital twin tells you what that reading means for the machine. Here is the four-step method we use to build one in AVEVA PI Asset Framework.
Gas turbine compressors are among the most heavily instrumented machines in a gas plant, yet their data usually arrives as flat tag names with no structure. An engineering digital twin gives every signal an address within a model of the physical asset. In AVEVA PI System, that model is built in PI Asset Framework (PI AF). The example below uses two subsystems: the gas compressor and its lube oil system.
STEP 1
Understand the Physical Asset
Start with the machine, not the tag list. The team agrees on what the package contains and which subsystems carry the most operational and reliability risk. The gas compressor determines process performance; the lube oil system protects the bearings. A problem in either one can trip the unit.
STEP 2
Standardise the Asset Metadata with ISO 14224
ISO 14224 is the international standard for reliability and maintenance data in the petroleum, petrochemical and natural gas industries. Its taxonomy breaks equipment into subsystems and maintainable items, so PI AF uses the same vocabulary as the CMMS and reliability studies.
STEP 3
Identify Actual Operational Data from the PLC and HMI
A twin must be built on the data that really exists. Signals travel from field transmitters to the PLC/DCS and HMI, then into PI. The team inventories each signal (pressure, temperature, flow, speed, vibration, status) and confirms its tag, unit and range. Measured values sit alongside derived values marked calc.
STEP 4
Build the AVEVA PI AF Structure
The compressor becomes a root element with one child element per functional area. Built on AF element templates, the structure can be rolled out to every compressor in a fleet with identical attributes and calculations. Each attribute is mapped to its source, unit and description.
RESULT
An Engineering Digital Twin
Each physical subsystem is now linked to its live data, calculated KPIs and a standard hierarchy. Operators, process engineers and reliability engineers work from one structure, and PI Vision displays, event frames, notifications and analytics all reference it instead of raw tags. The same method applies to any critical rotating equipment.
ABOUT SPC
PT Scada Prima Cipta (SPC) is an AVEVA and Schneider Electric system integration partner based in Bandung, Indonesia. We design and implement AVEVA PI System solutions, including PI Asset Framework modelling, PI Vision displays and process analytics, for oil and gas, geothermal, power and manufacturing clients across Indonesia.
AVEVA PI System · PI Asset Framework · ISO 14224 · Digital Twin·Rotating Equipment
