DTWINE develops digital twins for the wine sector
The DTWINE R&D&I project, which aims to apply and consolidate the technology of digital twins in the wine sector, has started with our Innovation Consultancy team as the project’s technical office, supporting the technical monitoring of this initiative and developing a communication strategy to publicise the project and disseminate its results.
This project, funded by the State Research Agency (AEI) within the framework of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, is led by the Institute of Agrochemistry and Food Technology and has a duration of 36 months.
The DTWINE strategic lines research project, which aims to apply and consolidate the technology of digital twins in the wine sector, is starting up. Specifically, the project aims to develop a computer system to simulate and predict the wine fermentation process. In addition, combined with sensors and computational optimisation methods, it will facilitate the work of oenologists in making decisions in the daily operation of wineries.
Under the title ‘Digital twins to optimise energy efficiency and product quality in wineries’, the project has the support of our Innovation Consultancy team as the technical office of the project, providing support in the monitoring and technical, administrative and economic justification tasks. In addition, the consortium that makes up DTWINE, led by the Institute of Agrochemistry and Food Technology (IATA-CSIC), has entrusted our experts in Innovation Communication to develop a communication strategy to maximise the impact of the project’s progress and results.
The Systems Biology in Yeast of Biotechnological Interest Group of the Institute of Agrochemistry and Food Technology (IATA-CSIC) is working together with the Biosystems and Bioprocess Engineering Group of the Institute of Marine Research (IIM-CSIC), Bodegas Ramón Bilbao and the Alava-based company Instalación y Control de Energía y Fluidos (INCONEF).
DTWINE has a budget of 1,001,848 € and is financed by the State Research Agency (AEI), belonging to the Ministry of Science and Innovation, with Next Generation EU funds within the framework of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan. The work is expected to be carried out over a period of 36 months, from October 2021 to September 2024.
More sustainable wines adapted to consumer trends
As part of the digital twins application, DTWINE plans to develop model-based monitoring and predictive control techniques to help winemakers in their work. In addition, it should be noted that the project will be implemented in four highly representative wine regions such as Galicia, La Rioja, Basque Country (Rioja Alavesa) and Valencia.
In this way, the challenge posed by DTWINE is twofold: to achieve a more environmentally responsible production and simultaneously respond to new market trends with wines of lower alcohol content and rich aromatic profiles.
Along these lines, the project has a series of specific objectives:
- To explore a set of indicators of industrial relevance to obtain more environmentally responsible wines.
- To formulate digital twins to predict growth and primary and secondary metabolism in fermentation by means of dynamic kinetic models. These digital twins will be trained and validated at laboratory scale, pilot scale and with real plant data.
- Formulate and solve multi-objective optimal control problems to find the operating conditions that offer the best compromise between energy consumption and wine quality.
- Implement and validate a sensor network and a model predictive control scheme to ensure optimal online performance.
- Implement a user-friendly software tool to support and automate the use of digital twins in winery decision making.
- Demonstrate the capabilities of digital twins to end users to facilitate their exploitation and possible commercialisation.
- Quantify the impacts of the use of digital twins to assess their short-term benefits (such as improved energy efficiency or quality), as well as the long-term advantages in aspects such as brand recognition, production costs or the creation of highly qualified jobs.
DTWINE’s multi- and interdisciplinary approach to the development of digital twins applied to wine fermentation is a great challenge and an ambitious proposal aimed at modernising the way this process is carried out. In this way, the results of the project are expected to promote the renewal of the Spanish wine sector, the modernisation of production systems, the protection of the environment and the improvement of product quality in the wineries.
Consultancy for Innovation
25 years of experience support us as an Innovation Consultancy, accompanying our clients in the execution of their R&D&I initiatives and formulating an optimal financial-fiscal mix for their innovative activity. This experience is embodied in a dynamic methodology that allows us to continuously adapt to market trends in innovation financing, offering technical and financial solutions.
With a high level of specialisation in the agri-food sector, and especially in the wine sector, our team of consultants provides support in the design and technical-economic management of national and international R&D&I projects. In addition to these services, we also provide support for Innovative Investment Grants, R&D&I Taxation and Innovation Communication, resulting in 360º support for our clients’ innovative activity, enabling us to help them turn their ideas into projects.
