Digital Twin Optimizes Wastewater Treatment and Cuts Carbon Footprint at Danish Industrial Plant

An industrial wastewater plant in Kalundborg, Denmark, is using a digital twin to handle a planned expansion while cutting energy use and emissions. The facility, run by Novonesis and Novo Nordisk, will soon process twice as much organic material. The digital twin lets operators test changes virtually, optimize day to day operations, and plan for outages before they happen. The approach matters for decarbonization because wastewater treatment is energy intensive and can release nitrogen and nitrous oxide, a potent greenhouse gas. Better control means lower costs, less resource use, and an easier path to stricter environmental rules. Researchers at the Technical University of Denmark are supporting the work. For anyone tracking industrial decarbonization, this is a practical example of software reducing emissions at a large regulated facility, not a pilot in a lab.