DIGITAL TWIN-BASED PERFORMANCE TESTING AND OPTIMIZATION OF ADVANCED FIRE SUPPRESSION EQUIPMENT FOR SAUDI INDUSTRIAL EPC PROJECTS

Industrial engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) projects require fire suppression equipment to perform reliably in the face of changing inventories, process hazards, hydraulic conditions and construction stage modifications. Traditional acceptance tests establish compliance at a number of selected operating points and say nothing about the potential for performance degradation between inspections or under the combined effect of multiple disturbances. This is a critical integrative review of the potential of digital twins to improve performance testing and optimisation of water based, gaseous and hybrid fire suppression assets in the Saudi industrial environment. A total of 30 DOI-traceable publications from 2020 to 2025 were reviewed in the areas of fire physics, cyber-physical modelling, operational validation and construction information management. The synthesis makes a clear distinction between geometric asset representations and true, synchronised, uncertainty aware digital twins and proposes a lifecycle framework which links engineering data, measured equipment states, validated fire scenarios and maintenance decisions. Evidence from suppression experiments shows that extinguishment is highly sensitive to droplet transport, obstruction, nozzle characteristics and boundary conditions. Digital twin studies show promise in terms of information integration but to date have seen very limited validation in the area of actual suppression. The review presents an equipment centred evaluation matrix, a staged credibility protocol and a constrained optimisation logic which is appropriate to the EPC handover context. Claims of extinguishment effectiveness must be backed by physical evidence rather than by simulated success. The key contribution of the review is the development of a practical research agenda for independently validated, auditable suppression digital twins operating under the climatic, operational and governance conditions that are relevant to the Saudi industrial project.