Latest Technologies

The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) is characterized by a fusion of technologies that is blurring the
lines between the physical, digital, and biological spheres, collectively referred to as cyberphysical
systems.

It is marked by emerging technology breakthroughs in a number of fields, including robotics,

artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, quantum computing, biotechnology, the Internet of Things,
the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), Blockchain, fifth-generation wireless technologies (5G),
additive manufacturing/3D printing and fully autonomous vehicles, cloud computing.

I. Blockchain
1. A blockchain is a record of transactions.
2. It is a distributed database existing on multiple computers at the same time.It is constantly
growing as new sets of recordings, or ‘blocks’, are added to it.
3. Each block contains a timestamp and a link to the previous block, so they actually form a
chain. The database is not managed by any particular body; instead, everyone in the
network gets a copy of the whole database. Old blocks are preserved forever and new blocks
are added to the ledger irreversibly, making it impossible to manipulate by faking
documents, transactions and other information.
4. All blocks are encrypted in a special way, so everyone can have access to all the information
but only a user who owns a special cryptographic key is able to add a new record to a
particular chain. As long as you remain the only person who knows the key, no one can
manipulate your transactions. In addition, cryptography is used to guarantee
synchronisation of copies of the blockchain on each computer (or node) in the network.

Advantages

1. As everyone in the network maintains copy of the whole database, it is difficult to tamper ,
ie it is very secure
2. Ensures transparency in the system
3. Is Immutable and irrevocable
4. Saves costs
5. Improves efficiency

Applications

1. Smart Contract: Stored procedures executed in a Blockchain to process pre-defined business

steps and execute a commercially/ legally enforceable transaction without involvement of
an intermediary.
Smart contract are agreements that can automatically trigger actions under certain
conditions, such as when payments are made or missed
This will drastically reduce the arbitration cases in NHPC and time and cost over cases.
2. The NITI aayog is building the country’s largest blockchain network — IndiaChain,
in a bid to reduce frauds, speed up enforcement of contracts, and increase transparency of
transactions.
3. Other organisations working in this field SEBI , RBI , Andhra Pradesh etc
II. Artificial intelligence and Data Analytics in Energy Sector

Currently, two types of maintenance–corrective and preventive are primarily employed.

In the corrective maintenance, machines are repaired only when they break down and/or are not
performing up to the mark. This is not a very effective approach as it can cause substantial
disruption in scheduling and production owing to the delays in sourcing spare parts, significant time
taken to repair, and getting access to machinery experts. There is also a high risk of damaged
machinery causing accidents and injury to workmen, and failing safety standards

In preventive maintenance, equipment is attended to on a fixed and periodic basis, depending on

predetermined breakdown windows. The frequency of such monitoring is decided based on the
estimated rate of equipment wear and tear, acceptable maintenance costs, and general degradation
rules. Most rely on preventive maintenance to ensure smooth operations. However, machines can
be unpredictable, and even break down right after a scheduled maintenance. Over the years, there
have been many such cases of unanticipated collapses that brought down entire factory floors to a
halt. Such risks, if not addressed proactively, can cause extensive business damage, both in financial
and reputational terms, apart from endangering the safety of workers.

Condition based monitoring and maintenance (CBM)

As the Internet of Things (IoT) increasingly becomes mainstream across the industrial landscape,
manufacturers have aggressively stepped up installation of machines equipped with sensors
throughout their plants which will help in predictive maintenance, or condition based monitoring
and maintenance (CBM). CBM is an emerging method of equipment care that analyzes the real-time
data collected from machines to forecast potential breakdowns.

Under the predictive approach, sensor-embedded machines continuously capture equipment data
concerning various performance and environmental parameters, and transmit the same to a central
processor. The processor uses an advanced analytics engine to detect variations over time and flag
anomalies. Factory personnel can then use these alerts to schedule maintenance before a failure
actually occurs, but only after a potential cause is identified. This way, while machinery performance
is restored ahead of a breakdown, unnecessary time and efforts are no longer spent in tending to
equipment that do not require any intervention. Moreover, manufacturers can harness the
predictive data mining setup to undertake root cause analysis around various factors that can
possibly trigger failures and then prevent occurrence of similar defects in the future.
Energy Security

 Energy is the lifeline of any country. Therefore, energy security is the key to a nation’s
progress.
 India imports approx. 82% of its crude oil requirements, approx. 50% of its natural gas
requirement, approx. 85% of its coking coal requirement and approx. 20% of its non-coking
coal requirement (most of which is used for power generation).
 India is trying to reduce imports of petroleum products and coal, by switching to renewable
energy and electric vehicles.
 The role of hydro power in his new scenario is very crucial due to, intermittency of
renewable energy which can be dealt with by use of demand response, energy storage
technology (pumped storage), flexible generation (hydro power), flexible transmission,
flexible distribution, flexible markets and flexible tariff.