train equipped with BHEL manufactured electrics BHEL's investment in R&D is amongst the largest in the corporate sector in India. During 2012–2013, the company invested about ₹1,252 Crore on R&D efforts, which corresponds to nearly 2.50% of the turnover of the company, focusing on new product and system developments and improvements in existing products. The IPR (Intellectual Property Rights) capital of BHEL grew by 21.5% in the year, taking the total to 2170. The corporate R&D division at Hyderabad leads BHEL's research efforts in a number of areas of importance to BHEL's product range. Research & product development (RPD) groups for each product group at the manufacturing divisions play a complementary role. BHEL has established Centres of Excellence for Simulators, Computational Fluid Dynamics, Permanent Magnet Machines, Surface Engineering, Machine Dynamics, Centre for Intelligent Machines and Robotics, Compressors & Pumps, Centre for Nano Technology, Ultra High Voltage Laboratory at Corporate R&D; Centre of Excellence for Hydro Machines at Bhopal; Power Electronics and IGBT & Controller Technology at Electronics Division, Bengaluru, and Advanced Fabrication Technology and Coal Research Centre at Tiruchirappalli. BHEL has established four specialized institutes, viz., Welding Research Institute (WRI) at Tiruchirappalli, Ceramic Technological Institute (CTI) at Bangalore, Centre for Electric Traction (CET) at Bhopal, and Pollution Control Research Institute (PCRI) at Haridwar. Amorphous Silicon Solar Cell plant at
Gurgaon pursues R&D in Photo Voltaic applications. Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has achieved the historic milestone of supplying its 100th Space-grade battery to ISRO for the important and first-of-its-kind mission,
Chandrayaan 3. The batteries are manufactured at the Electronic Systems Division (ESD) of BHEL in Bengaluru. They use various types of chemistry, including Nickel-Cadmium, Nickel-Hydrogen, and Lithium-Ion. BHEL-supplied equipment at
Kaiga power plant creates a world record for continuous operation. BHEL and
NPCIL collaborated to develop the 220-MW Kaiga 1 nuclear power plant, an indigenously designed pressurized heavy water reactor (PHWR). On 31 December 2019, Kaiga 1 became a world record holder for running 962 unbroken days. BHEL is one of the only four Indian companies and the only Indian public sector enterprise figuring in 'The Global Innovation 1000' of
Booz & Co., a list of 1,000 publicly traded companies which are the biggest spenders on R&D in the world. In 2011, Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd was ranked the 9th most innovative company in the world by the US business magazine Forbes. It filed 303 patents and copyrights during the year. Its intellectual capital has gone up to 1,438 patents and copyrights.
List of R&D breakthroughs Source: • Its an
industrial technology and equipment provider for world's first commercial thorium reactor called
Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor. • Its R&D breakthroughs include 100 KW permanent magnet motors for India's submarine programme, which significantly reduce the size of the submarines for greater mobility. • The insulated-gate bipolar transistor-based inverter for railway locomotives. This propulsion system, which allows locomotives to use power more efficiently, helped BHEL bag a Rs 400 crore order from the Indian Railways, beating international rivals. • It's R&D developed the high temperature superconducting (HTSC) transformer, which is more efficient, smaller in size, weight, and volume, and can withstand twice the capacity overload without insulation damage or loss of product life. • In 2011, the World's first 1200 kV Ultra High Voltage Alternating Current (UHVAC) Transformer of 333 MVA rating. The Transformer has been developed, manufactured, and successfully tested by BHEL entirely through in-house know-how. India's
PowerGrid beats global peers in high-voltage game with the help of BHEL. • World's First DC Electric Train Engine With Regenerative Braking. The concept involving the energy-efficient regeneration system was put into shape by BHEL in a 5,000 HP WAG-7 electric locomotive. The technology is meant to be an upgrade to the existing dynamic braking system used presently in the locomotives. • In 2002, Bharat Heavy Electricals successfully developed a first-of-its-kind technology in the world for improving power transfer capability and reducing transmission losses in the country's highest-rated (400 kV) transmission lines. The device, called
Controlled Shunt Reactor • BHEL has commissioned the world's first ±800 kV multi-terminal HVDC project from North-East to Agra. • BHEL successfully demonstrates World's first indigenous High Ash Coal Gasification Plant, which converts Coal to Methanol. • BHEL commissions 250 MW lignite power plant in Gujarat based on eco-friendly Circulating Fluidized Bed Combustion (CFBC) technology, using low-grade coal (lignite) as the primary fuel. • Bharat Heavy Electricals has developed a high-velocity oxy-fuel thermal spray process for preventing silt erosion in components of hydro turbines in hydroelectric power stations. HVOF coatings were applied to turbine needles at the Shanan project and to guide vanes, top cover, and lower ring at the airasiul project. It was found that the coated components showed negligible erosion. • BHEL implements innovative boiler cleaning process in coal-fired thermal units.The boiler commissioning cycle will reduce from 100 days to 80 days by completing the main 'Boiler Acid cleaning' without its light-up, by using an Auxiliary Boiler. • BHEL in collaboration with
IIT Madras developed the Solid Waste Combustor. This indigenous Pilot Plant, based on a first-of-its-kind ‘Rotary Furnace’, is designed to efficiently incinerate unsegregated Municipal Solid Waste generated in India. • BHEL in JV with Coal India Limited (CIL) to develop a coal-to-chemicals company called Bharat Coal Gasification and Chemicals Ltd (BCGCL), BCGCL will produce chemicals from coal, including ammonia, nitric acid, syn-gas, and ammonium nitrate, etc. • In 2022, Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. (BHEL) produced a
Bus Potential Transformer Module, the first of its kind to be developed by an Indian manufacturer. In the existing design, a separate Potential Transformer(PT) panel was provided, having the same size, weight, and cost as a regular feeder panel. Cost savings of 57% can be achieved by the new development. In addition, panel size and weight are reduced by 80%, compared to conventional PT panels. The new PT Module for 33 kV Gas Insulated Switchgear (GIS) was successfully developed, installed and commissioned at a substation site (HVPNL, Sector – 107 Gurugram, Haryana). • In Sept 2024, Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) received the first-ever order for the demonstration of
methanol firing in a Gas Turbine at the 350 MW Kayamkulam Combined Cycle Power Plant (CCPP) of NTPC installed at Alappuzha district in Kerala. This will be the first such demonstration project of its kind in India. ==Manufacturing facilities==