Blockchain technology in the chemical industry: Machine-to-machine electricity market

The purpose of this paper is to explore applications of blockchain technology related to the 4th Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0) and to present an example where blockchain is employed to facilitate machine to-machine (M2M) interactions and establish a M2M electricity market in the context of the chemical industry. The presented scenario includes two electricity producers and one electricity consumer trading with each other over a blockchain. All participants are supplied with realistic data produced by process flow sheet models. This work contributes a proof-of-concept implementation of the scenario. Additionally, this paper describes and discusses the research and application landscape of blockchain technology in relation to the Industry 4.0. It concludes that this technology has significant under researched potential to support and enhance the efficiency gains of the revolution and identifies areas for future research. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.