Nuclear engineering

Electrical engineering

Optics

Physics

Engineering

Control engineering

Pressurizer

Artificial intelligence

Thermal hydraulics

Nuclear physics

Control (management)

Turbine

Piping

Nuclear power plant

Boiler (water heating)

Pressurized water reactor

Condenser (optics)

Pressure control

Light source

Computer science

Power station

Boiler feedwater

Control theory (sociology)

Heat transfer

Nuclear reactor

Waste management

Mechanical engineering

Coolant

Thermodynamics

Nuclear Engineering and Design

This article presents an integrated non-linear dynamic model of a Pressurized Water-type Nuclear Reactor (PWR) and associated plant components for control design and evaluation purposes. The model uses the first-principles approach to represent various components of the plant. The model considers the dynamics of the reactor core, thermal hydraulics, piping and plenum, pressurizer, steam generator, condenser, and turbine-governor system, in addition to various actuators and sensors. The response of the proposed model is tested using perturbations in different input variables. Various control loops implementing low-level PI control strategies are designed and implemented in the model to simulate the closed-loop behaviour of the plant. These include control loops for reactor power, steam generator pressure, pressurizer pressure and level, and turbine speed. Linear quadratic Gaussian-based optimal control strategies are further developed and implemented. Unique contributions of the work include the set of plant sections that are considered, the implementation of carefully tuned control strategies, the completeness of the model equations, and the availability of parameter values so that the model is readily implementable and has the potential to become a benchmark for control design studies in PWR nuclear power plants.

Dynamic modelling, simulation, and control design of a pressurized water-type nuclear power plant