Title: Improving control performance in nuclear steam generator level control system with feedforward controller and parameter tuning

Authors: Gunyaz Ablay

Addresses: Department of Engineering Technology, SUNY Polytechnic Institute, Utica, New York, USA

Abstract: U-tube steam generator level control systems are not very efficient, especially at reactor startup and low power levels, and their poor performance is the major contributor to the nuclear power plant unavailability. On the other hand, nuclear power plants require proven technology for safety and reliability reasons, and implementation of new control algorithms is strictly limited. In this work, the proven three-element control structure of the UTSG water level control system is redesigned to provide robust reference tracking and load rejection performance over the entire reactor power operating range. The optimal control gains are calculated from stochastic optimisation techniques, including particle swarm optimisation and lightning search algorithms. It is shown that the proposed control strategies provide optimal and robust water level tracking with a single controller over the entire power operating range in the presence of parameter uncertainties and steam flowrate load disturbances.

Keywords: steam generator; level control; optimal control; PSO; LSA.

DOI: 10.1504/IJNEST.2024.147523

International Journal of Nuclear Energy Science and Technology, 2024 Vol.17 No.4, pp.258 - 277

Received: 14 Aug 2023
Accepted: 22 May 2024
Published online: 20 Jul 2025 *

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