Design of a Decoupling Algorithm for The Reactor Nodal Core Model of a Large PHWR

Abstract

This paper proposes a new decoupling algorithm for the reactor nodal core model of a large 540 MWe PHWR. The purpose of decoupling the nodal model is to reduce its size, so as to facilitate controller design. This decoupling method is based on the minimization of an objective function, which maximizes the mean sensitivity and minimizes the uniformity. The decoupled system is composed of 3 partitions with 20, 26, and 26 states in each partition. Distributed controllers can then be designed for these partitions to form a Distributed Control System (DCS).