Optimal controller design for reactor core power stabilization in a pressurized water reactor: Applications of gold...

Area of Science:

• Nuclear Engineering
• Control Systems
• Optimization Techniques

Background:

• Nuclear energy is crucial for global energy supply and climate change mitigation.
• Pressurized Water Reactors (PWRs) require advanced control for flexible operation and grid integration.
• Nonlinearity in PWR systems poses challenges for peak load regulation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate and optimize the reactor core control of a Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) system.
• To address nonlinearity issues in PWR systems for enhanced operational flexibility.
• To investigate the effectiveness of recent optimization techniques for PID controller tuning.

Main Methods:

• Development of a dynamic model for the PWR system, including core, plenums, and piping.
• Implementation of a Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) controller for power regulation via control rod movement.
• Optimization of PID controller parameters using the Gold Rush Optimizer (GRO) with a time-weighted square error metric.
• Comparative analysis with Dragonfly, Arithmetic, and Planet optimization algorithms.

Main Results:

• The Gold Rush Optimizer (GRO) demonstrated superior accuracy and effectiveness in tuning PID controller parameters.
• Optimized PID control strategy showed enhanced efficiency and resilience with reduced overshoot and settling time.
• MATLAB/Simulink simulations validated the proposed control approach.

Conclusions:

• The GRO-based optimized PID controller significantly improves PWR system performance for peak regulation.
• The proposed method offers a robust solution for managing nonlinearity in nuclear power systems.
• This research contributes to the advancement of flexible and reliable nuclear energy integration into power grids.