Advanced instrumentation concepts and their application to nuclear power plants.

266 Pages·1.9 MB·en_US

by  Soule, Ralph T.

ADVANCED INSTRUMENTATION CONCEPTS AND THEIR APPLICATION TO
NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS
by
RALPH T. SOULE
B.S. Electrical Engineering, U.S Naval Academy
(1982)
SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENTS OF
NUCLEAR ENGINEERING
and
ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING AND COMPUTER SCIENCE
IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS
FOR THE DEGREES OF
MASTER OF SCIENCE IN NUCLEAR ENGINEERING
and
MASTER OF SCIENCE IN ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING
at the
MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
May 1991
©Ralph T. Soule, 1991.
All rights reserved
The author hereby grants to MIT permission to reproduce and
to distribute copies of this thesis document in whole or in
/_
part
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ADVANCED INSTRUMENTATION CONCEPTS AND THEIR APPLICATION TO
NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS
by
RALPH T. SOULE
Submitted to the Departments of Nuclear Engineering and
Electrical Engineering And Computer Science in partial
fulfillment of the requirements for the degrees of Master of
Science in Nuclear Engineering and Master of Science in
Electrical Engineering
ABSTRACT
The characteristics of computer based instrumentation, or
smart instruments, are investigated. Computer based
instruments are distinguished by their ability to include a
more complex model of the physical processes influencing the
desired measurement than is possible with conventional
instrument. Smart instrumentation is described with
emphasis on illustrating its ability to improve data
collection, storage, display, and evaluation. The
application considerations of redundancy, consistency,
noise, and filtering are also addressed.
As an application example, a smart instrument for measuring
steam generator water level in a pressurized water reactor
is designed. A model, accounting for the important
processes affecting level measurement is developed. An
error exists in the computation the fluid shear stresses,
but the model calculations remain illustrative of those
pertinent to smart instrument design. The model is stable
for both steady state and transient conditions, but there
are restrictions on the rate of the transient. Simulated
level data is used to compare a simplified level instrument
with the smart level instrument. The smart instrument is
more accurate, but not by more than one percent. Methods
that could be used by a smart instrument to recover from
operation outside its model assumptions are discussed.
Finally, recommendations are made for future work.
Thesis Supervisor: John E. Meyer
Title: Professor Of Nuclear Engineering

Acknowledgements
I wish to express my gratitude to Professor Meyer, my thesis
advisor, for his patient assistance and guidance provided
throughout the preparation of this report. I am also
grateful for the advice and assistance I received from
Professor Burns, my thesis reader. Thanks also to Erv
LaForge for the administrative assistance he provided.
Finally, I want to thank my family, Pamela and Bryan, for
the enormous patience and support they provided while I
completed my research.