Construction of the Dynamic Model and Control System for the Canadian Supercritical Water–Cooled Reactor Power Plant

Abstract

Canada has proposed the supercritical water–cooled reactor (SCWR) concept as one of the Generation IV nuclear reactors. In the SCWR power plant, the supercritical water is heated in the reactor and then flows to the turbine directly. Therefore, knowledge of the dynamic behaviors of the system is necessary for the stable operation of the power plant. There is still a lack of study on the control system for the proposed SCWR power plant. In this study, a dynamic model for the entire SCWR power plant is constructed that includes the reactor, turbine, condenser, and feedwater pump. Based on the model, the open-loop characteristics of the system when subjected to perturbations in the inputs are analyzed. Subsequently, a feedback control strategy is adopted to regulate the outputs of the system when there are disturbances. The evaluation of the performance of the control system shows that the proposed control system can return the plant back to the operating conditions effectively.

Keywords:

• Supercritical water–cooled reactor (SCWR)
• dynamic model
• feedback control
• control system
• performance

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by NSERC.