CEGB philosophy and experience with fault-tolerant micro-computer application for power plant controls

From the mid-1960s until the late 1970s, automatic modulating control of the main boiler plant on CEGB fossil-fired power stations was largely implemented with hard wired electronic equipment. Mid-way through this period, the CEGB formulated a set of design requirements for this type of equipment; these laid particular emphasis on the fault tolerance of a control system and specified the nature of the interfaces with a control desk and with plant regulators. However, the automatic control of an Advanced Gas Cooled Reactor (AGR) is based upon measured values which are derived by processing a large number of thermocouple signals. This is more readily implemented digitally than with hard-wired equipment. Essential to the operation of an AGR power station is a data processing (DP) computer for monitoring the plant; so the first group of AGR power stations, designed in the 1960s, employed their DP computers for modulating control. Since the late 1970s, automatic modulating control of major plants, for new power stations and for re-fits on established power stations, has been implemented with micro-computers. Wherever practicable, the policy formulated earlier for hard-wired equipment has been retained, particularly in respect of the interfaces. This policy forms the foundation of the fault tolerance of these micro-computer systems