The application of MVPACK to the design of multivariable control systems for a nuclear steam generator

MVPACK is a user-friendly software package that combines a powerful capability to design and analyze complex multivariable control systems, both in state space and transfer function form, with an ease of application. MVPACK is a set of interactive modules that appears to the user as a high-level calculator. It is composed of a database, interaction methods, a mathematical library, and an extensive collection of design algorithms including: order reduction of linear models; pole shifting with output feedback; modal control; optimal control with stochastic state estimation; and the inverse Nyquist array method. The subject of this paper is the design of multivariable controllers for a nuclear steam generator. The available outputs of the 15th-order model are steam pressure and water level; control inputs are steam and feedwater flows. Four of the design techniques implemented in the MVPACK module are outlined and then applied to this model