Data acquisition and control system in a heavy water detritiation installation

The experimental installation for extracting tritium and deuterium from the tritiated heavy water used as moderator in CANDU type nuclear reactors is described. The separated tritium of high purity can be used in the fusion reactors of the future or in various laboratory researches. The fluids implied in operating this installation require special safety measures to be taken to protect both the operational personnel and the environment. Accordingly, in the technologic room no personnel is allowed and hence parameter monitoring, analyses and the testing must be done by remote control equipment. The computers for monitoring, warning and testing, as well as the sensors are housed in the data acquisition room, separated from the control room. The values generated by the process variables are converted in electrical or pneumatic signals and subsequently transmitted to the subsystems of monitoring, control and protection. Data acquisition in the control room is ensured by a computer provided with a FieldPoint interface. So, the connection between I/O modules from the data acquisition room and the computer ensures a 115.2 kb/s speed. Measured values of the parameters are recorded and displayed in the control room. Here these are compared with preset limits of the process parameters and in case of abnormal behavior, an alarm is triggered both optically and acoustically. At the same time, the program which controls the inputs and the outputs makes decisions and issues corrective or preventive commands for the technological process or installation protection, respectively. A diagram illustrating the monitoring, using a LabView platform is presented