Control setting optimisation for a power plant using Orthogonal Array Technique

Orthogonal Array (OA) Technique, a statistical tool used in the design of industrial experiments, has been applied to the problem of control setting optimisation for a nuclear power plant. The power plant is represented by its dynamic simulation model on a digital computer. The availability of the power plant following a net load rejection has been taken as the performance index. The performance index has been maximised using an OA design consisting of 32 trials. The optimum setting of different control parameters have been obtained from the study. The use of OA technique has helped in cutting down considerably on the number of trials to be attempted in arriving at the optimum combination