Detection of small leakage combining dedicated Kalman filters and an extended version of the binary SPRT

A new method is outlined for detection of soft reactor failures. The procedure is applicable when the failure can be described by an additive term (failure vector) in the measurement process of an observable dynamic system. A dedicated Kalman filter generates the innovation process for further testing. The innovation is investigated by a sequential hypothesis testing method. In order to avoid the computational difficulties related to sophisticated multiple hypothesis testing methods, an extended version of Walds's classical binary Sequential Probability Ratio Testing (SPRT) has been developed. The procedure is applied for the problem of (small) leakage detection in the feedwater system of nuclear power plants. Computer simulation results show that the method can recognize less than 1% relative water loss reliably. (author) 10 refs.; 5 figs.; 5 tabs