Design and validation of robust and autonomous control for nuclear reactors

A robust control design procedure for a nuclear reactor has been developed and experimentally validated on the Penn State TRIGA research reactor. The utilization of the robust controller as a component of an autonomous control system is also demonstrated. Two methods of specifying a low order (fourth-order) nominal-plant model for a robust control design were evaluated: 1) by approximation based on the 'physics' of the process and 2) by an optimal Hankel approximation of a higher order plant model. The uncertainty between the nominal plant models and the higher order plant model is supplied as a specification to the μ-synthesis robust control design procedure. Two methods of quantifying uncertainty were evaluated: 1) a combination of additive and multiplicative uncertainty and 2) multiplicative uncertainty alone. The conclusions are that the optimal Hankel approximation and a combination of additive and multiplicative uncertainty are the best approach to design robust control for this application. The results from nonlinear simulation testing and the physical experiments are consistent and thus help to confirm the correctness of the robust control design procedures and conclusions