Design of a Fuzzy FOPID Controller for Power Level Control of a Pressurized Water Reactor

Abstract

Nuclear Power Plants (NPP) are a compact source of clean energy. It is also arguably economically competitive and not prone to changes in climate. NPPs employ mature and tested technologies because of the premium placed on safety in the nuclear industry. The industry has therefore been slow to adopt modern control methodologies, a reason why a majority of the plants still use PID controllers. However, NPPs need to modernize so as to become more economically competitive. In this regard, this paper seeks to design a fuzzy fractional-order PID controller for power level control of a Pressurized Water Reactor. The choice of FOPID is due to the fact that they maintain the advantages offered by classical PID Controllers while giving more flexibility due to the extra control parameters it contains. A one-point kinetic model of a nuclear reactor is used to design ten controllers at various relative power levels and T-S fuzzy logic used in gain scheduling of the controller. A Simulink model is implemented, and the effectiveness of the controller in comparison to the classical PID controller is done. The results show that the designed FOPID is feasible for power level control of a pressurized water reactor.