Prony's method application for BWR instabilities characterization

• Prony's method application for BWR instability events.
• Several BWR instability benchmark are assessed using this method.
• DR and frequency are obtained and a new parameter is proposed to eliminate false signals.
• Adequate characterization of in-phase and out-of-phase events is obtained.
• The Prony's method application is validated.

Several methods have been developed for the analysis of reactor power signals during BWR power oscillations. Among them is the Prony's method, its application provides the DR and the frequency of oscillations. In this paper another characteristic of the method is proposed to determine the type of oscillations that can occur, in-phase or out-of-phase. Prony's method decomposes a given signal in all the frequencies that it contains, therefore the DR of the fundamental mode and the first harmonic are obtained. To determine the more dominant pole of the system a normalized amplitude W of the system is calculated, which depends on the amplitude and the damping coefficient. With this term, it can be analyzed which type of oscillations is present, if W of the fundamental mode frequency is the greater, the type of oscillations is in-phase, if W of the first harmonic frequency is the greater, the type of oscillations is out-of-phase. The method is applied to several stability benchmarks to assess its validity. Results show the applicability of the method as an alternative analysis method to determine the type of oscillations occurred.