Modeling and controllers design of the China CLEAR-IB

• A model for the reactor for CLEAR-IB was developed.
• A PI controller was designed to keep the power following the set value.
• Controllers were designed to keep the inlet temperature of HX constant.
• Dynamic simulation of the whole system with controllers was performed.

To investigate the dynamic and control characteristics of the plant, the model for the main components of the reactor and the most relevant interactions among them is developed. The system comprises of the primary system with lead bismuth eutectic (LBE) as the coolant, the secondary circuit with water as the coolant and the associated air cooling system for an effective rejection of thermal power to the environment as a final heat sink. The simulation results have been compared with the design data and the calculated data by Relap5 code, which shows that the proposed model is accurate enough to describe the dynamic behaviors of the plant in spite of its simplicity. A proportional-integral (PI) controller is designed to keep the power following the set value as quickly as possible. To keep the temperature of coolant at inlet of HXs constant, a control strategy based on a simultaneous feed-forward and feedback scheme has been adopted. Based on the developed model and control strategy, dynamic simulation of the whole system in cases of changes of external source and set power is performed. The simulation results show that the proposed model is accurate enough to describe the dynamic behaviors of the plant in spite of its simplicity and the developed controllers for the CLEAR-IB can provide superior reactor control capabilities due to the efficiency of the control strategy adopted.