Design of a model predictive control method for load tracking in nuclear power plants

Load tracking in pressurized water reactor (PWR) nuclear power plants has nowadays attracted comprehensive attention for the security concerns. In this paper, a novel state space model of the reactor core with multiple groups of delayed neutrons considered is developed, and a model predictive control (MPC) method is proposed for load tracking. In addition, Quadratic programming (QP) is introduced for system optimizing, and the stability analysis of the control system is also discussed. Compared with the currently used Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) control method, the effectiveness of the proposed QP-based MPC (QPMPC) method for load tracking is verified by numerical simulations.