A bifurcation analysis of boiling water reactor on large domain of parametric spaces

Highlight
• Detailed bifurcation analysis of fixed points has been done for boiling water reactor.
• The bifurcations of limit cycle have been investigated for BWRs.
• It is established that linear stability analysis is not sufficient to identify stable operating parameters range for BWRs.
• The regions of bi-stability have been identified for these BWRs.

The boiling water reactors (BWRs) are inherently nonlinear physical system, as any other physical system. The reactivity feedback, which is caused by both moderator density and temperature, allows several effects reflecting the nonlinear behavior of the system. Stability analyses of BWR is done with a simplified, reduced order model, which couples point reactor kinetics with thermal hydraulics of the reactor core. The linear stability analysis of the BWR for steady states shows that at a critical value of bifurcation parameter (i.e. feedback gain), Hopf bifurcation occurs. These stable and unstable domains of parametric spaces cannot be predicted by linear stability analysis because the stability of system does not include only stability of the steady states. The stability of other dynamics of the system such as limit cycles must be included in study of stability. The nonlinear stability analysis (i.e. bifurcation analysis) becomes an indispensable component of stability analysis in this scenario. Hopf bifurcation, which occur with one free parameter, is studied here and it formulates birth of limit cycles. The excitation of these limit cycles makes the system bistable in the case of subcritical bifurcation whereas stable limit cycles continues in an unstable region for supercritical bifurcation. The distinction between subcritical and supercritical Hopf is done by two parameter analysis (i.e. codimension-2 bifurcation). In this scenario, Generalized Hopf bifurcation (GH) takes place, which separates sub and supercritical Hopf bifurcation. The various types of bifurcation such as limit point bifurcation of limit cycle (LPC), period doubling bifurcation of limit cycles (PD) and Neimark–Sacker bifurcation of limit cycles (NS) have been identified with the Floquet multipliers. The LPC manifests itself as the region of bistability whereas chaotic region exist because of cascading of PD. This region of bistability and chaotic solutions are drawn on the various parametric bifurcation diagrams