Evaluation of a Rankine Cycle Display for Nuclear Power Plant Monitoring and Diagnosis

Abstract

Traditionally, nuclear power plant control rooms have been designed according to a single-sensor single-indicator (SSSI) philosophy. Various researchers have proposed new display design principles, such as the mapping principle, which tries to overcome the limitations associated with the traditional approach by displaying higher-order functional information directly to operators. The mapping principle is exemplified by the Rankine cycle display, which is an overview display for monitoring and diagnosing the state of nuclear power plants. In this paper we present the results of the first formal evaluation of the Rankine display, comparing it with an SSSI display and a variation of the SSSI that also contains a pressure-temperature graph. The performance of undergraduate and graduate students in mechanical and nuclear engineering is compared with that of licensed nuclear power plant operators. Participants in each of these three groups were required to detect and diagnose abnormalities in dynamic scenarios using one of the three display. The results indicate that the nuclear power plant operators outperformed the other two groups and that the Rankine cycle display led to more accurate detection and diagnosis performance than did either of the other two displays. Finally, we discuss some additional issues that must be addressed before one can recommend that the Rankine cycle display be implemented in commercial nuclear power plant control rooms.