Dynamic Modeling and Control Characteristics of the Two-Modular HTR-PM Nuclear Plant

Abstract

The modular high temperature gas-cooled reactor (MHTGR) is a typical small modular reactor (SMR) with inherent safety feature. Due to its high reactor outlet coolant temperature, the MHTGR can be applied not only for electricity production but also as a heat source for industrial complexes. Through multimodular scheme, that is, the superheated steam flows produced by multiple MHTGR-based nuclear supplying system (NSSS) modules combined together to drive a common thermal load, the inherent safety feature of MHTGR is applicable to large-scale nuclear plants at any desired power ratings. Since the plant power control technique of traditional single-modular nuclear plants cannot be directly applied to the multimodular plants, it is necessary to develop the power control method of multimodular plants, where dynamical modeling, control design, and performance verification are three main aspects of developing plant control method. In this paper, the study in the power control for two-modular HTR-PM plant is summarized, and the verification results based on numerical simulation are given. The simulation results in the cases of plant power step and ramp show that the plant control characteristics are satisfactory.