Fuzzy adaptive robust optimal controller to increase load following capability of nuclear reactors

Nuclear reactors are by nature nonlinear and their parameters vary with time as a function of power, fuel burnup, and control rod worth. In load following condition, when large power variations occur in power plant working regime, the aforementioned characteristics must be considered. In this paper a fuzzy adaptive robust optimal controller (FAROC) based on a proposed modified dynamic nonsingleton fuzzy logic system is presented. A robust optimal self-tuning regulator (ROSTR) response is used as a reference trajectory to determine the feedback, feedforward and observer gains of the fuzzy controller. The fuzzy controller displayed good stability and performance for a wide range of operation as well as considerable reduction in computation time in comparison with ROSTR.