Evaluation of Foundation Fieldbus H1 Networks for Steam Generator Level Control

The effects of Foundation Fieldbus (FF) H1 networks on the dynamic performance of steam generator level control (SGLC) loops are evaluated through two experimental setups using a DeltaV Distributed Control System (DCS). The first uses a physical system resembling a steam generator; the second is a hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) simulation with a steam generator model inside an industrial-grade nuclear power plant training simulator. The test results indicate that for a given control loop a longer FF H1 macrocycle will lead to more serious performance degradation. Furthermore, the effects of the networks are found to be mainly due to network-induced delays. Through the timing analysis of an FF-H1-network-based loop, delay models are developed, and suggestions to potentially reduce the delays and their impact are provided.