Predictive control based on fuzzy model for steam generator

Poor control of the steam generator water level in the secondary circuit of a nuclear power plant can lead to frequent reactor shutdowns. Such shutdowns are caused by violation of safety limits on the water level and are common at low operating power where the plant exhibits strong nonminimum phase characteristics. This paper presents a framework for addressing this problem based on a new method of predictive control based on fuzzy model. It has been shown that in the case of nonlinear processes, the approach using fuzzy predictive control gives very promising results. The proposed approach is potentially interesting in the case of heat-exchangers and furnaces.