Design and development of robotic automation and process controls for the water jet lancing system of nuclear power plant steam generators

Steam generators are critical components of a nuclear power plant and play an important role in the availability of the plant. Hard sludge deposits formed in the tube sheets of the steam generator leading to tube corrosion and degraded thermal performance, are major concerns in the life management program of this crucial component. As an essential part of the life management program, water jet lancing has been adopted for dislodging and removal of hard sludge deposits periodically from the tube sheets. A remotely operated water jet lancing equipment has been designed and developed indigenously incorporating compact robotic jet manipulators, process systems, state of the art automation and flexible operator interface features, for use in the steam generators of Indian PHWRs. This paper describes the design and implementation of the robotic automation, process control and interface features of the water jet lancing equipment.