Robust constrained state feedback IH-MPC based on LMI for a PWR nuclear power plant

A new approach for power and temperature control in pressurized water reactor (PWR) nuclear power plant using robust constrained state feedback infinite horizon model predictive control (IH-MPC) is presented. MPC is possibly the only advanced control scheme able to deal with constraints, namely, it can regulate and control variables of the system within the pre-defined ranges. Nevertheless, conventional MPC performs poorly for systems with uncertainty. In this pater, polytopic uncertain description of the nonlinear plant by linear time varying (LTV) model is used to approximate the real plant, based on which and combined with the state feedback control law, a robust IH-MPC controller is devised for better closed-loop robust stability in the presence of constraints, which can be ensured by solving min-max optimization problem via linear matrix inequality (LMI) method. Satisfactory performance is obtained in the simulation for load following operation.