A differentiator based second-order sliding-mode control of a pressurized water nuclear research reactor considering Xenon concentration feedback

Abstract

This paper presents the Twisting control algorithm with a differentiator to extend the applicability of the second-order sliding-mode control scheme in a nuclear reactor power control and regulation. Application of the second-order sliding-mode control in the power tracking control of a nuclear reactor is vital because it addresses the challenges of chattering and relative degree restriction faced in conventional-sliding mode control. A differentiator is designed to realize the exact robust differentiation of the sliding variable required in the second-order sliding-mode control. The nuclear reactor core is simulated based on the point kinetics equation with a single delayed neutron group. Using the Twisting algorithm, the simulation results show that the closed-loop control system is stable, robust against external disturbance, insensitive to parametric variation, and achieved the desired performance specifications. Moreover, it is found that the Twisting controller can adequately replace the super-Twisting controller without compromising any of the performance indices.