Reliability prediction of smart pressure transmitter for use in NPPs

Abstract

Nuclear power plants (NPP) require continuous processing of various process parameters for their proper functioning, of which temperature and pressure levels are of prime importance. This is where transmitters or sensors are used and therefore it is important to measure the reliability and conduct failure testing of these components. A transmitter is one which transmits the output signal provided by the transducer for further processing. The calculation of reliability of smart transmitter is of vital importance to ensure safe operation of a nuclear power plant (NPP). The total failure rate of a smart transmitter is cumulative of the failure rates of all the different components present in the smart transmitter. Therefore we need to examine in detail the different components of smart transmitter and their possible failure rates. In order to calculate the reliability of each component individually, Relex Architect, a reliability analysis software tool is used to predict the failure rate of the electronic components. In this paper reliability of smart pressure transmitters is predicted, also communication of smart pressure transmitter with external devices (HART communicator and PC) is also presented.