SCALING REACTOR CONCEPTS | SIMULATION
Left (from left to right): Didier Paen, Business Development Manager and Jean-Christophe Blanchon, R&D Manager, CORYS
● Physical process models: Real-world equipment data sheets should be integrated starting at the standard equipment design stage. The simulator should then be connected to the project database to enable automatic updates.
● Operating rules and instructions: Initial validation should be completed at the basic design stage, with rules for normal and abnormal operation.
Nuclear reactors are complex systems of systems involving many different subsystems and activities. It is important to rapidly move new concepts onto a scalable integration platform that can effectively orchestrate the multitude of components involved, including integrating component- specific software (such as for I&C systems) and modelling solutions (either through open standards for exchanging simulation models in a standardised format like FMI, OPC or other standards or through custom integrations). A single simulation environment that can scale from thousands of variables to millions is also essential.
From preliminary studies to basic design Preliminary studies focus on basic concepts: A first loop is designed with target performance values and the associated modelling. At this stage, a simulator should be able to easily run physical equations to evaluate the inlet and outlet reactor temperatures, mass flow, exchanger design and geometry, and the primary loop pumping system. It should also be possible to run the first transient scenarios on several different modelling tools and compare the results. Based on the findings of these preliminary studies, the basic design can be completed. The main objective at this stage is to integrate the basic design to ensure consistency across the entire system before beginning the detailed design. Here, a simulator should be able to provide the best estimate of behaviour of all second-level systems. When it comes to simulation data, traceability is vital.
At any time during the development process, it should be possible to explain the origin of any data used in the simulator, which should be connected to a specific database containing the engineering data values used for simulation. This ‘data package’ must be validated with the simulation team. In organisational terms, this means that the basic design simulation can only begin once the engineering and
simulation teams have given the green light to proceed. In other words, when both teams agree that the data is of
sufficient quality. This means: ● Determining what alternative data will be used if any data is missing
● Data type and format so that the data package can be imported automatically
● How missing boundary conditions and initial state data will be handled
● Having sufficient hydraulic line data for functional validations, which means having a PID controller with sensors (PID V2) and consistent I&C lines and specifications
Once the basic design simulation project is ready to begin, preliminary transient scenarios are run for functional validation. At this stage, simulation is essentially based on one dataset. Again, organisationally, good communication is crucial. Equipment datasheets can be upgraded in the simulation if the engineering and simulation teams come to a consensus, bearing in mind that at this stage, the purpose of the basic design simulation remains the testing of major transient scenarios to validate the general architecture before entering the detailed design phase. Data readiness is one of the main challenges during
detailed design. The ability of a simulator to handle multiple data packages while ensuring traceability and calculating impacts on validation scenarios is crucial. Ideally, a simulation provider should provide not only tools,
but also methods and support with: ● Data management ● Simulator updates ● Test automation ● Regression tests ● Data traceability
Additionally, the tools delivering these capabilities should be able to interface with product lifecycle management tools to enable interactions with engineering.
Engineering creating new requirements Once the engineering phase starts, deliveries will be expected around every three months, which means that every three months the elementary systems must be updated in the simulator. This requires a dataset or batch
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