A Best-Estimate Reactor Core Monitor Using State Feedback Strategies to Reduce Uncertainties

The development and demonstration of a new algorithm to reduce modeling and stateestimation uncertainty in best-estimate simulation codes has been investigated. Demonstration is given by way of a prototype reactor core monitor. The architecture of this monitor integrates a control-theorybased, distributed-parameter estimation technique into a production-grade best-estimate simulation code. The Kalman Filter-Sequential Least-Squares (KFSLS) parameter estimation algorithm has been extended for application into the computational environment of the best-estimate simulation code RELAPS-3D. In control system terminology, this configuration can be thought of as a "best-estimate" observer. The application to a distributed-parameter reactor system involves a unique modal model that approximates Aphysical components, such as the reactor, by describing both states and parameters by an orthogonal expansion. The basic KFSLS parameter estimation is used to dynamically refine a spatially varying (distributed) parameter. The application of the distributed-parameter estimator is expected to complement a traditional nonlinear best-estimate simulation code by providing a mechanism for reducing both code input (modeling) and output (state-estimation) uncertainty in complex, distributed-parameter systems.