Moving horizon estimation of xenon in pressurized water nuclear reactors using variable-step integration

A specific moving horizon estimation scheme is proposed for reconstructing the axial xenon concentrations in pressurized water nuclear reactors (PWR). The model considered is continuous time, with a parcimonious spatial discretization. The estimation scheme involves continuous time integration while using low frequency sampling of measurements. The results support a sensitivity analysis. The quality of the estimation is shown to be good, even though the model is particularly stiff, and the implementation altogether light.