Model Based Approach for Fault Detection and Isolation of Helical Coil Steam Generator Systems Using Principal Component Analysis

A robust Principal Component Analysis (PCA) model-based approach to Fault Detection and Isolation (FDI) was developed for the Helical Coil Steam Generator (HCSG) systems of the International Reactor Innovative and Secure (IRIS) nuclear reactor. The PCA model was developed using the data generated from a simulation of the system dynamics. Because all the operation modes can be excited through well-designed simulations, a PCA model developed from simulation data is more robust to changes in operation conditions than a PCA model developed from historical data collected during routine operation conditions. In order to deal with model uncertainty that exists in a simulation model, the mismatch between PCA model predictions and online plant measurements was analyzed to characterize the model uncertainty. Based on the assumption that model uncertainty has a structured property, a complete algorithm for the PCA-based FDI was derived such that the FDI results are robust to model uncertainty. When this new method was applied to the IRIS HCSG systems, the results showed that this approach could avoid false alarms and fault misdiagnosis due to changes in operation conditions and model certainty. The approach would overcome the limitations of traditional data-driven model based FDI when routine operational data do not contain sufficient information, and the limitations of physical model based FDI when these models are too complicated for a direct use in FDI design and contain model uncertainty.