In-Situ Determination of Rod Control System Coil and Cable Impedances for Nuclear Power Plants
AssigneeAnalysis and Measurement Services Corporation
InventorsGregory W. Morton, Samuel D. Caylor, Jacob R. McCulley, Hashem M. Hashemian
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Abstract
Systems and methods of monitoring a rod control system of a nuclear power plant, including calculating impedance of at least one coil of a rod movement mechanism non-intrusively while the system is operating, comparing a measured impedance to a reference impedance, and determining if the measured impedance deviates from the reference impedance value by a predetermined amount to indicate degradation of the rod control system.
Claims12
A method of monitoring a rod control system of a nuclear power plant, comprising:
- calculating impedance of at least one coil of a rod movement mechanism using a non-intrusive method that utilizes existing plant signals, thereby allowing impedance to be calculated in-situ while the rod control system is online.
A method of monitoring a rod control system of a nuclear power plant, comprising:
- measuring voltage and current signals of at least one coil of a rod movement mechanism while the system is in operation in the plant;
- calculating an impedance of the least one coil based on the measured voltage and current signals;
- recording a plurality of impedance calculations over a period of time;
- and
- determining whether a current recorded impedance changes relative to a prior recorded impedance by a predetermined amount indicate degradation of the rod control system.
A system to monitor a rod control system of a nuclear power plant, comprising:
- an impedance measuring unit to measure an impedance of at least one coil of a rod movement mechanism during plant operation using a non-intrusive method for evaluation of the at least one coil;
- a controller to compare a measured impedance to a reference impedance, and to determine if the measured impedance deviates from the reference impedance value by a predetermined amount to indicate degradation of the rod control system.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.