Estimation of Dynamic Reactivity Using an H_∞ Optimal Filter with a Nonlinear Term

A method of nonlinear filtering is applied to the problem of estimating the dynamic reactivity of a nonlinear reactor system. The nonlinear filtering algorithm developed is a simple modification of a linear H_∞ optimal filter with a nonlinear feedback loop added. The linear filter is designed on the basis of a linearized dynamical system model that consists of linearized point reactor kinetic equations and a reactivity state equation driven by a fictitious signal. The latter is artificially introduced to deal with the reactivity as a state variable. The results of the computer simulation show that the nonlinear filtering algorithm can be applied to estimate the dynamic reactivity of the nonlinear reactor system, even under relatively large reactivity disturbances.