Maintenance Of Process Instrumentation In Nuclear Power Plants

This book provides a training course for I and C maintenance engineers in power, process, chemical, and other industries. It summarizes all the scattered literature in this field. The book compiles 30 years of knowledge gained by the author and his staff in testing the I and C systems of nuclear power plants around the world. It focuses on process temperature and pressure sensors and the verification of these sensors’ calibration and response time.

This report provides key results of a three-year experimental and theoretical research and development effort performed under the auspices of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The goal of the R&D was to establish the validity of online calibration monitoring of process instrumentation channels in nuclear power plants. The author concludes that the normal outputs of instrument channels in nuclear plants can be monitored over a fuel cycle while the plant is operating and during startup and shutdown periods to verify the calibration of the instruments, thereby improving plant efficiency and safety, eliminating unnecessary calibrations, and reducing operations and maintenance costs.

The nuclear industry and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC) have been working for several years on the development of an adequate process to guide the replacement of aging analog monitoring and control instrumentation in nuclear power plants with modern digital instrumentation without introducing off-setting safety problems. This book identifies criteria for the USNRC's review and acceptance of digital applications in nuclear power plants. It focuses on eight areas: software quality assurance, common-mode software failure potential, systems aspects of digital instrumentation and control technology, human factors and human-machine interfaces, safety and reliability assessment methods, dedication of commercial off-the-shelf hardware and software, the case-by-case licensing process, and the adequacy of technical infrastructure.

Safety, reliability, and productivity in the nuclear industry result from a systematic consideration of human performance. A plant or other facility consists of both the engineered system and the human users of that system. It is therefore crucial that engineering activities consider the humans who will be interacting with those systems. Engineering design, specifically instrumentation and control (I&C) design, can influence human performance by driving how plant personnel carry out work and respond to events within a nuclear power plant. As a result, human–system interfaces (HSIs) for plant operators as well as the maintenance and testing of the I&C system cannot be designed by isolated disciplines. The focus of this publication is to integrate knowledge from the disciplines of human factors engineering (HFE) and I&C to emphasize an interdisciplinary approach for the design of better HSIs and consequently improved human performance in nuclear power plants. This is accomplished by practical explanations of the HFE processes and corresponding outputs that inform the I&C development. More specifically, the publication addresses issues in the design process where collaboration between HFE, I&C and other important disciplines and stakeholders is paramount and identifies key tools and tasks for exchanging inputs and outputs between different design disciplines, particularly I&C and HFE. The practical information provided in this publication is intended to support Member States’ capabilities to improve their approach to I&C through the consideration of HFE.

The second edition of this text presents an overview of power generation and discusses the different types of equipment used in a steam thermal power generation unit. The book describes various conventional and non-conventional energy sources. It elaborates on the instrumentation and control of water-steam and fuel-air flue gas circuits along with optimization of combustion. The text also deals with the power plant management system including the combustion process, boiler efficiency calculation, and maintenance and safety aspects. In addition, the book explains Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system as well as turbine monitoring and control. This book is designed for the undergraduate students of electronics and instrumentation engineering and electrical and electronics engineering. New To This Edition • A new chapter on Nuclear Power Plant Instrumentation is added, which elaborates how electricity is generated in a Nuclear Power Plant. Key Features • Includes numerous figures to clarify the concepts. • Gives a number of worked-out problems to help students enhance their learning skills. • Provides chapter-end exercises to enable students to test their understanding of the subject.

Recommends how the requirements established in Safety Standards Series No. NS-R-1, Safety of Nuclear Power Plants: Design, should be met for instrumentation and control systems important to safety.