Product category:
Process Simulation
News Release from: Invensys SimSci Esscor | Subject: Virtual simulation
Edited by the Processingtalk Editorial
Team on 19 December 2005
Reducing risk when upgrading nuclear
plant control
Fort Calhoun nuclear power station controls upgrade will be checked out off-line prior to commissioning using Invensys virtual simulation technology, minimising risk
Invensys Process Systems has been selected by Omaha Public Power District (OPPD) for advanced SimSci-Esscor virtual simulation technology using FSIM Plus software to fully verify and tune the OPPD upgraded Foxboro digital automation system at the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Power Station The contract also includes software and engineering services to bridge the controls simulation to Fort Calhoun's existing plant simulator
This article was originally published on Processingtalk on 30 Jul 2003 at 8.00am (UK)
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Fort Calhoun Station, located eight miles north of Omaha, Nebraska, is a pressurised light water reactor facility with generating capacity of 492 megawatts.
Operating safely since it was built in 1973, Fort Calhoun Station has received an extension of its operating license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).
OPPD is in the process of upgrading the facility, including new steam generators, a new reactor vessel head and a new pressuriser to allow it to continue operating safely and efficiently until 2033.
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SimSci-Esscor has announced it plans to provide access to its upstream optimisation suite and its Process Engineering Suite solutions for petrochemical and energy companies via the Internet
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SimSci-Esscor has released Dynsim 3.1, a powerful, new state-of-the-art dynamic process simulation programme, delivering improved upstream modelling and significant gains in engineering productivity
The FSIM Plus simulator will be used to exactly model the upgraded I/A Series digital control systems at Fort Calhoun Station.
Virtual simulation technology uses the underlying digital controller source code, which is ported to a low-cost computer platform and combined with simulation functionality.
This virtual controller communicates with operator workstations, exactly duplicating the control room experience in an off-line, low risk manner.
As an exact representation of the plant controls, the FSIM Plus virtual simulation allows for the control algorithms to be tested in the simulator before installing the controls in the plant.
This Invensys "test before install" strategy also eliminates subsequent forced outages caused by live control configuration error resolution, and can result in enormous savings to the plant.
By using SimSci-Esscor software bridge capabilities, the Invensys simulation solution allows the controls configuration and graphics files from the plant to be downloaded onto the Fort Calhoun Station's existing plant simulator as-is.
It uses the same tools and operator interface as the plant, without imprecise translations, conversions, or other emulation.
It will also allow Fort Calhoun Station operators to continuously maintain their plant simulator as controls are upgraded.
The bridge technology helps address such challenges as operator new-technology skills training, keeping existing emulators current with control system advances, and streamlining verification and tuning for the new controls.
The OPPD Fort Calhoun Station contract for simulation solutions follows an earlier control system modernisation contract with Invensys for the latest I/A Series automation technology.
The control system modernisation will also use the latest Foxboro high availability, high speed mesh backbone technology for the Fort Calhoun plant data network.
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