State Feedback Output Tracking Model Reference Adaptive Control for Nuclear Reactor

Abstract This paper proposes a state feedback output tracking Model Reference Adaptive Control (MRAC) to control the power of a nuclear reactor. A linearized version of nuclear reactor dynamics based on point kinetics modeling, with parameter uncertainties, is utilized for the control studies. Normalized negative gradient algorithm is used to update the controller gains adaptively. Stability of the closed loop system is established through Lyapunov analysis and Barbalet’s lemma. Performance of controller is validated through non linear simulation studies.