EP2301039A2

EP2301039A2 - Method and device for the remote monitoring of manual valves for fluid systems such as, for example, the nuclear island of a nuclear power plant

Info

Publication number: EP2301039A2
Application number: EP09772688A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Jean-Jacques Vander Linden; Daniel Garzenne; Guy Le Rat
Original assignee: Areva NP SAS
Current assignee: Areva NP SAS
Priority date: 2008-06-10
Filing date: 2009-06-03
Publication date: 2011-03-30
Also published as: KR20110025910A; ZA201009140B; CA2727349A1; WO2010001005A9; WO2010001005A2; MX2010013626A; CN102084432A; RU2010154150A; FR2932310B1; JP2011524014A; FR2932310A1; BRPI0909982A2; WO2010001005A3; US20110161051A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for the remote monitoring of manual valves (15) for fluid systems in the nuclear island of a nuclear power plant, a method wherein: the manual valves (15) are provided with a means (31) for detecting the open and closed positions thereof and with a first means (32) for the wireless communication of signals related to the position of each valve (15); a second signal communication means (35) is provided in the vicinity of the valve; local cable networks (36, 38) are provided, enabling received signals to pass through thick walls; and a means (40) for receiving and processing the signals after passing through said walls is provided in a monitoring room. The device according to the invention can obviously apply to all fluid systems comprising manual valves, the positions of which must be remotely monitored.

Description

Process and device for remote monitoring of manual valves of fluid circuits, for example in the nuclear island of a nuclear power station

The present invention relates to a method and a device for remote monitoring of manual valves of fluid circuits such as in the nuclear island of a plant during operation or shutdown.

Typically, the nuclear island forms a set including the nuclear boiler and fuel-related facilities, as well as the equipment necessary for the operation and safety of this unit.

The nuclear boiler comprises, inside a reactor building, a vessel containing the reactor core, filled with water under pressure, and a primary circuit consisting of several loops in communication with the vessel. Each of the loops of the primary circuit comprises a steam generator in which the pressurized water of the primary circuit cools by heating and vaporizing water from the secondary circuit.

The steam generators of each of the loops are connected to the tank by pressurized water inlet and outlet pipes called primary pipes. These pipes are connected to the water box of the steam generator, located at its lower part, through tubing integral with the water box.

The equipment required for the operation and safety of each island of the nuclear reactor consists of several fluid circuits, for example:

- the normal food water circuit of the steam generators,

- the emergency food water circuit of the steam generators,

- the safety injection circuit,

- the cooling circuit at the reactor shutdown, - the volumetric and chemical control circuit,

- the filling circuit of the reactor pool,

- the intermediate refrigeration circuit, and

- the cooling circuit of the exchangers. The equipment also includes: - The booster circuit in boric acid which aims to allow the adjustment of the reactivity of the heart by the addition of boric acid neutron in addition to adjusting the position of the clusters for adjusting the reactivity of the heart, these clusters being also neutrophages. These hydraulic circuits include fluid transfer lines between the different equipment and are equipped with manual valves operable between an open position and a closed position.

The manual valves are arranged in different rooms in buildings and the pipes pass through thick walls for the transfer of fluids between the different components.

During operation of the reactor or during its shutdown, the valves of the various circuits are opened or closed manually by operators as required.

The control of the opening or closing of the valves of the same line or circuit is also performed visually by operators.

To facilitate this visual control of the position of the valves, each valve is equipped with a fixed rod secured to the body of the valve and a slider which moves in translation on said rod during the rotation of a control wheel. valve. Thus, in the closed position of the valve, the slider occupies a first position on the rod and, in the open position of this valve, the cursor occupies on said rod a second position, allowing an operator to quickly visualize the position of the valve. each valve.

But, given the large number of valves in the various circuits, it may happen that an operator does not open or close a valve, so that the corresponding line is not in a configuration that corresponds to the requested function.

For example, in the case of the boric acid supply circuit, if the circuit does not perform its function by the addition of boric acid neutron absorbing in addition to adjusting the position of the control clusters of the reactivity of the At the core, the recovery of the borification function should be done within one hour, otherwise the warm shutdown of the reactor should be scheduled within six hours. So far, to limit such problems, nuclear power plant operators focus on training operators and improving procedures, but the risks remain.

The aim of the invention is to propose a method and a device for remote monitoring of the functional conditioning of the circuit or of the fluid line, that is to say of monitoring the state of opening or closing the manual valves to enable said circuit or line to perform its function.

The subject of the invention is therefore a method for remote monitoring of manual valves of fluid circuits such as, for example, in the nuclear island of a plant during its operation or its shutdowns, said valves being manually operable between an open or closed position, characterized in that

the manual valves of detection means are equipped with their open or closed positions and with first wireless communication means of signals relating to the open or closed position of each valve,

in the space containing said valves, second communication means are provided, in particular signals transmitted by the first wireless communication means; local cabled networks are provided outside said room, enabling signals received by the second communication means to be received; to cross thick walls impervious to wireless signals, and

- In a monitoring room, outside said premises, means are provided for receiving and processing signals after crossing said walls.

According to other features of the invention:

from transmitting, activating and interrogating means associated with the reception and processing means, activating the first communication means of each valve and interrogating the detection means which transmit to the first communication means the open or closed position of each valve and is transmitted, through said first communication means, the signals relating to the open or closed position of each valve, connecting the reception and processing means directly to the cable networks, and

the reception and processing means are connected to the cabled networks by means of transmitting and receiving the wireless signals. The invention also relates to a device for remote monitoring of manual valves of fluid circuits in the nuclear island of a plant during its operation or its stops, said valves being manually operable between an open or closed position, characterized in that it comprises: - means for detecting the open or closed position of said valves and the first wireless communication means of the signals relating to the open or closed position of each valve,

second communication means including signals transmitted by the first wireless communication means, said second communication means being in the room corresponding to the valves,

local cable networks enabling the signals received by the second communication means to cross thick walls impervious to the signals transmitted wirelessly, and

means for receiving and processing signals after crossing said walls.

According to other features of the invention, the device comprises, associated with the reception and processing means, transmission, activation and interrogation means for activating the first communication means of each valve via second communication means and interrogating the detection means of the open or closed position of each valve,

the detection means of the open or closed position are mounted on each valve to be monitored,

the first means of wireless communication of the signals relating to the open or closed position are mounted on each valve to be monitored,

the detection means and the first wireless communication means form an independent assembly, able to be mounted on each valve to be monitored, the first and second wireless communication means are of the radio wave or acoustic wave type,

the first and second wireless communication means are of the visible or invisible light-wave type, the first and second wireless communication means are of the infrared-wave type, and

the detection means and the first wireless communication means are of the video camera type.

Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will appear on reading the following description, given by way of example and with reference to the appended drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a circuit for adding boric acid to the primary circuit of a nuclear reactor,

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic cross-sectional view of a manual valve of such a circuit, according to the state of the art,

FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view of a manual valve equipped with means for detecting its position and for wireless communication means for a remote monitoring device, according to the invention, and

- Figure 4 is a schematic view of a remote monitoring device of the manual valves, according to the invention.

In the following, the invention will be described, by way of example, for the remote monitoring of manual valves for a boric acid addition circuit in a primary circuit of a nuclear reactor.

FIG. 1 shows, by way of example, a circuit for adding neutrophilic boric acid to a primary circuit of a nuclear reactor.

The circuit 10, arranged in a room, comprises, in a conventional manner, a boric acid reservoir 12, this boric acid is intended to be mixed with the water in a determined dosage, before being introduced into the primary circuit of the reactor. This circuit 10 comprises a multitude of branches 14 each provided with one or more manual valves 15 which are opened or closed by operators as required, that is to say according to the operation of the reactor. If one of these valves, such as the valve 15a, has not been opened, the boric acid is not mixed with water and only water is injected into the primary circuit, which may have serious consequences and cause a hot shutdown of the reactor. As shown in FIG. 1, a first part of the branches 14 and valves 15 of the circuit 10 is arranged in a first room A and a second part of the branches and valves 15 of the circuit 10 is arranged in a second room B, the rooms A and B being separated by thick walls, in particular of reinforced concrete. Referring now to FIG. 2, a valve 15 will be described, the other valves being identical.

The valve 15 comprises a body 16 intended to be mounted on a branch 14 of the circuit 10 and in which is formed a valve seat 17.

The valve 15 also comprises a rod 18 movable in rotation in the body 16 and which carries, at a first end 18a, an operating wheel 19 and, at a second threaded end 18b, a valve 20 carrying a membrane 21, for example made of rubber. During the rotation of the operating wheel 19, the rod 18 is driven in rotation and in translation to move the valve 20 between a first position spaced from the valve seat 17 corresponding to the open position of the valve 15 for the passage of the fluid in the corresponding pipe and a second position applied against the valve seat 17 corresponding to the closed position of said valve 15 to prevent the flow of fluid in the pipe.

The valve 15 also comprises a fixed rod 22 integral with the body 16 and extending substantially parallel to the rod 18, and a slider 23 secured to the rod 18 and extending substantially perpendicularly to the rod 18 and to said fixed rod 22. The fixed rod 22 passes through the slider 23, so that during the translational movement of the rod 18, the slider 23 moves on the fixed rod 22 between a first position (a) corresponding to the open position of the valve 15 and a second position (b) corresponding to the closed position of this valve 15.

In order to know remotely, and in particular in a monitoring room C (FIG. 4) independent of the rooms A and B, the open or closed position of the manual valves 15 of the circuit 10, each valve 15 is equipped with a assembly 30 (FIG. 3) comprising means 31 for detecting the open or closed position of the corresponding valve 15 and first wireless communication means 32 for signals relating to the open or closed position of said valve 15. Preferably, and as shown in Figure 3, the assembly 30 is an independent assembly and adapted to be mounted on the body 16 of the valve 15. For this, the assembly 30 comprises a support 33, provided with fastening means on the body 16 of the valve 15, such as a collar 34 or any other suitable member. The means 31 for detecting the open or closed position of the valve

15 comprise two known type contactors, respectively 31a and 31b, disposed near the cursor 23 and one 31a detects the position (a) of the slider 23, that is to say the open position of the valve 15 and the other 31b detects the position (b) of this slider 23, that is to say the closed position of said valve 15.

According to a first variant, only the detection means 31 are mounted on the support 33, close to the cursor 23, whereas the first wireless communication means 32 are separated from this support 33 and connected to said means 31, for example by means of electrical wires of connection. In the example shown in the figures, the first wireless signal communication means 32 relating to the open or closed position of the corresponding valve 15 are constituted by a transmitter of the radio wave type. These means 32 may also be of other types, for example:

- acoustic waves, - visible or invisible light waves, and

- infrared waves.

These means 31 and 32 may also consist of video cameras for displaying in the monitoring room C the position of the valves 15. In order to transmit to the monitoring room C the signals transmitted by the first communication means 32 of each valve 15, second means 35 for communicating these signals are arranged in each room A and B, as shown in FIG. 4. These second means 35 are trained, for each room A and B, by a transceiver of the signals transmitted wirelessly.

Each second communication means 35 is connected by a local cable network 36 to means 40 for receiving and processing signals arranged in the monitoring room C.

Indeed, the signals, as for example, the radio waves can not cross the thick walls delimiting each room A and B.

In the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 4, each second communication means 35 is connected by a local cable network 36 crossing the thick wall of each room, to means 37 of the communication system router type which are themselves connected to the means 40 for receiving and processing signals via a local cable network 38.

According to another embodiment, the second communication means 35 of each room can be connected by a local cable network to a transmitter located outside the room. In this case, the means 40 for receiving and processing signals arranged in the monitoring room C are connected by a local cable network to a receiver for collecting the signals transmitted by each transmitter connected to the receivers of each room.

The position of each manual valve 15 of the circuit 10 in each of the different rooms is known instantly and therefore remotely on a display screen located in the monitoring room.

This visualization is, for example, in the form of a block diagram, as shown in Figure 1, which displays, by colors or by any other means, the open or closed position of each valve. According to another embodiment, the first communication means 32 of each valve 15 are powered by a battery integrated with said first means 32, as well as the second communication means 35.

In order not to rapidly discharge the batteries of the means 32 and 35 of communication, these means 32 and 35 are deactivated.

When an operator wishes to know the position of the valves 15 of the circuit 10, he activates in the monitoring room C the first and second means 32 and 35 of communication. For this, the monitoring device comprises, associated with the receiving and processing means, means, not shown, for transmitting, activating and interrogating to activate the means 32 and 35 of communication of each valve 15, and interrogate the means 31 for detecting the open or closed position of each valve.

Thus, when an operator wishes to know at a given moment the position of the valves 15 of the circuit 10, he activates the first communication means 32 of each valve 15 via the second communication means.

And means for transmitting, activating and interrogating arranged in the monitoring room C.

The detection means 31 are thus interrogated and they transmit to the first communication means 32 the open or closed position of each valve 15. The signals relating to the position of each valve 15 are transmitted to the means 40 for receiving and processing the signals by via means 32 and 35 of communication.

The device is therefore used punctually according to the needs of checking the circuit lines by avoiding excessive power consumption since the device returns to the standby position between each interrogation.

This mode of operation also has the advantage of being much more economical than a power supply of each valve by means of electric cables.

The device according to the invention allows a mode of operation in both directions, that is to say according to a transmission mode of the information delivered by the detection means 31 to means 40 for receiving and processing signals, d on the one hand and on the other hand, according to a mode of activation and interrogation of the detection means 31 from the means associated with the means 40 for receiving and interrogating the signals.

Thus, the position of each valve is known, which allows, in case of incorrect position of one or more valves, to be able to involve one or more operators, to correct the malfunction, so that the circuit or the line is located. under conditions that correspond to the functions requested. The device according to the invention can obviously apply to all fluid circuits having manual valves whose positions must be monitored remotely.

Claims

1. A method for remote monitoring of manual valves (15) of fluid circuits (10) such as in the nuclear island of a plant during its operation or its stops, said valves being manually operable between an open position and a closed position, characterized in that:

the manual valves (15) are equipped with detection means (31) for their open or closed positions and first wireless communication means (32) for signals relating to the open or closed position of each valve (15),

in the room containing said valves (15), second communication means (35) are provided, in particular signals transmitted by the first wireless communication means (32),

outside said premises, local cable networks (36, 38) are provided which enable the signals received by the second communication means (35) to cross thick walls impervious to the signals transmitted wirelessly, and - monitoring room outside said premises, means (40) for receiving and processing signals after crossing said walls.

2. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that, from transmitting, activating and interrogating means associated with the means (40) for receiving and processing, activating the first means (32) of communicating each valve (15) and interrogating the detection means (31) which transmit to the first communication means (32) the open or closed position of each valve (15) and transmitting, via said first means ( 32), the signals relating to the open or closed position of each valve (15)

3. A process according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the means (40) for receiving and processing are connected directly to the wired networks (36, 38).

4. A method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the means (40) for receiving and processing are connected to the wired networks (36, 38) by wireless transmission and reception means.

5.- Device for remote monitoring of manual valves (15) of fluid circuits (10), for example in the nuclear island of a power plant during its operation or stops, said valves (15) being manually operable between an open or closed position, characterized in that it comprises:

means (31) for detecting the open or closed position of said valves (15) and first wireless communication means (32) for signals relating to the open or closed position of each valve (15),

second communication means (35) including signals transmitted by the first wireless communication means (32), said second communication means (35) being in the premises corresponding to the valves (15),

local cable networks (36, 38) enabling the signals received by the second communication means (35) to cross thick walls impervious to the signals transmitted wirelessly, and

- means (40) for receiving and processing signals after crossing said walls.

6. Monitoring device according to claim 5, characterized in that it comprises, associated with the means (46) for receiving and processing, transmitting, activating and interrogating means for activating the first means ( 32) for communicating each valve (15) via the second communication means (35) and interrogating the means (31) for detecting the open or closed position of each valve (15).

7.- Monitoring device according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that the means (31) for detecting the open or closed position are mounted on each valve (15) to be monitored.

8.- Monitoring device according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that first means (32) for wireless communication signals relating to the open or closed position are mounted on each valve (15) to be monitored.

9. Monitoring device according to any one of claims 5 to 8, characterized in that the detection means (31) and the first communication means (32) form an independent assembly that can be mounted on each valve (15). ) to monitor.

10. Monitoring device according to any one of claims 5 to 9, characterized in that the first and second means (32 and 35) of wireless communication are of the type with radio waves or acoustic waves.

11. Monitoring device according to any one of claims 5 to 9, characterized in that the first and second means (32 and 35) of wireless communication are visible or invisible light wave type.

12.- monitoring device according to any one of claims 5 to 9, characterized in that the first and second means (32 and 35) of wireless communication are of the infrared wave type.

13.- monitoring device according to any one of claims 5 to 9, characterized in that the detection means (31) and the first means (32) of wireless communication are of the video camera type.