Westinghouse Electric Corporation

Susan A Wilbur

James A Neuner

Dirk J Boomgaard

Thomas J Kenny

James F Sutherland

Albert W Crew

Gilbert W Remley

Robert E Hager

Charles G Geis

Eric A Delava

George M Chambers

Signals from redundant sensors located throughout a pressurized water reactor (PWR) nuclear power plant are processed in four independent channel sets each of which includes a plurality of independent microcomputers which calibrate, convert to engineering units and calculate partial trip signals and engineered safeguard actuation signals from the sensor signals for use in the conventional voting logic of a plant protection system. The primary and secondary partial trip and engineered safeguard actuation functions associated with various postulated abnormal events are allocated to different independent microcomputers in the channel set for reliability. A test unit common to the channel set automatically, rapidly bypasses and tests each protection function independently while the other protection functions in the channel set remain on-line and also continually tests each microcomputer through a dummy test function performed along with the assigned protection functions. Signals representative of the analog value of the sensor signals are stored by the microcomputers and are transmitted by a serial data link through a common electrical isolation unit to a common analog output device for use by the plant control and monitoring systems under the control of a communication processor common to a group of microcomputers in the channel set.

Distributed microprocessor based sensor signal processing system for a

A method for temperature compensating a position indicator which includes a sensor for producing an output signal whose magnitude corresponds to the position of an element that is linearly movable between first and second positions and which is subject to changes in temperature within a given temperature range and wherein the output signal of the sensor contains a temperature variable offset component and the rate of increase of the output signal as the element moves from the first to the second position fluctuates with changes in temperature. The method includes measuring the temperature of the medium; generating an electrical representation of an offset correction, relative to a reference temperature, required in the offset component of the output signal of the sensor at the temperature of the element; generating electrical representations of a rate correction factor, relative to a reference temperature, required for the rate of increase in the output signal of the sensor at the temperature of the element; causing the sensor to produce an output signal corresponding to the position of the element; and compensating the output signal of the sensor by forming an electrical representation of the product of the sensor output signal and the rate correction factor at the measured temperature of the medium, and adding to such product the offset correction at the measured temperature of the medium.

Method for temperature compensating a rod position indication system

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Wilkins Township, PA, United States of America

Susan A Wilbur