College of Engineering Unit:
Hybrid simulations are a relatively newly implemented concept that has developed alongside the ever growing field of computer science. Simulations which emulate aspects of larger systems typically rely on analytic or empirical methods in order to predict outcomes. Analytical methods tend to suffer from inaccuracies brought about from assumptions and unaccounted for real world phenomena. While acquisition of data for empirical methods tends to be costly, timely, or generally not feasible depending on the scale of the system. Hybrid simulations are a solution to obtaining the best of these two models by combining them for a more accurate, yet still affordable, option for a simulation model.
The goal of this project was to set out and explore the use of hybrid simulations in the nuclear industry. In order to do this, the project was split into two separate parts, a digital twin of the Oregon State TRIGA Reactor (OSTR), and a Hybrid Simulation running off of the digital twin. In order to create an accurate twin of the OSTR facility a series of empirical thermal hydraulic equations were coupled to point reactor kinetic equations. This accurately reflected the reactor power, fuel temperatures, and reactivity, normally seen at the OSTR facility. In order to simulate the physical portions of the hybrid simulation, noise was introduced to provide the variance found in real life instrumentation. The project showed the validity and usefulness of hybrid experiments in the nuclear industry, proving how they can both lower the costs and timeline of experimentation, and model physics properties lost in analytical formulas.
