Design and Simulation of a Dryer Regeneration Control System for a Tritium Removal Facility

For decades, Ontario Power Generation’s (OPG’s) CANDU nuclear reactors have provided clean, reliable, and safe power for millions, as well as important radioactive isotopes for the world. Demand for Tritium is only growing, as it is a critical fuel for nuclear fusion – and OPG has the world’s only non-military supply of this isotope. There are several internal and external hazards associated with the operation of a tritium removal facility, which are not limited to fire, exposure to radioactive materials, explosion due to Hydrogen (H<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</inf>) and the release of radioactive substances from the Tritium Immobilization System. This paper presents an advanced PLC-based, Air Clean-Up System (ACS), to detritiate room air during acute tritium leaks, preventing environmental escape and in-building accumulation. The study includes system modeling, MATLAB-based simulation, PID tuning, PLC ladder logic development, and Human- Machine Interface (HMI) design using MATLAB GUI.