POWER GEN & NUCLEAR INDUSTRY
BDI offers software solutions and engineering services for the modeling, monitoring, and optimization of power generation plants, both conventional and nuclear.
For nuclear power plants, BDI’s modeling approach does not cover the nuclear fuel or the primary loop. Instead, it focuses on accurately calculating core thermal power by integrating high-confidence models of the secondary and tertiary loops. This increased confidence in reconciled core thermal power values enables plant operators to uprate electrical output, delivering significant financial gains while minimizing investment requirements. Data reconciliation also supports the identification and recalibration of faulty sensors and the generation of soft sensors for parameters that are either not measured or cannot be measured directly, such as core thermal power.
In these applications, water is the only modeled component, acting as the transfer medium that conveys the atomic energy released by the nuclear fuel to the steam turbine generator, where it is converted into electrical power.
In addition, BDI and its partners deliver performance monitoring and optimization studies for parallel steam turbine trains, guiding plants toward the most efficient utilization of their assets. Given the very high power output of such facilities, even small efficiency improvements or power uprates can translate into millions of dollars in annual benefits.
A software that makes the difference
VALIEnergy© BY BDI
ValiEnergy is the preferred module licensed and used for the development of this type of application. The associated models are built on a rigorous representation of the physical and chemical phenomena occurring within the plant, capturing both the process and utility aspects of the manufacturing operation.
For these applications, BDI develops reports with a drill-down structure that allow users to monitor high-level performance indicators against defined targets or best historical plant performance. Deviations and underperformance are analyzed by examining the trends of the underlying parameters that contribute to these key indicators. By navigating through successive levels of detail, root causes of underperformance can be identified, enabling the implementation of appropriate corrective actions.
The use of reconciled data for performance monitoring and analysis provides users with consistent and reliable datasets, resulting in clearer trends and improved traceability of parameter interdependencies. Correlations are easier to identify in systems where mass and energy balances are closed and performance indicators are no longer dependent on the calculation route, unlike situations where contradictory values arise from unreconciled measurements.
MEASUREMENT UNCERTAINTY RECAPTURE (MUR)
Measurement Uncertainty Recapture (MUR) is a proven approach used in nuclear power plants to safely reduce measurement uncertainty and recover operational margins.
BDI’s VALI software enables this approach by applying advanced Data Validation and Reconciliation (DVR) techniques combined with physical process models to continuously analyze plant measurements.
By cross-checking redundant sensors and enforcing mass and energy balances, VALI detects sensor drift, biases, and inconsistencies, and generates reconciled values with significantly reduced uncertainty compared to raw instrument data. These validated measurements provide a more accurate representation of actual plant conditions.
Thanks to this uncertainty reduction, nuclear operators can safely operate closer to regulatory and design limits while preserving safety margins. VALI therefore supports power uprates, improved fuel utilization, and enhanced confidence in operational decisions, all while remaining fully compatible with regulatory requirements.
In this way, BDI’s VALI software transforms raw plant data into reliable, high-accuracy information, making Measurement Uncertainty Recovery an operational reality.
ENGIE - TIHANGE 3
