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Common Misconceptions and Pitfalls in Alarm Manageme

The document discusses common misconceptions and pitfalls in alarm management. It emphasizes that the objective of alarm management is not just to reduce alarm counts, but rather to ensure alarm quality by configuring alarms that are clear, relevant to operators, and indicate abnormal process conditions requiring action. It warns against approaches that focus only on metrics, ignore dynamic plant behavior, or treat alarm management as simply "checking a box" rather than improving safety.

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80 views34 pages

Common Misconceptions and Pitfalls in Alarm Manageme

The document discusses common misconceptions and pitfalls in alarm management. It emphasizes that the objective of alarm management is not just to reduce alarm counts, but rather to ensure alarm quality by configuring alarms that are clear, relevant to operators, and indicate abnormal process conditions requiring action. It warns against approaches that focus only on metrics, ignore dynamic plant behavior, or treat alarm management as simply "checking a box" rather than improving safety.

Uploaded by

man_y2k
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 34

Common Misconceptions

and Pitfalls in Alarm


Management

Standards
Certification
Education & Training
Publishing
Conferences & Exhibits

By Darwin Logerot, P.E.


ProSys, Inc.

Presentation Overview

Why Alarm Management?


Objective
Definition of an alarm

Common Pitfalls and Misconceptions

Why Alarm Management?


With DCS systems, alarms can be configured with a
few keystrokes, cheap and easy
Proper consideration is seldom given to alarm
configuration during initial design
Hence, many more alarms configured than needed
Information overload, especially during upsets, is the
natural result of excess alarm numbers
3

Why Alarm Management?

In a number of industrial incidents, alarm floods were


identified as a significant contributing cause to the
incident
As found by EEMUA in 1999 and CSB

The connection of alarm floods to incidents has been well


known for over 12 years with very little progress made in
industry

Objective of Alarm Management

The objective of alarm management is to reduce


the number of alarms annunciated to the operator

NO!
Agree?
Disagree?
5

Objective of Alarm Management

The objective of alarm management is to reduce


the number of alarms annunciated to the operator

NO!
Although reduction in annunciated alarm count will almost
always be a result of a well-conceived and executed AM
project, this is NOT the primary objective

So, What is It About?

Its about the QUALITY of the alarms

What is a Quality Alarm?

An annunciated abnormal
process condition to which the
operator can and must take
corrective action in order to
return the process to normal and
safe operation

Alarm
?

What is a Quality Alarm?


Every alarm should:
Be clear and relevant to the
operator
Indicate an abnormal process
condition that has
consequences of inaction
and defined response

Alarm
?

Be unique

What is a Quality Alarm?


Every alarm should:
Be clear and relevant to the
operator
Indicate an abnormal process
condition that has
consequences of inaction
and defined response

Alarm
?

Be unique

10

Misconceptions and Pitfalls Summary


Making alarm count reduction the goal
Check the Box mentality
No consequences for an alarm
Alarming normal events or status messages
Multiple alarms for a single event
Alarm messages not clear or relevant
11

Misconceptions and Pitfalls Summary


Using alarm settings to trigger interlocks or other
automatic actions
We only need to rationalize tags with alarms
Only doing bad actors
Ignoring dynamic behavior
Eliminating start-up and shutdown from alarm metrics
Over-reliance on metrics
12

Check the Box Mentality


Too often, alarm management is seen as a top down
requirement.
Its easy to just go through the motions
Its easy to rush the project
Concentrate on the base goal to provide a reliable
and consistent alarm system
Target audience for AM is the operator, not upper
management!
13

No Consequences for an Alarm


Too often, alarms configured for conditions which
have no consequences if ignored
Examples
High flow where flow is controlled by cascade from level
Low temperature alarms on heater tube skin
Low level in a sump that is routinely empty

14

Alarming Normal Events


Using Alarms as Status Messages
Normal means planned and expected. Alarming
normal events means alerting the operator that
the control system is working just fine!
Examples

One pump not running where two pumps are installed


Sump pump starting / stopping from level signal
Alarming board operator actions
Change of state alarms
Stack damper open when heater switches to natural draft
Alarming every step of a sequence controller

15

Multiple Alarms for One Event


Best to only provide one alarm for any given
abnormal event
Exception, if there are two transmitters in a critical
service
Example Shutdown systems

High/Low measurement (at shutdown point)


First out alarm
Shutdown alarm
Command to close shutdown valve
Shutdown valve closed
16

Alarm Messages Not Clear or Relevant


to Operator
If the operator does not understand the alarm
message, the alarm will be useless

16E20-2 LSR AIR COOLER


This description was used for six different points

16E18 BTMS EXCHANGER BYPASS


Operators in that plant dont speak the equip number language

17

Alarm Messages Not Clear or Relevant


to Operator

HDR PNL 17LP3N-1B-C


Operators have no clue what this means

tha Stripper (16-V-3) Overhead Pressure PT-3032 Maintenan

18

Triggering Interlocks from Alarms


Alarms and interlocks exist for different reasons
Not generally a good practice to force both at same
setting
This ties the AM Teams hands
Cant change the alarm without changing the
interlock
Suppressing the alarm can disable the interlock
19

Only Rationalize Tags with Alarms


Approach sometimes used to minimize the project
scope (cost)
Optimum alarm configuration can be masked
Best to include all tags in the control system as
candidates for alarming

20

Only Do Bad Actors


Not Recommended by ISA 18.2
Alarms considered singularly, not holistically
The process can remove worthwhile process alarms
When does it stop???
Never really gets anywhere to solve alarm floods

21

Ignoring Dynamic Behavior

Plant operation is not static


Alarm configuration shouldnt be either

22

Ignoring Dynamic Behavior


Rationalizing only the expected run condition
seldom adequately addresses alarm floods
Dynamic or state-based alarming addresses
identified operating modes
Modifies alarm configuration accordingly

23

Dynamic Alarming

Without Dynamic Alarming


Each alarm is stand alone and does not have knowledge
of current plant status
Normal and abnormal conditions alarmed
PC022
PVLO

AC013
PVHI
HeaterS/D

TI213
PVLO
LI010
PVHI

24

Dynamic Alarming
With Dynamic Alarming
Change of process state is managed
Only abnormal conditions alarmed
PC022
PVLO

AC013
PVHI
HeaterS/D

TI213
PVLO
LI010
PVHI

25

Ignoring Dynamic Behavior

ASM Consortium finding:


Study of 37 consoles / 90 months of
data overall
Static Rationalization peak alarm
rate is not closely correlated with
the degree of rationalization

Zapata and Andow HUG 2008 Highlights from the ASM Consortium
26

Eliminate Startups and Shutdowns from


Alarm Metric Calculations
Edits actual data to conceal floods during startup
and shutdown
Keeps management in the dark
Eliminates potential investment to fix problem
Doesnt help the operator

27

Over-Reliance on Metrics
Typical metrics
Average alarm rate
Peak alarm rate
Time in flood (>10 /10 min)
No. of chattering alarms
Number of stale alarms
ISA Recommended value

28

Over-Reliance on Metrics
Best not go overboard with alarm metrics
Focus on providing a reliable and consistent
interface for the operator
Numbers will take care of themselves

Effective alarm management is not a numbers game!

29

Over Reliance on Metrics


Numbers can indicate a problem
Numbers cannot indicate that there is not a problem

Metrics do not replace Alarm System Design

30

Over-Reliance on Metrics
What is the solution to pure numbers?

Zero configured alarms

31

Summary
Remember the Goal - AM is not a numbers game
Operator is the target audience
Do more than check the box
Review all tags
Include dynamic behavior
Dont go overboard on metrics
32

Summary
Five alarm keywords
Abnormal
Consequences
Actions
Relevant
Unique
33

Questions ?
225-291-9591 x225
Standards
Certification
Education & Training
Publishing
Conferences & Exhibits

www.prosys.com
Sales @prosys.com

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