Re: [foxboro] Alarm Management

  • From: "William C Ricker" <wcricker@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <foxboro@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Tue, 9 Apr 2002 11:56:16 -0400

Yes but carefull...
Setting Alarm Group on the fly doesnt work in some of the IA software
versions.

William C. Ricker
FeedForward, Inc.
Marietta, GA, USA
wcricker@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
770-426-4422

-----Original Message-----
From: foxboro-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:foxboro-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Turner, Jason
Sent: Tuesday, April 09, 2002 11:29 AM
To: 'foxboro@xxxxxxxxxxxxx'
Subject: Re: [foxboro] Alarm Management



Tried a two-step?  Set aside one alarm group as a "bit-bucket" - a place
where no alarms will be heard.  Here, it's Group 3, for example.  Anyone
caught adding a device to Group 3 will be sumarily called a Naughty Engineer
;).

When the alarm is inhibited, set the Group to 3 first, *then* inhibit.  Once
the unhibit has happened, set it back to whatever it was before.  Ugly, but
it might do the trick....

Cheers

Jason

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Alan J Schaff [SMTP:schaffa@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
> Sent: Wednesday, 10 April 2002 03:13
> To:   foxboro@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject:      Re: [foxboro] Alarm Management
>
>
>
> We use the INHIB parameter to disable alarms based on process conditions.
> The only problem we have with using the INHIB parameter is there is a
> message sent to the Alarm Manager when you disable and enable the block.
> In our case we disable 10 blocks at a time causing 10 messages to be sent
> to the Alarm Display.  Does anyone know of a way to disable this function?
> At one time we asked Foxboro but the response was it couldn't be turned
> off.  I was curious if this is still the case.
>
> Alan Schaff
> BASF Corp.
>
>
>
>
>
> |---------+------------------------------>
> |         |           kevin.fitzgerrell@i|
> |         |           nvensys.com        |
> |         |           Sent by:           |
> |         |           foxboro-bounce@free|
> |         |           lists.org          |
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> |         |           04/08/2002 04:30 PM|
> |         |           Please respond to  |
> |         |           foxboro            |
> |         |                              |
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>   |                                              To:    foxboro
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>   |                cc:
> |
>   |         Subject:                                    Re: [foxboro]
> Alarm Management                                            |
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>
>
> Simon,
>
> Following are methods and notes on alarm management that I've implemented,
> mostly at the plant I worked with before I came to Foxboro.
>
> Startup/shutdown - as a plant area starts up or shuts down, large numbers
> of process alarms may occur.  It is important that critical alarms don't
> get lost in a sea of "normal" alarms.  Two convenient ways of dealing with
> this include:
> 1)  Disable downstream alarms when key piece of equipment is stopped.
> Enable those alarms when key equipment starts plus appropriate delay.
> Alarms can be enabled in stages to allow for processes that take longer to
> stabilize.
> 2)  Startup/shutdown sequence logic can help reduce alarm frequency.
> Detailed alarm inhibiting and enabling can be implemented in sequence
> logic.  Also, the uniformity achieved with startup/shutdown scripts reduce
> the incidence of valid alarm events during startup/shutdown, especially
> for
> plants or plant areas where shutdowns are infrequent.
>
> Equipment problems -
> 1) Group alarm inhibits works well for key equipment failure, as do group
> inhibit keys.
> 2) Consider identifying common offenders (at my last plant the major one
> was seal water flow switches) and build a simple graphic for inhibiting
> these problem alarms.
> 3) Bad i/o, out of range, and hi/low alarms can occur as a result of
> equipment failure.  Some of these can re-alarm continuously until the
> problem is corrected.  Letting operator/supervisor/technician inhibit
> these
> alarms until repairs can be completed will reduce the frequency of this
> type of alarm.  Ensuring a system is in place to re-enable the alarm when
> repairs are complete is the challenge.  I have had good success with a
> shift report showing inhibited alarms, filtered to eliminate those alarms
> that were inhibited by design.  Group alarm inhibits based on key
> equipment
> failure works well too.
>
> Process disturbance alarms - If a given process disturbance typically
> generates a wave of predictable alarms, feed forward control may be
> appropriate for managing the process, thus reducing alarms.
>
> Re-alarming problems - use appropriate deadbands, delays and re-alarm
> setpoints to manage alarms that occur repeatedly as the result of a single
> event.
>
> Maintenance issues with alarm management:
> 1) Plant standards for alarm management can raise awareness that there
> will
> commonly be connections to the INHIB and/or INHALM parameter of block with
> alarms configured.
> 2) If plant practices allow for operator/supervisor/technician alarm
> inhibiting, make sure your alarm management standards allow a practical
> method for manual alarm inhibit of a given alarm.
>
> Some things to consider:
> 1) Take advantage of the ability to selectively inhibit alarms in a given
> block via the INHALM parameter, ie. disable the hi, low and low low, but
> leave the high high enabled.
> 2) Take advantage of the ability to inhibit alarming at the compound level
> if appropriate.
> 3) Consider using the ability to disable alarming below a given priority
> under some conditions.
> 4) Alarm priorities are connectable and settable, so you can dynamically
> modify these, ie. to cause an alarm to sound horns under some plant
> conditions but not others.  Also useful if 3) above is implemented.
> 5) Take advantage of the advanced alarm features of the control blocks
> (REALM, PID family, etc) to generate the most appropriate alarms.
>
> Regards,
>
> Kevin FitzGerrell
> Systems Engineer
> Foxboro New Zealand
> ------------------------------------
> Tel:  +64 (9) 573 7690
> Fax:  +64 (9) 573 7691
>
>
>
>                     swardvc3@xxxxxxxxx
>                     om                       To:     Foxboro@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>                     Sent by:                 cc:
>                     foxboro-bounce@fre       Subject:     [foxboro] Alarm
>                     Management
>                     elists.org
>
>
>                     08/04/2002 10:33
>                     PM
>                     Please respond to
>                     foxboro
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Hi Everyone,
>
> We are currently trying to reduce the numbers of process alarms on our
> system,
> especially when a unit shutdown occurs. We realise that there are a number
> of
> ways of doing this and know how most of them work, the question is which
> is
> the
> best? We have already gone through every alarm and reviewed its necessity
> then
> set its priority.
> Our next phase is to start disabling alarms when they are not required.
> Mode
> driving is one of the options we are considering, i.e. disabling of an
> alarm if
> it comes as a consequence of something else happening that also produces
> an
> alarm.
> I am very interested to hear from anyone who has tackled the problems of
> excessive numbers of alarms successfully, what methods have you used and
> is
> maintenance on the system more of a problem than it was previously.
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> Simon
>
> Simon Ward
> VC3 Computer Engineer
> VC3 Plant
> Castner Kellner Works
> Runcorn
> Cheshire
> WA7 4JE
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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> _______________________________________________________________________
> This mailing list is neither sponsored nor endorsed by Invensys Process
> Systems (formerly The Foxboro Company). Use the info you obtain here at
> your own risks. Read http://www.thecassandraproject.org/disclaimer.html
>
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_______________________________________________________________________
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Systems (formerly The Foxboro Company). Use the info you obtain here at
your own risks. Read http://www.thecassandraproject.org/disclaimer.html

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_______________________________________________________________________
This mailing list is neither sponsored nor endorsed by Invensys Process
Systems (formerly The Foxboro Company). Use the info you obtain here at
your own risks. Read http://www.thecassandraproject.org/disclaimer.html
 
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