1、Alarm Management:A Comprehensive GuideSecond EditionAlarm Management:A Comprehensive GuideSecond EditionPractical and proven methods to optimize the performance of alarm management systems By Bill R. HollifieldPAS Principal Alarm Management and HMI Consultantan essential textbook to keep around and
2、refer to regularly. I particularly enjoy the practical quo-xxiitations and real-world examples. Since the first edition of this book was published, alarm management has advanced considerably and remains a high-profile topic. Three years of additional experience has provided new topics and insights i
3、n the content and examples in this second edition.The FutureProcess automation technology will continue to rapidly advance in both capability and complexity. The control system must become self-correcting and self-optimizingwhich means the system must adapt heuristically to reduce, not increase, the
4、 need for operator intervention. True process effectiveness will not result from training operators to man-age increasingly complex systems; it will come from training the system to incorporate the knowledge of the operator. This is one way the “aging work-force” problem and the near term retirement
5、 of most experienced plant per-sonnel will be addressed.The authors have performed a real service to the process industries by the publication of this second edition. Jim PintoSan Diego, CAOctober 2009Jim Pinto is founder (and formerly President and CEO) of Action Instru-ments. He is a technology fu
6、turist, venture capitalist, speaker, industrial automation commentator, analyst, and consultant. He has authored two books and writes for several webzines, journals, and magazines. Jim serves as an international consultant in strategic business planning, marketing, sales channel development, technol
7、ogy planning, and acquisition strategy. He is a member of the Association of Professional Futurists and the World Future Society. 1“There are more things to alarm us than to harm us, and we suffer more often in apprehension than reality.”Lucius Annaeus SenecaWhy We Wrote the Second EditionIn 2006, w
8、e published the original edition of The Alarm Management Handbook. It was then republished by ISA (with minor changes) as Alarm Management: Seven Effective Methods for Optimum Performance. The re-sponse to these books has been amazing. Thousands of copies have been sold. In some cases, single compan
9、ies bought dozens of copies for their multiple sites and engineering organizations. Weve had positive feed-back from hundreds of readers.The purpose of the original book was to capture in one volume the cur-rent body of best practices knowledge for improving and optimizing the performance of a moder
10、n alarm management system. The book focused on practical advice, strategies, and techniques. In 2006, there was no such alarm management reference book with such a practical focus.The past four years have seen much growth and improvement in the alarm management landscape. Alarm Management has consis
11、tently remained as a high profile topic at technical symposia. Control systems manufacturers are beginning to understand the problems inherent in their system designs, and are making improvements. System implementers have begun to realize that rule-of-thumb methods of alarm configuration will cause
12、big problems for the system owner, and are adopting improved methods. In t r o d u c t I o n2 Alarm Management: A Comprehensive Guide, Second Edition Third-party companies have continued to lead in technical innovations and advanced alarming solutions. Hundreds more successful implementations of ala
13、rm manage-ment principles have taken place, providing additional terabytes of data which continue to confirm the validity of the principles in this book. The electric power generation industry has begun widespread and concerted efforts in alarm management, accompanied by an alarm management recommen
14、ded practice document published by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), a document co-authored by the authors of this book. The American Petroleum Institute (API) is working on a recommended alarm management practice for pipelines (RP-1167), intended to be published in late 2010 or early 20
15、11. ISA has (finally!) completed and published a standard on alarm management, an effort underway since 2003. This second edition contains information on this important development.Given these factors, it makes sense to update the content within this book, and to provide additional guidance on some
16、topics based upon the latest data and experiences.This second edition, like the original work, will remain an intention-ally different kind of book than you usually find in engineering circles. It is based on hundreds of person-years of extensive experience work-ing with industrial control and alarm
17、 systems in almost every industry. All manner of practices make up the background information used in producing this bookthe good and the bad, the best and the worst. The basis includes a working knowledge of the guidelines, standards, articles, reference works, and other materials on the subject, a
18、long with knowl-edge and experience obtained from hundreds of alarm management im-provement projects. Breakthrough results have been achieved by following the principles contained in this book. The principles herein can also enable new sys-tems to be initially configured correctly, and not require e
19、xpensive re-engineering after problems later become apparent.In this book, you will find actual examples of good practices and poor practices. The various problems of alarm systems are covered with pre-cise guidance on how they come about and how to effectively correct them. We know operating compan
20、ies are limited by time, money, and Introduction 3resources. We do not advocate academic, theoretical, or impractical ap-proaches to the problems. Instead, in this book you will find fact-based, field proven, straightforward, and practical solutions.Changes and Additions in the Second EditionThis se
21、cond edition includes an additional 50 pages of information and many new figures. Questions and comments from readers of the origi-nal edition helped shape the new content. Much of the additional text provides more thorough discussion of specific topics, and almost every section in the book has been
22、 revised. There are some completely new sections and chapters as well. The major changes and additions include: Where are we nowfour years after the first edition Details and impact of the new standard ANSI/ISA-18.2-2009 Management of Alarm Systems for the Process Industries Changes in the regulator
23、y environment Additional discussion on the human factors issues associated with alarm analysis Additional information about alarm management and batch and discrete manufacturing processes Additional information on alarm bad actor resolution Additional information on diagnostic alarms Alarm classific
24、ation Improvements in alarm rationalization techniques A thorough examination of staged approaches to alarm rationalization Additional information on advanced real time alarming techniques An update on the future of alarm management An enhanced appendix on alarm philosophy documents An updated appen
25、dix on both High Performance HMI concepts (proper operator graphics) and control loop optimization methodsIs This Book for You? This book specifically targets alarm management related to modern Distributed Control Systems (DCSs). This designation includes SCADA systems (Supervisory Control and Data
26、Acquisition). These flexible and capable systems are used throughout various industries, including oil and gas, refining, chemical, petrochemical, pulp and paper, pharmaceu-4 Alarm Management: A Comprehensive Guide, Second Editionticals, power generation, minerals processing, discrete manufacturing,
27、 and others. Both DCS and SCADA types of control systems have identi-cal concerns and solutions to alarm management issues. In this book, use of the term “DCS” includes SCADA systems.The most common scenario this book addresses is a processing facilitycontinuous, batch, or discretewith one or more o
28、perators using a modern control system. This is typically the case in the chemi-cal, petrochemical, refining, power generation, pipeline, mining and metals, pharmaceutical, and similar industries. The product being made, extracted, or transported is immaterialbe it gasoline, megawatts, poly-mers, as
29、pirin, or aluminum. The alarm problem is the same. If you have such a facility, you will find this book valuable.This book also serves those involved in designing and modifying such facilities. Proper alarm management practices are most effectively and inexpensively accomplished in the original spec
30、ification, design, and configuration of a control system. Many companies now require the ap-plication of these principles in the design phase; this book will tell you how to do it right the first time. Ch a p t e r 1Alarm Management Best Practices: Highly Condensed“My definition of an expert in any
31、field is a person who knows enough about whats really going on to be scared.”P. J. Plauger1.1 The Alarm ProblemA poorly functioning alarm system is often noted as a contributing fac-tor to the seriousness of upsets, incidents, and major accidents. Signifi-cant alarm system improvement is needed in m
32、ost industries utilizing computer-based SCADA or distributed control systems; it is a massively common and serious problem. Most companies have become aware of the need to thoroughly investigate and understand their alarm system performance. Alarm management is a fast-growing, high profile topic in
33、the process industries. It is the subject of constant articles in the trade journals and at various technical society meetings and symposia.Having decided to investigate this area, how do you proceed? Your time and resources are always limited. The subject is complex. Alarm system improvement involv
34、es an interlinked combination of technology and work processes. 6 Alarm Management: A Comprehensive Guide, Second Edition1.2 People Who Can HelpYou should seek help from the best experts in the field. You want infor-mation, advice, products, and services from: People who are acknowledged experts in
35、the alarm management field, with in-depth understanding of the historical and current problem, the science and literature, the studies and standards, and the range of solutions People with in-depth knowledge of process control, distributed control systems, human-machine interfaces, process networks,
36、 and critical condition management People with experience in every stage of a successful alarm system im-provement project, along with many examples of successful projects People who understand work processes based on successful experi-ence in different industry segments. You want to know what your
37、industry is doing, what are the best and most efficient practices, and frankly, what the worst practices are.1.3 The ANSI/ISA-18.2-2009 Alarm Management StandardIn 2003, ISA began developing a standard on alarm management. Doz-ens of contributors (including the authors) from many industry segments s
38、pent thousands of person-hours participating in the development. After six years of work, the new standard “ANSI/ISA-18.2-2009 Management of Alarm Systems for the Process Industries” is now available at www.isa.org. The issuance of ISA-18.2 is a significant and important event for the pro-cess indus
39、tries. It sets forth the work processes for designing, implement-ing, operating, and maintaining a modern alarm system, presented in a life cycle format. This standard will definitely have a regulatory impact, but more on that later.This second edition contains a lengthy chapter on understanding and
40、 implementing this standard. Readers of this book should not expect to learn much that is basically new or different from reading ISA-18.2. Stan-dards intentionally limit and concern themselves with what to do rather than how to go about doing it in an effective and efficient manner. By design, stan
41、dards contain the minimum acceptable and not the optimum. This book exists to provide detailed guidance and impart detailed knowl-edge far exceeding the content of a standard. There is no conflict between this books seven step approach and the ISA-18.2 life cycle approachthere is only some different
42、 nomenclature Chapter 1Alarm Management Best Practices: Highly Condensed 7and arrangement of the topics. The seven step approach is well proven for efficiency and effectiveness.1.4 Seven Steps to a Highly Effective Alarm SystemHere is a brief outline of a best practices approach in a typical alarm m
43、an-agement project. These straightforward steps can be easily implemented in any work process framework, such as Six Sigma. The first three steps are universally needed for the improvement of an alarm system. They are often done simultaneously at the start of a project.Always needed steps: Step 1: D
44、evelop, Adopt, and Maintain an Alarm PhilosophyStep 2: Collect Data and Benchmark Your SystemsStep 3: Perform Bad Actor Alarm ResolutionThese first three steps are placed first in the process because they collec-tively provide the most improvement for the least expenditure of effort. They provide th
45、e best possible start and the fundamental underpinnings for the remainder of steps necessary for effective alarm management.Steps to implement to improve alarm system performance:Step 4: Perform Alarm Documentation and Rationalization (D&R)Step 5: Implement Alarm Audit and Enforcement TechnologyStep
46、 6: Implement Real-time Alarm ManagementStep 7: Control and Maintain Your Improved SystemStep 1: Develop, Adopt, and Maintain an Alarm PhilosophyAn Alarm Philosophy is a comprehensive guideline for the develop-ment, implementation, and modification of alarms. The philosophy says “Heres how to do ala
47、rms right!” It provides an optimum basis for alarm selection, priority setting, configuration, response, handling methods, system monitoring, and many other topics. In this book, you will learn exactly how to develop an Alarm Philosophy, complete with examples. An Alarm Philosophy will be an immedia
48、tely useful document covering the entire range of alarm topics. It will reflect a full understanding of the alarm problem and the proper practices to follow. Step 2: Collect Data and Benchmark Your SystemsAnalysis is fundamental to improvement. You must analyze your alarm system to improve it. You s
49、hould look for alarm analysis software with full graphical and tabular output, easy access to the full control system event journal entries, automatic report generation, web-based report 8 Alarm Management: A Comprehensive Guide, Second Editionviewing, and so forth. You want a comprehensive and complete set of alarm analyses to enable you to pinpoint your exact problems and apply the most efficient solutions. Since operator changes (e.g., controller setpoints, modes, and outputs) are recorded by most DCSs in a similar fashion to alarm events, you wi
