How do you manage DCS alarm floods and avoid operator overload?

(1) The first step in implementing a successful DCS alarm management strategy is alarm rationalization. This involves reviewing existing alarms to determine their necessity and relevance to operational safety and efficiency. (2) The next step is alarm configuration and customisation. This includes setting appropriate alarm limits, time delays, and escalation procedures to ensure operators receive timely and actionable alerts. (3) Alarm documentations this includes maintaining comprehensive records of alarm configurations, resolutions, and performance metrics for auditability and continuous improvement.

To manage the flood of alarms in a DCS and avoid operator overload, we can use the following topics; Smart Prioritization: Highlight the most critical alarms, de-emphasizing less urgent ones. Alarm Grouping: Present related alarms as a single notification and provide contextual information Temporary Silence: Temporarily silence non-critical alarms with authorization. Trend Analysis: Use trend analysis to adjust alarm limits. Periodic Review: Review alarms regularly to maintain relevance. Management software: use software to help identify key bad actors Remember to involve a multidisciplinary team for any assessment of alarm modifications. Good management guarantees the reliability and safety of the unit's process.

You need to set the operator alarm limits around the boundary of the envelope of normal operation but there wasn’t a way to define that envelope covering the several hundred or more process and result variables on a typical process unit. There is now. It’s called Geometric Process Control or GPC because it is based on multi-dimensional geometry. It is entirely visual so very easy to use and lets your rationalisation in far fewer man-hours. Alarm rates drop dramatically and alarm floods not caused by an equipment failure become a thing of the past. There is more including webinar recordings at PPCL.com

Some alarm floods are the consequence of a process moving out of its normal operating envelope in search of another envelope where it might be stable and stop moving. If it doesn't find an alternative envelope in which it can be stable it might continue moving until a plant disaster. The cause of this type of flood is a sudden change in multi-variable process capability caused by an equipment fault. Investigate every occurrence of this type of flood. Most alarm floods are the consequence of poorly rationalized and inconsistent operator alarm limits confounded by badly-tuned or poor process controls. Rationalize from the Normal Operating Envelope and many of this type of flood will shrink in size. Then improve the controls it identifies.

Below 5 steps are important for Alarms Rationalization: 1. Less is more – only alarms that matter, aligned with what operators need to know and do. 2. Rank, classify, configure! Structured hierarchy (high, medium, low or hightes/critical) and clear messaging for each alarm level. 3. Suppress, shelve, filter, group. Use these tools to focus on actionable alarms. 4. Alarm floods can be safety hazards. Prioritize reducing nuisance alarms to improve safety and efficiency. 5. Don't set and forget! Regular reviews and updates are key. Processes change, so should your alarm strategy. Continuous optimization is crucial. Bonus Tip: Consider utilizing modern alarm management software for automated analysis.

- One word Alarm Rationalization - Set a compliance matrix or KPIs i.e. there shall be no more than 150/hour or 10 alarms/hour alarms. (There are some standards and good practices that have these number mentioned, like number of false alarms, nuisance alarms, Operator action time, Alarm auditing duration, operator trainings etc) - Sit with Process and Operation team and filter alarms based on prioritization. Consider Only alarms that requires actions - Adjust alarms based on the requirements and remove those which are not required or does not need any action - The alarm must also be documented with priority and criticality.

The alternate methods described here can become somewhat moot if you don’t rationalize the alarm first in an objective manner. Remember, all alarms must meet the minimum criteria of having at least one cause identified to it, at least one consequence of the operator ignoring it, and at least one action the operator can take to clear the alarm and restore normal operating conditions.

Rationalize your alarm philosophy makes no sense. You have an alarm philosophy which sets down the rules for alarm rationalization.

Presenting either chronologically (by time) or priority has no difference at low alarm rates. However, at rates above 10 alarms per minute, presentation by priority yields statistically significant better performance.

Alarm presentation to the operator has been via an alarm list ever since the first process control computers started typing them. Alarm list displays type faster but even when users take the time to show alarms in user schematics there is no real context or overview for the operator. The real-time component of the Operating Envelope method provides the first-ever view that shows all the alarms on all variables in a single picture and gives the operator the whole-process view that he has never had. Its easier for him to see, for instance, that the flood problems he has in the separation section are really consequences upstream disturbances in the reaction section of his unit and thus where his corrective actions are best focussed.

Set Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for Alarms as per your plant demands: 1. Alarm Rate: < 150 per day or < 10 per hour 2. Unacknowledged Alarm Rate: < 5% 3. False Alarm Rate: Target: < 10% 4. Alarm Audit Effectiveness: 100% 5. Operator Response Time: < 30 seconds for critical alarms 6. Alarm System Availability: > 99.5% Bonus: Conduct surveys or interviews to assess operator satisfaction with the alarm system. Remember: These guidelines and optimal KPIs will vary based on your specific plant, process, and risk profile. Regular monitoring, analysis, and adjustment of KPIs are crucial for effective alarm management.

Alarm rationalisation is a continuous effort to monitor alarm situation for the DCS operator and assign alarm priorities based on the alarm importance. This is done normally on a define frequency and outcomes are measured in process safety KPI’s. This is how alarm m flooding is controlled on DCS panels and appropriate actions are assigned depending on the nature of alarms.

1- alarm priority. 2- different alarm color and sound as per alarm priority. 3- alarm per console per operator for specific area. 4- extract alarms every day and inhibit all fluctuate and needed repaired devices also check all process alarms .

Consider using a centralized Alarm Management system that provides tools for data management of alarms. The number and variety of alarms and events have a potential to increase substantially with emerging and complex plant operations. A centralized alarm management system takes two engineering approaches to help rationalize alarms with the aim of preventing alarm flooding. One is a practical approach that sorts out alarms and displays only those alarms that require operator actions. Additionally it also provides a centralized system for defining an alarm and its priorities.