DCS Alarm Management
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How does your company manage alarms in DCS production? How to optimize and reduce alarms?
It is best to include instructions on the process, such as which parameters require alarm setting and what the alarm values should be; the instrument is responsible for making these settings
Ensure proportional control of valve positions for system level, pressure, flow rate, and temperature. Can reduce alarms
I mean, excluding factors such as system setpoints, like changing the alarm hysteresis or condition-based alarm suppression
Track the top 10 alarms each month and analyze their causes – are they due to instruments or process issues? It can be used for alerts based on load fluctuations, alerts due to ineffective condition suppression, and to check whether the alert thresholds are set reasonably, thereby gradually reducing the number of alerts!
The setting of DCS alarms can effectively remind process operators to adjust the parameters of the process system in a timely manner. In my opinion, it is necessary for process operators to determine which alarm signals are essential, reduce unnecessary alarms, and implement a proper hierarchical management system for these alarms!
By improving operational stability, fluctuations in system parameters are reduced, such as by tuning PID parameters
For data collection, based on the top 10 alarms each month, analysis is conducted together with relevant specialists to identify the causes of frequent alarms and take corrective actions! For some cases, the set alarm values may need to be adjusted; for others, floating alarm values should be set based on the load. In some situations, alarm suppression based on certain conditions may be necessary. First, reduce the number of alarms step by step!
Ensure proportional control of valve positions for system level, pressure, flow rate, and temperature. Can reduce alarms
The Process Technology Department of the alarm management team counts the number of alarms in the DCS on a daily basis and sets targets. The process technology reduces alarms based on the actual operation of the process: it modifies unreasonable alarm settings, removes those for which alarms are not necessary, adds conditional alarms where needed, and sets different alarm values for various stages in intermittent processes. The process technology team develops the plans, while the instrumentation DCS is responsible for making the modifications.
Export alarm information regularly to analyze those that occur frequently. Alarms can be silenced as appropriate, the alarm thresholds can be adjusted, the alarm hysteresis can be changed, or alarms can be made conditional (implemented using logic to activate only when needed). It is a long process that requires long-term coordination between processes and instruments.