What kind of control room can be considered well-designed?

What does the central control room in an intelligent factory look like? https://bbs.hcbbs.com/thread-3087550-1-1.html (Source: Haichuan Chemical Industry Forum)

1. The design of the control room starts with geographical considerations. Even in modern chemical plants, full automation is not possible; in addition to operators in the control room, there are also operators on site. Many critical devices do not allow remote startup; they can only be started by an on-site switch after visually checking the device’s status, or the on-site switch must be set to \"allow remote\" for them to be started via the DCS. On-site operators are by no means mere assistants to control room operators; rather, they serve as their eyes and ears. The two groups must work closely together in order to keep the factory running. Although modern instruments can measure a great many things, there are still too many issues that can only be detected through on-site inspections, such as abnormal noises, unusual smells, leaks in pipelines, equipment vibrations, and the effects of rain, snow, wind, and frost on the equipment. There are also numerous secondary valves that need to be opened or closed when changing the production process in order to redirect the flow of energy and materials. These valves are not used very frequently, so it isn’t necessary to control them remotely; however, when they need to be operated, the on-site workers have to be called in. On-site operators need places to rest and work, such as for filling out reports, reading manuals, modifying procedures, and understanding management directives. In their work, they also need to establish close professional and personal relationships with operators in the control room, which helps foster a sense of teamwork. Therefore, the communication between field operators and control room operators, as well as their shared working environment, are very important design considerations for the control room. On-site operators need to be close to the equipment, and the lounge is best located in the center of the equipment. For safety reasons, the control room generally cannot be located in the center of the facility; at most it can be placed at the edge of the facility, or even at a distance from it. If multiple large-scale installations share a control room, it is even further away from the more remote ones.

2. Separation of the satellite control room from the central control room: To be closer to critical equipment, a satellite control room can sometimes be established to focus on the control of certain key devices. If major equipment requires the control room operator to also act as an on-site operator, then a satellite control room is even more necessary. The problem with separating the satellite control room from the central control room is that the staff in these two rooms communicate only over the phone, without any face-to-face interaction; this can lead to misunderstandings and gaps between them. It also tends to result in a situation where experienced supervisors stick to their positions for decades, which hinders personnel turnover. If there is no turnover of staff, things can become boring over time, which is not conducive to their personal development. If possible, try not to use the satellite control room.

3. For a centralized control room, what level of centralization is appropriate? Using a centralized control room, determining the appropriate level of centralization is an art. Modern large-scale chemical plants often no longer operate independently; instead, they follow a \"petrochemical complex\" model, with a power plant (that provides process steam), a water treatment plant, an oil refinery, an ethylene plant, a polyethylene plant, an ethylene glycol plant, a polyester plant, and other facilities being built in one location. These facilities are highly interrelated, and centralized control offers significant advantages. The greatest benefit is breaking down silos, building personal relationships, and smoothing out working relationships. However, each plant still retains a certain degree of independence; when a local failure occurs in one plant, it is always accompanied by numerous alarms, walkie-talkie conversations, and people coming in and out. In a unified control room, it is difficult to avoid affecting other control consoles that are not affected by the failure. A better approach is to have both centralization and decentralization. One method is to adopt a chrysanthemum layout in an open hall, with each petal of the chrysanthemum representing a horseshoe-shaped console corresponding to a device; behind them are entrances and exits for on-site operators and control room operators changing shifts to come in and out. At the bottom of each chrysanthemum petal, there is a \"curtain\" that can be pulled down to block view and also provides limited sound insulation. Normally, when the \"curtains\" are raised, it facilitates visual communication among the personnel at various control consoles ； In the event of a fault, lower the “curtain” so that people at other consoles can understand the status of the faulty device without being too affected by the activities of those handling sound and light systems. But a better approach is to use a grid layout, with glass walls separating the consoles, while retaining large passageways to maintain an open design concept; however, these walls can be closed off in case of failures, and curtains can be drawn down to block visual distractions.

4. Should you choose a single-row console or a horseshoe-shaped console? Regarding console design, traditional consoles are arranged in a single row, which offers the advantage of easy expansion as they can be extended freely at both ends; however, if they become too long, it becomes difficult to observe and operate them. The horseshoe-shaped console is easy to use, but the control panel behind it is actually difficult to observe and operate. The curved console sits between the two. But there are always people coming in and out of the control room – either field operators or process engineers, or managers who go to check on things on the ground, or visitors.

5. Orientation of the console? Should the console face the flow of people or be turned away from it? It’s hard to generalize about this; both approaches have their advantages and disadvantages. No one likes to have a crowd surrounding them, commenting on their actions. It’s also best not to have anyone watching while working under stress; from this perspective, it’s better for the console to be facing the flow of people, with the work area located away from their line of sight. But the traditional console is “solid”; the person sitting there cannot see the people behind the console, and those people will eventually have to come this way as well. The console is now more transparent, with some space between the display screens. However, the movement of people creates visual distractions that can easily distract attention, which is not good. Generally speaking, it’s better to face away from the flow of people, but it’s necessary to control the number of people entering the control room; separation can be implemented when needed. For example, the space directly behind the control room operators is relatively small, and only those closely related to their work are allowed to enter. Further back, there is a glass partition that allows visitors to stand behind it and observe; this helps to prevent conversation noise, and the curtain can be drawn down when necessary to focus attention. Such dedicated “visiting spaces” are rather wasteful; the control room is located within an explosion-proof structure, where every inch of space is valuable, and many factories may not be willing to make such an investment.

6. How to guide and control different streams of people in the control room? When it comes to personnel control, there are many people coming in and out of the control room: field operators, process engineers, instrument and maintenance technicians, automation and system specialists, managers, and visitors. Each has different functions, and certain “traffic control” is needed to determine which areas are open to which people at what times. Fixed walls (including glass walls) work best, but sometimes they are not practical or require too much space; therefore, lights, the color of the floor or patterns and textures (floors, carpets, tiles…), wall colors, ceiling fixtures, and the like are used to indicate functional zones and guide different streams of people.

7. Atmosphere and noise control in the control room – It is important to control the atmosphere and noise levels in the control room. This is not a place that is exciting or relaxing; what is needed is calmness and composure. The wall color in the control room should be neutral, such as gray, beige, light purple, etc. Avoid monochromatic colors, as they can be depressing and cause fatigue; yet it’s also not good to use too many flashy colors, as that can distract attention. The walls should have noise-reducing measures; it’s best to cover them with something like coarse burlap, just like in cinemas. Smooth surfaces such as polished marble should never be used on the floor; on one hand, they can cause slips, and on the other hand, they reflect noise quite intensely. Slipping on the ground is a very important consideration. The control room is not a vacuum chamber; the operators on site and the instrument mechanics have to walk in directly from the outside, bringing with them all the rain, snow, wind, and frost from outside. Wiping one’s feet on the carpet at the entrance certainly won’t solve the problem. The mirror-smooth surface looks sleek, but people slip when in a hurry, and all the advantages of that sleekness are undone.

8. Difficult choice regarding light brightness: On the topic of lighting, there are currently two opposing opinions. From the perspectives of ergonomics and industrial psychology, control rooms should be well-lit; in a bright environment, it is harder to feel drowsy and easier to stay alert. From the operator’s perspective, bright displays are noticeable in a dim control room; moreover, such a dim environment prompts people to speak softly and to keep their distance from the control consoles. Furthermore, traditional control rooms are dim, and it’s difficult to get used to the change now. Another reason is no longer as valid these days; bright lights can easily cause light spots on the display screen. This problem has been largely resolved with the use of a light gray background and flat LCD displays. It seems that only control rooms with a completely new design and created without taking the operators’ opinions into account use bright lighting; in cases of upgrading existing factories or where operators have significant input, dim lighting is more commonly used.

9. Control room and lunch room: Since the operators in the control room cannot leave their consoles during working hours, there should be a small kitchen and dining area nearby for them to leave briefly in order to heat their own meals. This “lunch room” (where the operators also have breakfast and dinner) should be separated from the control room by large glass panels, allowing them to see and hear what’s going on; in the event of any abnormalities during this time, the operators can detect them promptly and take action. But try not to bring food into the control room; firstly, it’s difficult to maintain cleanliness there, and secondly, leftover food can attract rats. Rats are not only disgusting; they can also bite through signal cables, which is a serious problem. So, delivering food directly to the control room is not a good approach.