Solutions for Optimizing Oil & Gas Operations Alarm Management Systems
Alarm Management Overview Alarms are an essential part of modern systems and the primary means of alerting operators of abnormal situations in their facilities. Even the best designed systems can become ineffective in the absence of alarms, resulting in potential human and financial setbacks. Research has shown that many process plants have improperly configured alarms that do not follow international guidelines and add to operators confusion. For an effective alarm system and smooth unobstructed plant operations, alarms need to be relevant, unique, timely, prioritized and understandable. Nearly all facilities with ineffective alarm systems show distinct symptoms of poor alarm system design. Symptoms of Poor Alarm System Design: A significant number of alarms are raised by minor issues Alarms remain active for very long periods of time There are no guidelines for alarm implementation Operators are unsure of how to respond to some alarms Processes run normally despite some alarms constantly going off Some alarms do not require an operator s response or attention Numerous alarms go off during routine operation but have no purpose A Need for Good Alarm Management Safety Poorly configured alarms risk the safety of: Plant, Personnel, Equipment Good alarms increase safety of all three by: Reducing unnecessary alarms Prioritizing important alarms Profitability Alarms not configured properly result in: Reduced production revenue Losses from damaged assets Properly configured alarms increase profitability by: Increasing uptime Decreasing incidental losses Human Factor Over 40% of incidents are caused by human factors Poorly configured alarms add to these risks Good alarms reduce errors from the human factor by facilitating operators
ISA 18.2 Compliant Alarms Management Life Cycle Philosophy A comprehensive document of work processes, sites and control systems along with best practices for alarm management. INTECH provides a unique customer-tailored Alarm Philosophy Document. Identification Data is collected for a baseline assessment of current alarm systems against standards, Bad Actor alarms are identified. INTECH analyzes data for 6-8 weeks and helps customers understand the cause of bad actors Rationalization Management of Change Areas of trouble in the alarm systems are identified and compared to the alarm philosophy document to evaluate a course of action. INTECH helps the site team understand, classify and prioritize alarms. Audit Design Alarms are re-engineered according to the alarm principles defined in the philosophy document. INTECH makes the Master Alarms Database (MADB) for the site. Implementation The re-engineered alarms are implemented and documented; relevant operators are trained how to respond to alarms. INTECH installs the MADB and performance management tools; also trains operators. A complete description of processes to update, change or remove alarms in order to meet changing requirements or optimize systems. Operation The site is run with the new alarm systems. Operator- supporting tools are installed; further trainings are given. INTECH trains operators how to handle alarms and provides alarm management tools. Maintenance Alarms are periodically calibrated and tested for accuracy, repairs and replacement activities are performed. INTECH follows standard maintenance procedures and performs fidelity tests. Monitoring & Assessment Data is monitored and benchmarked against performance standards defined in the alarm philosophy. Part of the continuous improvement effort, with periodic alarm and system audits
Performance and Financial Benefits INTECH s Alarm Management Solutions ensure that incidents occurring from bad alarm configuration are minimized. INTECH achieves this by classifying, prioritizing and optimizing alarms to generate useful information for operators. This ensures that operators are immediately alerted to issues that can potentially cause serious damage to the plant and environment, and offset a large portion of the plant s past profitability. Plant Profitability Maximum Profitability Region Normal Operating Region Profitable Region Break Even Point Net Loss Due to Minor Process Upset Optimum Profitability APC & Optimization Substantial Net Loss Due to Unscheduled Plant Shutdown Time Reduction in Overall Alarms: Most modern alarm systems are implemented at the software level and require no physical hardware installation, this has led to a significant increase in the number of available alarms at any site - a growth fueled by international standards that require periodic monitoring for process assessment. The major drawback to all this however is an overwhelming amount of alarm notifications being constantly generated during operation in the absence of alarm management. Before Rationalization After Rationalization Daily Alarm Count: > 16,000 Daily Alarm Count: < 5,000 Hourly Average for Week: 742 Hourly Average for Week: 390 High Priority Alarms Contribution: 65% High Priority Alarms Contribution: 43% 15000 13500 12000 10500 9000 # of Daily Alarms Alarms Optimization Implemented 7500 6000 All Alarms Enabled Alarms 4500 3000 1500 0 INTECH s Alarm Management reduces overall alarms going off to manageable numbers through continuous improvement. INTECH identifies bad actor alarms - alarms that cause nearly half of all alarms - and optimizes them. Additionally nuisance alarms - which don t serve any real purpose - are identified and reconfigured to reduce overall alarms. This results in up to 90% reduction in average daily alarms. INTECH s Alarm Management Suite Alarms Analytics Dashboards Module INTECH delivers software and services for operations and process optimization with a variety of deterministic optimization techniques that may be manually or automatically selected based on the objective function and constraints. Alarms Analytics Dashboards module delivers KPIs, metrics and reports based on ISA 18.2 standards and EEMUA 191 guidelines. Alarms Rationalization Module This module provides comprehensive data management for identifying & documenting causes, consequences, and corrective actions as well as alarm set points, alarm enabled states, priorities, purpose, operator action, consequence of not attending alarm, min. time to respond to the alarm, dead band, requirement of alarms suppression and requirement of de-bounce timer Static, State-Based and Dynamic Alarms Suppression Module INTECH, with it's rich experience in operations and process, identifies process and equipment states. Based on ON, OFF, INITATING, START UP, SHUT DOWN etc. states, alarms can be dynamically enabled or disabled.
Alarm & Loop Analysis Client DCS REPORTS 4. Control Loop 3. Alarm Performance INTECH s Advanced Solutions Deployment - Software Management Management Alarms & Loop Events Tuning AE I/F DA I/F Alarms Analysis, Rationalization Module Control Loop Performance Management Module 6. Condition based Maint. ACE (Advanced Calculation Engine) Tank Mass/Vol KPI. Run Hours total Starts, Efficiency Calculations Advanced Process Historian to SAP PM Interface Equipment Run Hours, Starts and KPIs Efficiencies SAP PM LEGEND: ArchitectureRAlready Deployed Systems within IT / CCR Landscape Sometimes Already Deployed or To Be Offered by INTECH Visual Interfaces (GUI) - To be deployed by INTECH RAW DATA RESULTS 1. Data Acquisition OPC Server Process DATA OPC DA I/F Production Data 2. Advanced Process Historian Process Historian 7. Processing Simulation Process Engr. Process Simulation Server Historic Process Data Held Terminal PDC-Windows CE Manual Logging 8. PDC/Historian Interface Manual Logging / Hand Held Terminal Client Manual Data Historic Process Data 5. Reporting MS-Excel Reports Data Analysis/ Ontology Extract Framework Excel-Data RTLink SHand Thin Client WEB-APPS (Browser) KPIs EPO
What Our Customers Say... [We] commend INTECH s knowledge of alarm management, dedication, commitment and effort. Most importantly, works have been completed safely and INTECH has been able to work successfully in our diverse environment PPL Central Maintenance Coordinator INTECH s team worked with extraordinary zeal & efforts at the Adhi Electronic Flow Metering Project which included on-line trends and alarms of sales gas parameters limits. The competency level and performance of their deputed team is satisfactory and commendable. I commend you on your efforts in customizing the business analysis software for trial deployment for a Web Based Alarm Management Dashboard. It meets our objectives and has produced the desired results. Deputy Chief Engineer Control & Automation Leader EPC End User Americas Asia Middle East INTECH Process Automation Perú S.A.C. Av. República De Panamá N 3030 Oficina 7a San Isidro, Lima, Perú Tel: +511 606 6849 Cel: +51 982117562 PT INTECH Process Automation Rukan Permata Senayan, Blok C Nomor 5, 4th Floor, Jalan Tentara Pelajar, Kebayoran Lama, Jakarta Selatan, 12210 Indonesia Tel & Fax: +62 21 579 49 444 INTECH Process Automation Inc. Br. G-201 Al-salah Tower, P.O. Box 4270, Al-khobar - 31952, Kingdom Of Saudi Arabia Tel: +966 13 8966052, +966 13 8966053 WORLD HQ INTECH Process Automation Inc. 4903 W. Sam Houston Parkway N. Suite A-100 Houston, TX 77041, USA Tel: +1 713 849 1000 Fax: +1 713 856 0785 Europe INTECH Process Automation Sarl 168 Avenue Charles De Gaulle, 92 522 Neuilly-sur-seine Cedex, France eusales@intechww.com Central Asia INTECH Process Automation LLP. 5A Erniyazova Str. Atyrau, Kazakhstan Tel: +7 7122 32 01 16 Fax: +7 7122 32 00 52 INTECH Process Automation Pte. Ltd 600 North Bridge Road, #23-01 Parkview Square, Singapore 188778 Tel: +65 68289118 Fax: +65 68289112 INTECH Process Automation (Shanghai) Co. Ltd. Room 1605c, 16f Feidiao International Building, No.1065 Zhaojiabang Road, Xuhui District, Shanghai 200030 P.R.C. Tel: +86 21 2426 1951 Fax: +86 21 2426 1877 INTECH Process Automation Pvt. Ltd. 2nd Floor, Commercial Building #2 PCSIR Phase II Lahore 54782, Pakistan Tel: +92 42 111 468 324, 3531 2509/11 Fax: +92 42 3531 4149 Vendor Expertise linkedin.com/company/intech-process-automation facebook.com/intechprocessautomation OEM Africa INTERNATIONAL HQ INTECH Process Automation FZCO P.O. Box 61479, RA08ZC01, JAFZA, DUBAI, United Arab Emirates Tel: +971 4 8810056 Fax: +971 4 8810057 INTECH Process Automation Nigeria Ltd. 64b, Abacha Link Road, G.R.A. III, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria Tel: +234 905 3992976 Liaisons Office, Victoria Islands Lagos, Nigeria Tel: +234 805 9330560 ngsales@intechww.com INTECH Process Automation FZCO Br. 470, Italian City, Erbil, Iraq Tel: +964 780 131 2198, +964 750 309 3766 North Africa Operations Tel: +971 55 607 3230, +971 553768482 Email: marketing@intechww.com INTECH Process Automation Inc. (Sucursal De Angola) Casa Nº B07, Condominio Boulevard, Via Al16, Talatona, Luanda - Republica De Angola Tel: +244 222 720 471 Fax: +1 281 377 3455 aosales@intechww.com africasales@intechww.com www.intechww.com Standards & Certifications Notice: All registered logotypes, trademarks, brands, product and services marks used in this document are acknowledged as properties of their respective companies/owners and such companies/owners have not consented to their use by INTECH (Term INTECH is used for INTECH Process Automation Inc. and its affiliates). INTECH is not affiliated with these logotypes, trademarks, brands, product and services marks and any use by INTECH should not be construed as an endorsement of INTECH or its services. The services described herein are provided solely by INTECH. 2017. All rights reserved by INTECH Process Automation Inc.