Communications: electrical – Condition responsive indicating system – With particular system function
Reexamination Certificate
1999-04-30
2004-02-10
Pope, Daryl (Department: 2632)
Communications: electrical
Condition responsive indicating system
With particular system function
C340S521000, C340S523000, C340S526000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06690274
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Process control alarm systems are used in the area of factory automation. Specifically, process automation uses many process control alarms to inform operators that a process is within or has exceeded process control tolerance limits. A typical application in which a process control alarm system is employed is a styrene manufacturing plant. Within a styrene manufacturing plant, various manufacturing processes require machines and equipment, such as a feed tankage system, a furnace, a heat recovery system, one or more reactors, and a separator. The number of process control alarms constantly monitoring these machines in a styrene manufacturing plant ranges in the tens of thousands. Each process control alarm generally has at least one associated process control alarm variable.
In the past, alarm displays have been large boards with lights and labels, where an illuminated light or LED indicates which process control alarm has sensed a problem in the machine, or which machine in the factory is experiencing a problem. Today, a software interface to aid operators in understanding what is happening with one or many machines is used rather than the alarm board. Increasingly, a GUI (Graphical User Interface) is used as the human-to-machine interface because of its inherent ease of use and intuitive qualities. Through a GUI interface, process control alarm monitor variables are often capable of being set and monitored. These process control alarm monitor variables are linked one or more the feedback systems used in a process control system to make pseudo real-time analysis possible.
Two methods for configuring an alarm monitor system are off-line data file entry and on-line alarm selection. The off-line data file entry method requires an engineer or operator to manually determine alarms having relevance to a particular process control system. Once such relevant alarms are determined, associated alarm names (or respective alarm variable names) are typically typed into a text tile. Inherent in the off-line data file entry method is (i) a step of hand processing lists of possible relevant alarm names (or respective alarm variable names); and (ii) manually entering those names into the text file. The step of hand processing includes scanning and removing redundant alarms.
The on-line alarm selection method is more graphically oriented. However, a typical on-line alarm selection system requires a process control system to be operating during configuration, has limited dedicated alarm selection tools, and requires the same level of understanding of a process control system as the off-line method. Furthermore, in process control systems undergoing evolutionary changes, incorporating ne alarms mandates alarm monitor system reconfiguration, thereby causing either of the above methods to be repeated.
In yet another aspect of alarm systems, a typical alarm system supports a set of standard (absolute and deviation) alarm conditions associated with several control block types. These control block types cause a corresponding indication in associated loop and process displays whenever an alarm condition occurs. In some alarm monitor systems, log displays augment the process displays and list a history of all alarms that have occurred in some interval of time, subject to a selection filter.
Alarms are a main automation system vehicle for dealing with operations too abnormal for automated accommodations. A large fraction of the abnormalities are effectively unfamiliar to an operations and applications group. Some abnormalities are very mild, others are catastrophic. There are applications with thousands of potential alarms defined having hundreds of alarms active at any point in time, sometimes within a single causal shower.
A typical alarm system that provides alarm priority handling capabilities is inherently inadequate to support an operator in recognizing and coping with resulting abnormal or crisis situations. This is true under the best human factors support and applications design. An interest in operating with fewer operators places that much more of a load on the reduced number of operators, exacerbating the problem.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Configuring input for an alarm monitor system of a small process control system is relatively easy. However, for a process control system having up to 200,000 alarms with 50,000 alarm variables, the configuration alarm selection process is overwhelming. Off-line, manual, alarm configuration entry is ill-suited for large systems, and on-line alarm configuration entry typically takes an alarm system off-line during a reconfiguration. Reconfiguring an alarm system is time consuming and requires well-trained personnel.
The present invention provides an off-line visual configuration method and apparatus for an alarm monitor system. Operators perform high-level alarm selection functions on an off-line basis. A complete listing of alarms is presented to the operator, and several sophisticated, yet intuitive, graphically driven functions allow the operator to select a desired subset of alarms. The selected subset is stored as a configuration listing for an alarm monitor system.
Accordingly, one aspect of the invention concerns an alarm monitor visual configuration selection apparatus operating on a computer, which comprises an application window selection means and operation means. The application window has an alarm list for displaying a plurality of alarm indications. The selection means enables an operator to select desired properties of the alarm indications (e.g., character substrings). The operation means produces an alarm list subset having characteristics of the selected properties of the alarm indications. In a preferred embodiment, the application window has a first subwindow, a second subwindow, and a third subwindow. The first subwindow comprises the entire alarm list, the second subwindow comprises a temporary subset of the alarm list, and the third subwindow comprises a final subset of the alarm list. Furthermore, the alarm selection system comprises an input file having the entire alarm list, and an output file into which the final subset of the alarm list is stored. In the preferred embodiment, the input file and output file are text files, and the lists in each of the subwindows are arranged in alphabetical order.
The visual configuration provides a GUI (graphical user interface). The computer comprises a user input/output device, preferably a computer mouse, that is capable of being used to select portions of alarm indications displayed in at least one subwindow alarm list. The selected portions of alarm indications are highlighted in a GUI manner.
The invention further comprises several alarm list operation buttons in the application window. Selection of an operation button causes an underlying processor routine to operate on a subwindow alarm indication list, associated with the selected operation button, as a function of a user's selection, if applicable, that are used to operate on a user's selection. Boolean logic capabilities are incorporated into the underlying processor routines. The alarm list operation buttons include move, load, delete, keep, clear, and save alarm list operations. Each subwindow has at least one associated alarm list operation button.
In the preferred embodiment, the software used to accomplish workings of the system is a compiled, high level, programming language, such as “C”.
According to another aspect, the invention also features an alarm monitor visual configuration selection method operating on a computer. The selection method comprises the steps of (i) displaying an alarm list in an application window, (ii) receiving an input selection criteria, (iii) operating on the alarm list in response to the input selection criteria, and (iv) producing an alarm list subset having characteristics of the input selection criteria resulting from operating on the alarm list.
Also in the preferred embodiment, an application window that comprises three subwindows, which are arranged from lef
Invensys Systems Inc.
Pope Daryl
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