APPLYING

EEMUA 191
PETER DAMER
GE INTELLIGENT PLATFORMS

WHAT IS EEMUA 191?

provides clear guidance on alarm system design,
maintenance and continuous improvement
Alarms are signals presented to the operator indicating a
problem requiring attention or assessment

Correct potentially dangerous situations before

safety systems intervene.
Identify process deviations
Provide better understanding of complex process
conditions

WHERE CAN THE STANDARD BE USED?

System Analysis
Investigations
Continuous Improvement Programmes

System Design
Control Systems
Reporting
Production Reporting
Analysis
Analysis

Product
Product Evaluation
Evaluation
Product Design

AN APPROACH TO 191 PRODUCT

COMPLIANCE
Identify Important Clauses Within the Guide

Core Principles
Alarm System Philosophy
Principles of Alarm System Design
Implementation Issues
Specific Appendices

Develop Component & Functional Product Models

Generate Cross-Reference Matrix (checklists)
Provide a General Narrative (addresses
integration/design issues)
Exemplars and Good Practice Guidance

SYSTEM LANDSCAPE

DETAILED VIEW I

IDENTIFYING CLAUSES
Appendix 11 Design of Alarm Lists can be divided into various clauses
Marked as AL1-AL15 to indicate compliance

Standard

Yes
Yes

Function

Compliance

AL1 List Fields

Each alarm list entry should show:
Alarm State Marker
Alarm Priority Marker
Alarm Message
Time and Date
AL2 List Markers
The state and priority markers may use a
combination of:
Symbol
Text
Brightness
Colour
Ref
Requirement
Position
AL1 Fields in list

AL2 Marker Types

Yes
Yes

Comment
PAV and ASO fully compliant
1.
PAV provides text, colour, symbolic and
position markers
2.
ASO provides text, colour, and position
markers

COMPLIANCE CHECKLISTS

Standard

Sub Requirement
Alarm settings stored
(e.g. deadbands)

Function

Requirement
System
configuration
Database

Compliance

Grade

N
o
1

Yes

Alarm Settings Operator

changeable (e.g.
deadband, message)

Par
t

Part

Alarm Settings Supervisor

changeable (e.g.
deadband, message)

Par
t

Part

No

No

Alarm
definition

Operator define new

alarms

Comment
All Proficy programming and configuration
software supports open format import and
export functions.
1.

Most PPS settings are not user

configurable
2. Many iFix settings are dynamic e.g.
message text
1. Most PPS settings are not user
configurable
2. Many iFix settings are dynamic e.g.
message text
iFix does offer a scripting interface that could
in theory be used to develop a dynamic
alarm creation tool.

GENERAL NARRATIVE
Operator Response
It may be that the required response is adequately defined in the
alarm message. If additional context is required or information
presented, right-click messages or even workflows may be
appropriate.

Alarm Presentation Rate

The presentation rate of alarms appearing in alarm lists may be
dynamically throttled if required to prevent operator overload.
This may be done by configuring the list to filter based on priority
or a combination of priority and required response time (i.e.
severity of consequence). If the alarm rate reaches unacceptable
values filtering can be implemented automatically. An example is
given in Section 5.4.4.

GOOD PRACTICE

Severity

Response Required

1000

Urgent

800

High Priority

400

Requires Attention

200

Information Only

Icon

Fore Colour

Back Colour

EXEMPLARS

APPLYING 191 TO MES

Quality
Alarms may warn of quality issues. Prompts investigation and
prevent release of OOS product
Alarms may be used to understand causes of poor quality

Production
Alarms used to understand process deviations. Reduction of
deviations increases yield, decreasing rework and waste
Correlation of Alarms to MES Models (e.g. Equipment,
Products)

Efficiency
Understanding underlying process may enable operation
closer to limits, increasing production rate

SYSTEM LANDSCAPE

DETAILED VIEW II

EKA CHEMICALS PROJECT OBJECTIVES

Integrate Existing DCS/PLC/Lab System Alarms into
Data Historian
Provide near realtime analysis and reporting to
warn of potential problems (e.g. model-based)
Implement management level reporting to support
continuous improvement activities
Correlate alarm data with MES data (e.g. product,
equipment, site, shift)
Optimise production using alarm, MES and scheduling data

SUPPORTING THE USER

Operator response to alarms often complex (ALERTINFORM-GUIDE)
MES adds context based on data-rich models, real-time
and historical data
MES can provide guidance through complex workflows

MES allows realisation of continuous improvement

Analysis of plant performance
Analysis of alarm system performance (Quantitative KPIs)
MES provides enterprise-wide capabilities lacking at the
control system level

CONCLUSIONS
EEMUA 191 may be broadly applied
The Guide contains substantial and specific content
to support compliance analysis
Generic compliance analysis methods may be
adopted
MES systems are able to implement and support the
aims stated in the guide
191 provides valuable guidance for projects
integrating control systems and MES