(145h) An Undergraduate Alarm Documentation & Rationalization Module

The introduction of Distributed Control Systems (DCS) systems lead to over alarming process plants because alarms became essentially free. However, extraneous process alarms without a clearly defined operator response are a nuisance to process operations and can obfuscate truly critical alarms. In fact, nuisance alarms have frequently been listed as a contributing factor in major industrial accidents. On the other hand, most operating plant personnel are familiar with incidents that could have been prevented by a timely response to a process alarm that was either absent or disabled. Thus, an effective alarm management process must eliminate as many nuisance alarms as possible while still including those alarms necessary to prevent process upsets and incidents.

This presentation describes our experience developing and using an undergraduate PBL module designed to introduce chemical engineering undergraduates to alarm management principles. Groups of 4 to 5 students were assigned to Document & Rationalize (D&R) the process alarms for a reformate stabilizer column. Students were asked to choose one of the following roles: process engineer, process control engineer, superintendent, or operator. They were provided with D&R instructional material, a list of potential concerns about the reformate stabilizer process system, and some example alarm configurations provided by local industry to help them accomplish this module. The module concluded by allowing the students to implement the alarms and test their operation on an actual DCS system.