Apparatus and method for alarm management in a process control instrument

Abstract

Apparatuses and methods for alarm management in an instrument are disclosed. An exemplary method includes: generating a set of alarms within a process control instrument, processing the set of alarms to compare the set of alarms with a known set of alarm combinations, determining whether one of the known set of alarm combinations matches the set of alarms based on a result of the comparison between the set of alarms and the known set of alarm combinations, and identifying a recommended action instruction based on the determination result.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure generally relates to process control systems, and more particularly, to apparatus and methods for alarm management in process control instruments. Background Art

[0002] Process control systems typically include instruments located throughout a plant to enable data collection for monitoring and troubleshooting processes. Data collection generally involves measurements obtained by sensors, including parameters such as pressure, flow rate, temperature, weight, density, speed, etc. Changes in these measured parameters (e.g., deviations from setpoints) trigger alarms. An alarm management system is an important part of managing process control instruments to identify and resolve any faults by processing alarm information. However, the number of alarms initiated in a process control system may overwhelm end users, resulting in reduced sensitivity and difficulty in identifying the actions required to address the root cause of problems in the process control system. Summary of the Invention

[0003] An exemplary method for alarm management in a process control instrument includes: generating a set of alarms within the process control instrument; processing the set of alarms by the process control instrument to compare the set of alarms with known alarm combinations; determining by the process control instrument whether one of the known alarm combinations matches the set of alarms based on the comparison result of the set of alarms with the known alarm combinations, and identifying a recommended action instruction by the process control instrument based on the determination result.

[0004] An exemplary process control instrument for alarm management includes an alarm manager for generating a set of alarms within the process control instrument, processing the set of alarms to compare the set of alarms with known alarm combinations, and determining whether one of the known alarm combinations matches the set of alarms based on the comparison result of the set of alarms with the known alarm combinations, and a recommended action generator for identifying a recommended action instruction based on the determination result.

[0005] An exemplary non - transitory computer - readable storage medium includes instructions that, when executed, cause a machine to at least generate a set of alarms within a process control instrument, compare the set of alarms with known alarm combinations, determine whether one of the known alarm combinations matches the set of alarms based on the comparison result of the set of alarms with the known alarm combinations, and identify a recommended action instruction based on the determination result. Brief Description of the Drawings

[0006] Figure 1 is a diagram of an exemplary process control system in which teachings of the present disclosure may be implemented.

[0007] Figure 2is a block diagram showing a known method of alarm management, where a user interface displays alarms and recommended actions.

[0008] Figure 3 is a block diagram showing an exemplary process control instrument for processing alarms and generating recommended actions in accordance with the teachings of the present disclosure.

[0009] Figure 4 is a block diagram of exemplary process control instrument logic for alarm management in accordance with the teachings of the present disclosure.

[0010] Figure 5 is a flowchart representing machine-readable instructions that may be executed to implement Figure 3 the exemplary process control instrument in

[0011] Figure 6 is a flowchart representing machine-readable instructions that may be executed to implement Figure 4 the exemplary process control instrument logic in

[0012] Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary data table for alarm management in accordance with the teachings of the present disclosure.

[0013] Figure 8 is a block diagram of exemplary process control system components and corresponding conditions that can trigger alarms defined in the exemplary alarm management data table in Figure 7

[0014] Figure 9 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary processor platform that can be used and / or programmed to execute Figures 5-6 the exemplary methods in Figure 1 , 3 and the exemplary process control system of DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0015] Process control systems typically implement instrument-based alarms to monitor instrument-related events indicating problems or inconsistencies related to process equipment and process alarms indicating problems or inconsistencies related to control loops. Timely detection of process and equipment problems can prevent production quality degradation, safety incidents, and downtime due to equipment failures, as well as process deviations in continuous, batch, semi-batch, and discrete processes. Therefore, the management of alarm systems is crucial for chemical, petrochemical, pharmaceutical, power generation, pipeline, refining, mining, and metal production industries, and other industries that rely on modern control systems incorporating alarm functions. Taking corrective actions in an effective manner to alleviate the problems triggering the alarms depends on the timely and accurate assessment of the alarms and the identification of their potential causes.

[0016] Although an alarm indicates an abnormal operating condition or an emergency, other non-alarm information (such as notifications) for an operator can be muted or ignored during the presence of an alarm. Current implementations of alarm systems present challenges for alarm management, including situations that generate a large number of alarms, which may overwhelm process control system operators. Over time, operators may become desensitized, risking that operators will not notice critical alarms when they occur.

[0017] Average alarm rates vary widely. While 6 - 12 alarms per hour are manageable, much higher alarm rates are more common throughout the process industries and are overly demanding on process control plant operators or other users. A typical process plant may generate 1,000 - 2,000 entries in the activity log in 24 hours, including alarm activations, alarm clearances, operator actions, alarm acknowledgments, and system status events. Under abnormal conditions, alarm floods can result in alarm activation rates of 70 - 180 alarms per minute, which is equivalent to 1 - 3 alarm activations per second. Over time, even under normal conditions, alarms can become annoying, leading operators to ignore alarms or disable equipment related to alarm generation.

[0018] There are various types of alarms in a process control system. These alarms can include: flutter alarms, alarms that do not require any response, obsolete alarms, and alarms with incorrect priority assignments. Flutter alarms repeat excessively within a short period and are related to instrument maintenance or alarm design issues that cause the alarm to repeatedly switch between the alarm state and the non-alarm state. Alarms that do not require a response include obsolete alarms that enter the alarm mode and do not return to the normal state for a long time. For example, any alarm in the active mode is called a standing alarm. Operators can check such alarms hourly. Obsolete alarms are active for a period of time (e.g., greater than 24 hours) and can be checked daily by the on-duty supervisor. Alarms are not always prioritized according to their urgency, reducing the significance of the alarms and causing operators to potentially take an incorrect sequence of actions when multiple alarms are triggered. Certain types of alarms (e.g., flutter alarms and obsolete alarms) may cause operators to be exposed to a higher frequency of alarms at any given moment. For example, it is indicated that operators can have an average of 15 - 200 obsolete alarms continuously displayed in the alarm summary list for over 24 hours, which, due to their long-term activity, greatly affects the total number of alarms displayed to the process control system operator.

[0019] Improved alarm management leads to improved operations as well as reduced maintenance and insurance costs, as the equipment can be better maintained and stress relieved when operators take appropriate corrective or preventive actions. It has been reported that improvements in alarm management can continuously reduce unplanned maintenance costs by 5 - 15%, and contribute to significantly reducing the risk operation insurance when the alarm improvements meet the established operating standards.

[0020] Instrument events based on changes such as supply pressure, actuator pressure, and flow rate set alarms in process control instruments. Once the instrument event threshold is reached, the event alarm is activated and transmitted to the control system or asset management host via an industrial communication protocol (e.g., High-Speed Channel Addressable Remote Transducer (HART), Wireless HART, Foundation Fieldbus, or Profibus). The asset management host utilizes instrument-specific device descriptions (DDs) to interpret the active event alarms and provide appropriate recommendations based on these alarms. In most cases, multiple event alarms can be active, but only one recommended action is required. The respective control systems or asset management hosts attempt to manage the complexity, resulting in significant differences in host vendor-specific solutions and potentially overlooking relevant instrument information that the instrument vendor determines to be valuable when providing recommended actions.

[0021] The examples disclosed herein overcome the difficulties associated with managing multiple active event alarms by enabling process control instrument logic to process active alarms and broadcast recommended actions based on one or more active event alarms. By matching the active event alarms with the recommended actions, the process control system operator is not warned of every recorded alarm. Instead, the operator is provided with recommended actions that help resolve one or more active alarms at a time, rather than being provided with recommended actions to resolve each specific active alarm one at a time. The exemplary methods disclosed herein describe action alarms that address the problem of alarm overload at the source (e.g., instrument) for application in any control or asset management system. The teachings disclosed herein can be implemented in any industry that relies on automated process controllers to improve alarm management to prevent end-user fatigue and insensitivity due to alarm overload, while also streamlining the recommendation process to maximize the time allowed to mitigate any emerging faults and process deviations in the system.

[0022] The exemplary methods disclosed herein enable the replacement of existing event-driven instrument alerts with action-driven instrument alerts. For example, current process control instruments are used to determine active alerts and broadcast these alerts, which are then displayed to the process control system operator via a user interface. The exemplary methods disclosed herein describe process control instrument logic that processes active alerts and matches the alerts with recommended actions that are broadcast by the instrument and displayed to the user via the user interface. Given that most operators are inundated with an excessive number of alerts, any alerts that do not require action are distracting and result in decreased productivity. The exemplary methods disclosed herein achieve increased operator efficiency and a greater focus on responding to alerts that require action, thereby reducing the likelihood that an operator will fail to respond to an alert in a timely manner.

[0023] Figure 1 FIG. is an illustration of an exemplary process control system 100 in which the teachings of the present disclosure may be implemented. Process control system 100 includes a workstation 102 having a user interface 104. Workstation 102 is communicatively coupled to a controller 108 via a bus or local area network (LAN) 106, commonly referred to as an area control network (ACN). The LAN 106 may be implemented using any desired communication medium and protocol. For example, the LAN 106 may be based on a hardware or wireless Ethernet communication protocol. However, any other suitable wired or wireless communication medium and protocol may be used. Workstation 102 may be configured to perform operations associated with one or more information technology applications, user interaction applications, and / or communication applications. For example, workstation 102 may be configured to perform operations associated with process control-related applications and communication applications that enable workstation 102 and controller 108 to communicate with other devices or systems using any desired communication medium (e.g., wireless, hardwired, etc.) and protocol (e.g., HTTP, SOAP, etc.).

[0024] The exemplary controller 108 can be configured to execute one or more process control routines and / or functions operating as one or more control loops that have been generated by a system engineer or other system operator using, for example, the workstation 102 or any other workstation, and have been downloaded to and instantiated in the controller 108. The exemplary process control system 100 includes an input / output (I / O) data acquisition module 110, one or more control elements (designated by reference numerals 112, 114, and 116), and one or more sensors (designated by reference numerals 118, 120, 122, 124). For example, the control elements 112, 114, and 116 can be Fieldbus-compliant valves, actuators, sensors, etc., such that the control elements 112, 114, and 116 communicate via a digital data bus using a Fieldbus communication protocol. The control elements 112, 114, and 116 can also be Profibus, HART, or AS-i compliant devices that communicate via a data bus using Profibus, AS-i, and HART communication protocols. In some exemplary embodiments, the control elements 112, 114, and 116 can transmit information using analog communication or discrete communication instead of digital communication.

[0025] Figure 1 The controller 108 of the exemplary process control system 100 is communicatively coupled to the input / output (I / O) data acquisition module 110. The data acquisition module 110 can be communicatively coupled to an I / O card ( Figure 1 not shown). The I / O card can be communicatively coupled to the control elements 112, 114, 116 and the sensors 118, 120, 122. The controller 108 receives input signals from the I / O data acquisition module 110 and processes these input signals through one or more control loops ( Figure 1 not shown) operating within the controller 108. In this example, the sensor 124 communicates directly with the controller 108 such that the sensor 124 monitors a value related to the process control loop setpoint. For example, the sensor 124 can be used as a primary sensor to allow control over the process control loop range, as compared to the local control of the control elements 112, 114, and 116 provided by the sensors 118, 120, and 122. In a process control loop, a process variable (e.g., pressure) is controlled or maintained based on a setpoint or an established reference value. In Figure 1 the exemplary process control system 100, one or more sensors (e.g., sensors 118, 120, 122, 124) or transducers are used to measure a process control variable such as pressure. The signals measured by the sensors are output and sent to the controller 108 via the I / O data acquisition module 110. An error detector ( Figure 1Not shown (in controller 108), the process variable (e.g., pressure value) is compared with a predefined reference value (e.g., setpoint). Based on the error signal determined by controller 108, controller 108 initiates a control action to change the process until the process variable (e.g., pressure) converges to the desired set value.

[0026] Figure 1 The I / O data acquisition module 110 of the exemplary process control system 100 receives input signals propagated through the process control system 100 from control elements 112, 114, and 116. The input signals can include analog input data signals, discrete input data signals, and / or digital I / O data signals. After receiving the input signals from control elements 112, 114, and 116, the I / O data acquisition module 110 determines which input signals will be forwarded to controller 108. Alternatively, the I / O data acquisition module 110 can forward the input signals to controller 108 after receiving a request from controller 108. In some examples, the I / O data acquisition module 110 can receive changes in input signals, output signals, messages, and other types of communications. By managing which input signals are forwarded to controller 108, the data acquisition module 110 can improve the network efficiency within the process control system 100. The data acquisition module 110 also receives output signals from controller 108, and the data acquisition module 110 can forward the output signals to the corresponding control elements 112, 114, and 116.

[0027] In Figure 1 the exemplary process control system, the control elements 112, 114, and 116 can include, for example, valves (e.g., control element 112) for controlling the fluid flow through a pipeline and corresponding sensors (e.g., sensor 118) for measuring the pressure of the fluid within the pipeline. The valve (e.g., control element 112) can include any type of process control valve, and the sensor (e.g., sensor 118) can include any type of sensor for pressure, temperature, level, flow rate, etc. The sensor sends a signal to the I / O data acquisition module 110. In some examples, the sensor can send an input signal in response to a request from the I / O data acquisition module 110. Controller 108 receives the input signal and processes the signal via a control loop. The control loop uses the input signal to calculate the control action for the signal. Controller 108 then transmits the control action to the valve via an output signal to effect an appropriate change in the fluid flow.

[0028] Figure 2is a block diagram showing a known method of alarm management 200. An exemplary process control instrument 201 processes one or more events (designated by reference numerals 202, 214, 226). For example, event 202 can correspond to one or more changes in a process control variable (such as pressure). A corresponding event threshold (designated by reference numerals 204, 216, 228) for each of the events 202, 214, 226 is defined as the set amount of an event (such as a pressure change) that needs to occur for the corresponding alarm (designated by reference numerals 206, 218, 230) to be activated. In response to the activation of alarms 206, 218, and 230, corresponding alarm broadcasts 208, 220, and 232 are initiated respectively. In response to the alarm broadcasts 208, 220, and 232 occurring in the exemplary process control instrument 201, a user interface 203 is used to output corresponding alarm displays 210, 222, and 234. Once an alarm is displayed, the user interface 203 also displays recommended actions 212, 224, and 236 corresponding to the displayed alarms 210, 222, and 234 respectively. As a result, the process control system operator sees the recommended actions 212, 224, and 236 displayed for each alarm 210, 222, and 234 generated for the process control instrument 201.

[0029] For example, if Figure 1 a sensor 118 of Figure 2 detects a decrease in the supply pressure of a control element 112, this generates an event, such as Figure 2 event 202. Assuming that the supply pressure can fluctuate over time, the decrease in the supply pressure can be monitored, and over time, the occurrence of additional recordings of the pressure change can trigger the event threshold 204. As a result, an alarm (such as Figure 1 alarm 206) is activated. Once the alarm 206 is broadcast at 208, it is displayed at 210 to the process control system operator, indicating that there is a fluctuation in the supply pressure at the Figure 1 control element 112. Additionally, the recommended action 212 displayed to the process control operator can include checking whether there are any faults in the control element 112 or checking the area of concern downstream of the control element 112. In some examples,

[0030] Figure 3FIG. 300 is a block diagram of an exemplary process control instrument for processing alerts and generating recommended actions in accordance with the teachings of the present disclosure. The exemplary process control instrument 301 processes one or more events (designated by reference numerals 302, 314, 320). For example, event 302 may correspond to one or more changes in a process control variable (e.g., pressure). Respective event thresholds (designated by reference numerals 304, 316, 322) for events 302, 314, 320 may be specified as a predetermined amount of an event (e.g., a pressure change) that needs to occur for an alert (designated by reference numerals 306, 318, 324) to be activated. The process control instrument logic 308 processes a set of alerts 306, 318, 324 to determine which alerts are related to each other.

[0031] For example, alert 306 may be generated due to Figure 1 a change in the input current at control element 112. Alert 318 may be generated due to Figure 2 a change in the actuator pressure at control element 114, and alert 324 may be generated due to an increase in the supply pressure associated with control element 112. The process control instrument logic 308 may determine that active alerts 306 and 318 are related and indicate a fault in the process control system, while logic 308 may also determine that active alerts 306 and 324 are also related and may indicate a different fault in the process control system. As a result, recommended action 310 is broadcast, which presents an action that may resolve active alerts 306 and 318, while recommended action 326 is broadcast, which may resolve active alerts 306 and 324. The user interface 303 displays recommended actions 312 and 328 to the process control system operator, where recommended actions 312 and 328 are based on recommended actions 310 and 326 broadcast by the process control instrument 301. In some examples, when one or more of alerts 306, 318, and 324 show a change in state, e.g., when one or more of the alerts are no longer active, the process control instrument logic 308 may cause the displayed recommended actions 312 and 328 to be updated. In some examples, an operator with additional information not available to the process control instrument logic 308 may adjust the recommended actions by assigning a higher priority to one action 312 over another action 328. In some examples, it may be determined based on the alert management logic 308 that the operator should first address one or more of the generated recommendations to eliminate the cause of the most likely alerts 306, 318, and 324, while the recommended actions 312 and 328 are displayed in priority order on the user interface 303.

[0032] Figure 4 is for alert management in accordance with the teachings of the present disclosure Figure 3Block diagram 400 of an exemplary process control instrument logic 308. The process control instrument logic 308 includes an exemplary alarm manager 440, an exemplary recommended action generator 450, and an exemplary Boolean truth table 460. The exemplary alarm manager 440 generates and manages a set of process control or device alarms 306, 318, and 324 input into the Figure 3 instrument logic 308. For example, the alarm manager 440 may classify the generated active alarms 306, 318, and 324 based on their potential interrelationships. For example, if two of the alarms 306 and 324 are generated at the control element 112 of Figure 1 , the alarm manager 440 may determine that these action alarms may have been generated due to the same fault in the process control system. The alarm manager 440 further compares the set of available alarms with a known alarm combination to determine whether the set of available alarms generated by the process control instrument matches the set of known alarms already available to the process control instrument logic 308. The alarm manager 440 identifies recommended action instructions based on whether there is a match between the set of generated alarms and the set of known alarms. The recommended action generator 450 generates new recommended action instructions for the process control system operator to resolve the active alarms, such as Figure 3 the active alarms 306, 318, and 324. For example, the recommended action generator 450 may arrange the recommended actions 312 and 328 to be displayed in a particular order based on how the logic 308 prioritizes the recommendations based on the processed active alarms 306, 318, and 324. The process control instrument logic 308 also includes an exemplary Boolean truth table 460. The Boolean truth table 460 is used to match alarms such as the exemplary alarms 306, 318, and 324 with recommended actions such as Figure 3 the recommended actions 312 and 328. For example, the combination of an alarm and its temporary occurrence may cause the Boolean truth table 460 to match the alarm with a particular recommended action. In some examples, the temporary occurrence of an alarm and its combination may not affect the recommended action but may result in a particular recommendation independent of the order of the alarms.

[0033] Although Figure 4 shows an exemplary manner of implementing the Figure 3 process control instrument logic 308, one or more of the elements, processes, and / or devices shown in Figure 4 may be combined, divided, rearranged, omitted, eliminated, and / or implemented in any other way. In addition, the exemplary alarm manager 440, the exemplary recommended action generator 450, the exemplary Boolean truth table 460, and / or more generally, Figure 3Exemplary process control instrument logic 308 can be implemented by hardware, software, firmware, and / or any combination of hardware, software, and / or firmware. Thus, for example, any one of exemplary alarm manager 440, exemplary recommended action generator 450, exemplary Boolean truth table 460, and / or more generally, exemplary process control instrument logic 308 can be implemented by one or more analog or digital circuits, logic circuits, programmable processors, programmable controllers, graphics processing units (GPUs), digital signal processors (DSPs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), and / or field programmable logic devices (FPLDs). When reading any apparatus or system claims of this patent to cover pure software and / or firmware implementations, at least one of exemplary alarm manager 440, exemplary recommended action generator 450, and / or exemplary Boolean truth table 460 is hereby expressly defined to include a non-transitory computer readable storage device or storage disk containing software / or firmware, such as a memory, digital versatile disk (DVD), compact disc (CD), Blu-ray disc, etc. Further, in addition to or instead of Figure 4 the elements, processes, and / or devices shown in Figure 3 exemplary control instrument logic 308 can include one or more elements, processes, and / or devices, and / or can include more than one of any or all of the shown elements, processes, and devices. As used herein, the phrase "in communication" and its variants cover direct communication and / or indirect communication through one or more intermediate components and do not require direct physical (e.g., wired) communication and / or continuous communication, but rather additionally include selective communication at periodic intervals, scheduled intervals, aperiodic intervals, and / or one-time events.

[0034] Figure 5 and Figure 6 respectively show flowcharts representing exemplary machine-readable instructions for implementing Figure 3 the process control instrument in Figures 3-4 and Figures 5-6 the process control instrument logic in Figures 5-6The flowchart shown depicts an exemplary program, but many other methods of implementing the exemplary process control instrument 301 and the exemplary process control instrument logic 308 may alternatively be used. For example, the order of execution of the blocks may be changed, and / or some of the blocks described may be changed, eliminated, or combined. Additionally or alternatively, any or all of the blocks may be implemented by one or more hardware circuits (e.g., discrete and / or integrated analog and / or digital circuits, FPGAs, ASICs, comparators, operational amplifiers (op-amps), logic circuits, etc.) configured to perform the corresponding operations without executing software or firmware.

[0035] The machine-readable instructions described herein may be stored in one or more of a compressed format, an encrypted format, a segmented format, a packed format, etc. The machine-readable instructions as described herein may be stored as data (e.g., portions of instructions, code, code representations, etc.) that can be used to create, manufacture, and / or generate machine-executable instructions. For example, the machine-readable instructions may be segmented and stored on one or more storage devices and / or computing devices (e.g., servers). The machine-readable instructions may need to be installed, modified, adapted, updated, combined, supplemented, configured, decrypted, decompressed, unpacked, distributed, redistributed, etc. such that they can be directly read and / or executed by a computing device and / or other machine. For example, the machine-readable instructions may be stored in multiple parts that are separately compressed, encrypted, and stored on separate computing devices, where the parts form an executable instruction set after being decrypted, decompressed, and combined, and the executable instruction set implements a program such as that described herein. In another example, the machine-readable instructions may be stored in a state where they can be read by a computer, but libraries (e.g., dynamic link libraries (DLLs)), software development kits (SDKs), application programming interfaces (APIs), etc. need to be added in order to execute the instructions on a particular computing device or other device. In another example, the machine-readable instructions may need to be configured (e.g., stored settings, data inputs, recorded network addresses, etc.) before the machine-readable instructions and / or the corresponding program can be executed in whole or in part. Accordingly, the disclosed machine-readable instructions and / or corresponding programs are intended to cover such machine-readable instructions and / or programs regardless of the particular format or state in which the machine-readable instructions and / or programs are stored or otherwise deposited or transported.

[0036] As described above, executable instructions (e.g., computer and / or machine-readable instructions) stored on a non-transitory computer and / or machine-readable medium (e.g., a hard disk drive, flash memory, read-only memory (ROM), compact disc (CD), digital versatile disc (DVD), cache, random access memory (RAM), and / or any other storage device or storage disk in which information is stored for any duration (e.g., an extended period of time, permanently, for a transient instance, for temporary buffering, and / or for caching information)) can be used to implement Figure 5 and / or Figure 6 the exemplary processes of. As used herein, the term non-transitory computer-readable storage medium is expressly defined to include any type of computer-readable storage device and / or storage disk and to exclude propagated signals and to exclude transmission media.

[0037] "Comprising" and "including" (and all forms and tenses thereof) are used herein as open - ended terms. Thus, whenever a claim employs any form of "comprising" or "including" (e.g., comprises, includes, has, etc.) as a preamble or in any kind of claim recitation, it should be understood that additional elements, items, etc. may exist without falling outside the scope of the corresponding claim or recitation. As used herein, when the phrase "at least" is used as a transitional word in, for example, the preamble of a claim, it is open - ended in the same manner as the terms "comprising" and "including". When used in the form of, for example, A, B, and / or C, the term "and / or" means any combination or subset of A, B, C, such as (1) A alone, (2) B alone, (3) C alone, (4) A and B, (5) A and C, (6) B and C, and (7) A and B and C. As used herein in the context of describing a structure, component, item, object, and / or thing, the phrase "at least one of A and B" is intended to refer to embodiments including any one of the following: (1) at least one A, (2) at least one B, and (3) at least one A and at least one B. Similarly, as used herein in the context of describing a structure, component, item, object, and / or thing, the phrase "at least one of A or B" is intended to refer to embodiments including any one of the following: (1) at least one A, (2) at least one B, and (3) at least one A and at least one B. As used herein in the context of describing the implementation or execution of a process, instruction, action, activity, and / or step, the phrase "at least one of A and B" is intended to refer to embodiments including any one of the following: (1) at least one A, (2) at least one B, and (3) at least one A and at least one B. Similarly, as used herein in the context of describing the implementation or execution of a process, instruction, action, activity, and / or step, the phrase "at least one of A or B" is intended to refer to embodiments including any one of the following: (1) at least one A, (2) at least one B, and (3) at least one A and at least one B.

[0038] Figure 5 represents a flowchart 500 of machine - readable instructions that may be executed to implement Figure 3 exemplary process control instruments in. At block 502, sensor information of exemplary sensors 118, 120, and 122 for control elements 112, 114, and 116 respectively is obtained Figure 1 For example, the sensor information may include supply pressure and drive signal. Sensors 118, 120, and 122 help detect inconsistencies and deviations from desired or acceptable values established for device parameters such as supply pressure, input current, and / or actuator pressure. Any change in system parameters will be recorded as an event, such as Figure 3Exemplary events 302, 314, and 320 in. If a particular system parameter shows a continuous deviation from the expected value, this may lead to the detection of an event threshold. Once at Figure 5 the event threshold is detected at block 504 of (e.g., Figure 3 the event thresholds 304, 316, or 322 of), the process control instrument receives, at block 506, an alert generated due to the detected event threshold (e.g., Figure 3 the alerts 306, 318, and 324 of). At block 508, Figure 3 the process control instrument 301 of performs an alert analysis using process control instrument logic 308, which includes Figure 4 the alert manager 440, the recommended action generator 450, and the Boolean truth table 460 of. For example, the alert analysis includes using the alert manager 440 to determine which active alerts 306, 318, and 324 can be correlated with each other to provide recommended actions 310 and 326, which can suggest steps to be taken to immediately mitigate one or more active alerts. At block 510, any additional alerts detected are included in the process control instrument logic 308 in order to process the alerts to generate recommended actions. If no additional alerts are detected at block 510, then at block 512 the Figure 4 recommended action generator 450 of broadcasts the recommended actions (e.g., recommended action broadcasts 310, 326) in the process control system instrument 301.

[0039] Figure 6 is a flowchart 600 of machine-readable instructions that can be executed to implement Figure 4 the exemplary process control instrument logic 308 in. Once the process control instrument logic 308 receives the active alerts 306, 318, and 324, the alert condition is determined at block 620. For example, based on the active alerts generated by the system, a specific descriptive indicator is assigned to the alert, which indicates the system parameter that deviates from the set point and details of the deviation. For example, an alert may be generated due to a deviation of the supply pressure from the set point. The alert condition can be used to determine whether the supply pressure is too high or too low. Once the alert condition is determined at block 620, then at Figure 6 block 630 of is filled Figure 4The Boolean truth table 460. At block 640, the Boolean truth table 460 includes alarm conditions that match specific recommended actions. In some examples, the Boolean truth table 460 is populated with all alarm conditions generated from real-time activity alarms. In some examples, the Boolean truth table 460 is repopulated with updated activity alarms to provide the latest recommendations to the process control system operator. In some examples, the sequence of alarm conditions can be a determining factor in the (multiple) recommended actions that will be generated by the process control instrument logic 308. In some examples, the Boolean truth table 460 is used to determine whether there is a one-to-one matching correspondence between the alarm conditions generated in the system and the alarm conditions known based on previously generated alarms or previously input alarm combinations. Then, at block 640, the alarm conditions that have a one-to-one matching correspondence with the set of available alarm conditions known to the process control instrument logic 308 are matched with the recommended actions, and at block 650, the recommended actions are generated based on the alarm sequence.

[0040] Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary data table 700 for alarm management according to the teachings of the present disclosure. The data table 700 represents Figure 4 the Boolean truth table 460, Figure 3 a portion of the process control instrument logic 308 for determining alarm conditions 702 and matching the determined alarm conditions with recommended actions 704 for the process control system operator. The data table 700 includes known alarm combinations that are available for the process control instrument logic 308 and are used to check for a one-to-one matching correspondence with the set of alarms generated by the process control system. For example, the alarm conditions 702 based on activity alarms (e.g., Figure 3 activity alarms 306, 318, and 324) can include exemplary alarm conditions 1-12 listed in the exemplary data table 700. The exemplary alarm conditions 702 can include, but are not limited to, high or low supply pressure, high or low drive signal, stable or changing input current, changing or stable stroke, changing or low actuator pressure, and high or low stroke deviation. In some examples, each alarm condition 702 is matched with one or more recommended actions 704 based on the activity-based alarm conditions. In some examples, the matching of the alarm conditions with the recommended actions can consider the status of other units of the process control system. When the alarm conditions match one-to-one with the set of existing known alarm conditions in the data table 700, processing the data table (e.g., data table 700) using the process control instrument logic 308 allows the recommended action instructions to be matched with each set of alarm conditions generated by the instrument.

[0041] The Boolean truth table 460 can be used to determine whether certain conditions are true or false. For example, if there is an alarm related to supply pressure, the Boolean truth table 460 can be used to determine whether the supply pressure is high (true or false) or whether the supply pressure is low (true or false). The exemplary data table 700 is used to match these alarm conditions with other alarm conditions originating from the process control system. In some examples, the process control instrument logic 308 can be trained to identify patterns in certain alarms and associate these alarms with potential faults in other areas of the process control system. For example, in the data table 700, when both the stroke and the actuator pressure are changing, it can be determined that the input current is stable. The combination of these alarms causes the data table 700 to match with a corresponding recommended action instruction (e.g., recommended action 706) (e.g., readjust the instrument to stabilize the output). In another example, a low drive signal combined with a changing input current, a changing stroke, a changing actuator pressure, and a low stroke deviation can result in a match with recommended action 708 (e.g., packing the valve packing). In another example, a combination of alarm conditions including a changing input current, a changing actuator pressure, a low stroke deviation (including a stable stroke) can result in a match with exemplary recommended action 710 (e.g., checking for wear or blockage of the valve internals). In another example, a combination of alarm conditions including a changing input current, a changing stroke, a changing actuator pressure, and a high stroke deviation can result in a match with exemplary recommended action 712 (e.g., checking the instrument installation integrity). In some examples, the total number of alarm conditions that can be combined to determine one or more recommended actions is not limited. For example, more complex faults in the process control system may result in the generation of a large number of alarms. While in some examples a single alarm may be generated that requires the process control system operator to perform an individually defined action procedure, in other examples, the complexity of the process control system requires the evaluation and handling of a large number of active alarms that can be combined to produce a more streamlined recommended action for the operator to adopt. For example, a combination of high supply pressure, high drive signal, stable input current, stable stroke, low actuator pressure, and high stroke deviation can be processed to produce a match with a single recommended action 714 (e.g., replacing the instrument pneumatic module).

[0042] In some examples, the exemplary data table 700 can be used to match alarm conditions 702 with one or more recommended actions 704 based on the order of the alarm conditions. For example, the alarm conditions being processed may be the same, but their order of occurrence may inform the most appropriate action recommendation. In some examples, several recommended actions may be presented to the process control operator, but the recommended actions can be prioritized. For example, in the data table 700, the alarm conditions at a given point in time may include low supply pressure, high drive signal, stable input current, varying stroke, varying actuator pressure, and high stroke deviation. However, the order of these alarm conditions can be used to determine the recommended action(s) provided to the process control system operator. For example, if the second alarm condition in the presented set of alarm conditions is varying actuator pressure, followed by varying stroke, high drive signal, high stroke deviation, and low supply pressure, then the recommended action can be to repair the pneumatic device of the actuator (e.g., recommended action 716). In another example, if the second alarm action in the presented set of alarm conditions is low supply pressure, followed by varying stroke, high drive signal, varying actuator pressure, and high stroke deviation, then the changed order of the listed action conditions can alternatively result in a recommendation to repair the supply pressure (e.g., recommended action 718). In some examples, assuming the alarm conditions are the same but their order is different, the recommended actions output to the process control system operator can include both recommended actions 716 and 718. In some examples, given the order of the alarm conditions, the recommended actions 716 and 718 can be presented in a priority order determined by the process control instrument logic 308 to most likely result in the resolution of the active alarm (e.g., Figure 3 the active alarms 306, 318, and 324).

[0043] In some examples, the (multiple) recommended actions 704 generated by the process control instrument logic 308 using the recommended action generator 450 can be prioritized based on previous recommended actions taken to successfully resolve a similar set of alarm conditions. In some examples, if the set of recommended actions 704 does not include an alternative recommended operation that can successfully mitigate an active alarm, the process control system operator can manually include a new recommended operation in the exemplary data table 700. In some examples, if none of the existing recommended actions 704 are based on a one-to-one match between the generated set of alarms and a set of known alarm combinations, a new recommended action can be generated. In some examples, the process control system operator can include additional recommended actions in the data table 700 for a new combination of alarm conditions that does not provide a direct match to the set of recommended actions. In some examples, a direct match of an alarm condition to a recommended action can result in only that recommended action being displayed to the process control operator. In some examples, a lack of a direct match of an alarm condition to the set of recommended actions can result in the display of at least one recommended action that most closely matches the set of alarm conditions. In some examples, several recommended actions that most closely match the alarm conditions can be displayed to the process control system operator. In some examples, these recommended actions are prioritized based on their match accuracy to the set of process control system alarm conditions.

[0044] Figure 8 is a block diagram 800 of exemplary process control system components and corresponding conditions that can trigger alarms defined in the exemplary alarm management data table 700 in Figure 7 Exemplary process control system components include an electronic device 860, a pneumatic module 870, an actuator 880, and a valve body 890. Process control system parameters being monitored can include supply pressure (e.g., high or low supply pressure corresponding to alarm conditions 1 and 2 of the data table 700), drive signal (e.g., high or low drive signal corresponding to alarm conditions 3 and 4), input current (e.g., steady or varying input current corresponding to alarm conditions 5 and 6), valve stroke (e.g., varying or steady valve stroke corresponding to alarm conditions 7 and 8), actuator pressure (e.g., varying or low actuator pressure corresponding to alarm conditions 9 and 10), and stroke deviation (e.g., high or low stroke deviation corresponding to alarm conditions 10 and 11).

[0045] In some examples, active alerts can occur at different system components. For example, the valve stroke can change to the valve body 890, resulting in alert condition 7 of the data sheet 700. At the same time, the actuator pressure can change to the actuator 880, resulting in alert condition 9 of the data sheet 700, while the input current to the electronic component 860 can be stable, resulting in alert condition 5 of the data sheet 700. For example, if the alert condition matches the recommended action, the recommended action 706 (e.g., re-adjust the instrument to stabilize the output) can be output to the process control system operator. In some examples, the order of change of process control system variables affects the recommended action. For example, if the following alert conditions are in place in the Figure 8 exemplary process control system in the specified order: the input current to the electronic component 860 is stable (e.g., alert condition 5 of the data sheet 700), the actuator pressure on the actuator 880 starts to change (e.g., alert condition 9), the stroke to the valve body 890 starts to change (e.g., alert condition 7), the drive signal to the pneumatic module 870 goes high (e.g., alert condition 3), the stroke deviation increases (e.g., alert condition 11), and the supply pressure to the pneumatic module 870 goes low (e.g., alert condition 2), then the recommended action 716 is taken to repair the pneumatic device of the actuator. If alert conditions 2 - 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11 occur in any other order, the recommended action can be different from the recommended action 716 to repair the pneumatic device of the actuator.

[0046] Figure 9 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary processor platform 900 that is capable of executing Figure 5 and 6 instructions to implement Figure 3 the exemplary process control instrument 301. The processor platform 900 can be, for example, a server, a personal computer, a workstation, a self-learning machine (e.g., a neural network), a mobile device (e.g., a cell phone, a smart phone, a tablet computer (e.g., iPad TM ), a personal digital assistant (PDA), an Internet appliance, a DVD player, a CD player, a digital video recorder, a Blu-ray player, a game console, a personal video recorder, a set-top box, a headset, or other wearable device, or any other type of computing device.

[0047] The processor platform 900 of the illustrated example includes a processor 906. The processor 906 of the illustrated example is hardware. For example, the processor 906 can be implemented by one or more integrated circuits, logic circuits, microprocessors, GPUs, DSPs, or controllers from any desired family or manufacturer. The hardware processor can be a semiconductor-based (e.g., silicon-based) device. In this example, the processor 906 implements the alert manager 440, the recommended action generator 450, and the boolean truth table 460 of the process control instrument logic 308.

[0048] The processor 906 of the illustrated example includes local memory 913 (e.g., cache). The processor 906 of the illustrated example communicates with main memory including volatile memory 902 and non-volatile memory 904 via bus 918. The volatile memory 902 may be implemented by synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), dynamic random access memory and / or any other type of random access memory device. The non-volatile memory 904 may be implemented by flash memory and / or any other desired type of memory device. Access to the main memories 902, 904 is controlled by a memory controller.

[0049] The processor platform 900 of the illustrated example also includes interface circuitry 914. The interface circuitry 914 may be implemented by any type of interface standard, such as an Ethernet interface, universal serial bus (USB), interface, near field communication (NFC), and / or PCI express interface.

[0050] In the illustrated example, one or more input devices 912 are connected to the interface circuitry 914. The (multiple) input devices 912 allow a user to input data and commands into the processor 906. The (multiple) input devices may be implemented by, for example, audio sensors, microphones, cameras (still or video), keyboards, buttons, mice, touchscreens, trackpads, trackballs, etc. and / or voice recognition systems.

[0051] One or more output devices 916 are also connected to the interface circuitry 914 of the illustrated example. The output device 916 may be implemented by, for example, a display device (e.g., light emitting diode (LED), organic light emitting diode (OLED), liquid crystal display, cathode ray tube display (CRT), in-plane switching (IPS) display, touchscreen, etc.), a haptic output device, a printer, and / or a speaker). Thus, the interface circuitry 914 of the illustrated example typically includes a graphics driver card, a graphics driver chip, or a graphics driver processor.

[0052] The interface circuitry 914 of the illustrated example also includes communication devices, such as a transmitter, a receiver, a transceiver, a modem, a residential gateway, a wireless access point, and / or a network interface to facilitate the exchange of data with external machines (e.g., any kind of computing device) via network 924. For example, the communication may be via an Ethernet connection, a digital subscriber line (DSL) connection, a telephone line connection, a coaxial cable system, a satellite system, a field line wireless system, a cellular telephone system, etc.

[0053] The processor platform 900 of the illustrated example also includes one or more mass storage devices 910 for storing software and / or data. Examples of such mass storage devices 910 include floppy disk drives, hard disk drives, optical disk drives, Blu-ray disk drives, redundant array of independent disks (RAID) systems, and digital versatile disk (DVD) drives.

[0054] Machine-executable instructions 920 can be stored in the mass storage device 910, in the volatile memory 902, in the non-volatile memory 904, and / or on a removable non-transitory computer-readable storage medium such as a CD or DVD. Figures 5-6

[0055] Although certain exemplary methods, apparatus, and articles have been disclosed herein, the scope of this patent is not limited thereto. Instead, this patent covers all methods, apparatus, and articles that fall entirely within the scope of the claims of this patent.

Claims

1. A method, comprising: generating a set of alarms within a process control instrument; assigning a descriptive indicator to at least one alarm in the set of alarms, the descriptive indicator indicating a process control system parameter that deviates from a set point value, wherein multiple deviations from the set point value indicate a detected event threshold, the event threshold being a predetermined number of events required for alarm activation; processing the set of alarms by the process control instrument to compare the set of alarms with a known alarm combination; determining by the process control instrument whether one of the known alarm combinations matches the set of alarms based on the comparison result of the set of alarms with the known alarm combination; and identifying a recommended action instruction by the process control instrument based on the determination result.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein, processing the set of alarms to compare the set of alarms with the known alarm combination includes: sequentially comparing each alarm in the alarms constituting the set of alarms with each alarm in each alarm constituting the known alarm combination.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein, determining whether one of the known alarm combinations matches the set of alarms includes: determining whether there is a one-to-one matching correspondence between the alarms constituting the set of alarms and one of the known alarm combinations.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein, determining whether one of the known alarm combinations matches the set of alarms includes: the process control instrument processing a data table including the known alarm combination.

5. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: identifying the recommended action instruction by processing a data table associating the known alarm combination with a corresponding recommended action instruction.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein, the recommended action instruction is identified based on the order in which the alarms are generated.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein, if none of the known alarm combinations matches the set of alarms, a new recommended action is generated.

8. A process control instrument, comprising: an alarm manager for: generating a set of alarms within the process control instrument; assigning a descriptive indicator to at least one alarm in the set of alarms, the descriptive indicator indicating a process control system parameter that deviates from a set point value, wherein multiple deviations from the set point value indicate a detected event threshold, the event threshold being a predetermined number of events required for alarm activation; processing the set of alarms to compare the set of alarms with a known alarm combination; and determining whether one of the known alarm combinations matches the set of alarms based on the comparison result of the set of alarms with the known alarm combination; and a recommended action generator for identifying a recommended action instruction based on the determination result.

9. The process control instrument according to claim 8, wherein, The alarm manager processes the set of alarms to compare the set of alarms with the known alarm combinations by sequentially comparing each alarm in the set of alarms that make up the set of alarms with each alarm in each of the alarms that make up the known alarm combinations.

10. The process control instrument according to claim 9, wherein, the alarm manager determines whether one of the known alarm combinations matches the set of alarms by determining whether there is a one-to-one matching correspondence between the alarms in the set of alarms and one of the known alarm combinations.

11. The process control instrument according to claim 8, wherein, the alarm manager determines whether one of the known alarm combinations matches the set of alarms by processing a data table including the known alarm combinations by the instrument.

12. The process control instrument according to claim 8, wherein, the recommended action generator identifies the recommended action instructions by processing a data table associating the known alarm combinations with corresponding recommended action instructions.

13. The process control instrument according to claim 12, wherein, the recommended action instructions are identified based on the order in which the alarms are generated.

14. The process control instrument according to claim 8, wherein, if none of the known alarm combinations match the set of alarms, a new recommended action instruction is generated by the recommended action generator.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium including instructions that, when executed, cause a machine to perform at least the following operations: generate a set of alarms within a process control instrument; assign a descriptive indicator to at least one alarm in the set of alarms, the descriptive indicator indicating a process control system parameter that deviates from a setpoint value, wherein, multiple deviations from the setpoint value indicate an event threshold, the event threshold being a predetermined number of events required for alarm activation; compare the set of alarms with known alarm combinations; determine whether one of the known alarm combinations matches the set of alarms based on a comparison result between the set of alarms and the known alarm combinations; and identify recommended action instructions based on the determination result.

16. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 15, wherein, when executed, the instructions further cause the machine to perform the following operation: process the set of alarms to compare the set of alarms with the known alarm combinations by sequentially comparing each alarm in the set of alarms that make up the set of alarms with each alarm in each of the alarms that make up the known alarm combinations.

17. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 16, wherein, when executed, the instructions further cause the machine to perform the following operation: determine whether one of the known alarm combinations matches the set of alarms by determining whether there is a one-to-one matching correspondence between the alarms in the set of alarms and one of the known alarm combinations.

18. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 15, wherein, When executed, the instructions further cause the machine to perform the following operation: determining whether one of the known alert combinations matches the set of alerts by processing a data table including the known alert combinations.

19. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 15, wherein, when executed, the instructions further cause the machine to perform the following operation: identifying the recommended action instructions by processing a data table associating the known alert combinations with corresponding recommended action instructions.

20. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 19, wherein, the recommended action instructions are identified based on the order in which the alerts are generated.

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