Alarm Management Using Trigger and Suppressed Alarm Retrieval
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Solution Overview
Problem
Operators face inefficiencies in recovering from equipment abnormalities in distributed control systems due to alarm floods, where presenting only the trigger alarm does not always resolve the underlying issue, and existing methods lack effective integration of secondary process abnormalities for informed recovery operations.
Innovation Solution
An alarm management apparatus and system that presents a trigger alarm to operators, stores and suppresses related secondary alarms, and displays them based on operator actions, with an optional learning unit to optimize alarm classification, allowing effective resolution of abnormalities by highlighting relevant secondary alarms.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If all alarms indicating abnormalities are displayed on the monitoring screen, then the operator can see all abnormal conditions, but the monitoring screen becomes covered in alarms (alarm flood), confusing the operator
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments alarms into trigger alarms (original cause) and suppressed alarms (secondary effects), allowing the operator to view only trigger alarms on the main monitoring screen while accessing suppressed alarms through a separate retrieval process. This segmentation resolves the alarm flood problem while preserving access to all abnormal condition information.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts suppressed alarms from the main alarm display and stores them separately in storage means. Only trigger alarms are presented on the monitoring screen, while suppressed alarms can be retrieved by operator operation. This extraction eliminates alarm flood confusion while maintaining information availability.
2Ease of operation
If only the trigger alarm is presented to the operator, then the monitoring screen is not covered in alarms, but the operator performs operations based only on the trigger alarm, which might not resolve the abnormality
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary action by storing suppressed alarms in advance in storage means, associated with their corresponding trigger alarms. When the operator retrieves suppressed alarms through a simple operation, the information is already prepared and available, enabling comprehensive abnormality resolution without requiring the operator to search through all alarms.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary mechanism (storage means and retrieval process) between the suppressed alarms and the operator. The suppressed alarms are stored in association with trigger alarms and can be retrieved by operator operation, serving as an intermediary that provides additional information without overwhelming the operator's primary view.
3Loss of information
If suppressed alarms are stored and can be retrieved by operator operation, then the operator can access relevant secondary alarms, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the trigger alarm and suppressed alarm into a single alarm data structure stored in storage means. Each alarm record contains both the trigger alarm information and associated suppressed alarm information, allowing efficient retrieval without requiring separate complex storage systems for each alarm type.
Solution Approach 2:
The storage means serves multiple functions: storing trigger alarms, storing suppressed alarms, and enabling retrieval of suppressed alarms by operator operation. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate specialized components, thereby limiting the increase in system complexity.
Data Source
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AI summary
An alarm management apparatus (1) presents a trigger alarm, which should be presented to an operator, to the operator when the trigger alarm is included in an alarm that is received or generated. The alarm management apparatus stores a suppressed alarm related to the trigger alarm, without presenting the suppressed alarm to the operator, when the suppressed alarm is included in the alarm and presents the stored suppressed alarm to the operator based on an operation by the operator.