The alarm priority and current alarm state determine many of the presentation characteristics for an alarm. For more information on alarm priority, alarm state, and alarm type, refer to the System Alarm Management topic.
The following sections describe the components of the interface application that operators use to manage alarms.
The Alarm Banner is in the lower section of the screen in DeltaV Operate. It provides buttons for the five most important alarms monitored by this workstation for the current DeltaV user. Multiple (from two to four) monitor workstations display the ten most important alarms. The Alarm Banner enables the operator to focus on the most important alarms first. Any alarms of a priority (typically lower priority alarms) not shown in the alarm banner do not sound the horn on that workstation.
The buttons show the name of the modules, units, and devices in alarm. The banner can show all active process alarms in a module, or you can configure the alarm priorities so that only the most important alarm for a module or unit occupies a position in the alarm banner (see the description for the Alarm Banner shows field). Maintenance workstations are designed for managing fieldbus devices and so show only device alarms in the alarm banner.
The operator can access the display needed to correct the alarm condition by clicking the alarm in the Alarm Banner. For device alarms, the alarm banner shows alarms with the Warning priority. Each device alarm may be triggered by one of several device conditions. The banner shows one active alarm even if more than one device condition is causing the alarm. For example, if two device conditions are causing a Maintenance alarm, the banner only shows one Maintenance device alarm. For HART device alarms a message indicates that multiple conditions are active.
There is also an extended information button next to each alarm button (refer to the following figure). When you click an extended information button, the associated alarm's time stamp, parameter name, alarm word, and alarm priority are displayed at the bottom of the banner.
If you enable the Primary Control button and click one of the five alarm buttons (for example, CAS5), DeltaV Operate displays the primary control display (in the main process graphic area). If you enable the Faceplate button and click one of the five alarm buttons, DeltaV Operate displays the faceplate assigned to the module.
The control display is a property of the module or fieldbus device. You can define displays for a module using the Explorer or Control Studio. Define the displays for a device using the Device Properties in Explorer.
DeltaV Operate Alarm Banner
The DeltaV system allows you to manage how alarms are presented to your operator. The alarm banner in particular enables you to present alarm information to operators concisely and intuitively while minimizing nuisance alarms
The alarm banner provides an overview of the operator's highest priority alarms. The alarms shown are based on the areas for which the operator is responsible and are assigned to that operator's workstation. The alarm banner also provides the ability to select an alarm and go immediately to an associated display.
The DeltaV system supports 12 different alarm priorities. Each priority includes a number of user-defined characteristics. You define alarm priorities in the DeltaV Explorer under Setup/Alarm Preferences. Once the alarm priorities have been defined, all alarms in your DeltaV system of that priority will behave the same (for example, they have the same color, sound, and acknowledge characteristics). Each priority has an alarm banner option of Not Hidden, Module or Unit. This option is set in the Alarm Priority Properties dialog box. Not Hidden specifies that active alarms of this priority are always shown in the alarm banner. The Unit and Module selections specify that alarms of this priority are displayed in the alarm banner only if they are the most important alarm for the associated Unit or Module. The default selection is Not Hidden.
Since there is no one right approach for alarm presentation, the DeltaV system offers you the flexibility to easily define system-wide alarm presentation. The following table shows six typical alarm presentation methods. Select the method that best matches your plant operating philosophy. You can use combinations of the alarm presentation methods. Any combination of methods should follow a general philosophy. As you develop an alarm presentation philosophy, consider whether lower priority alarms should be treated differently than higher priority alarms or, consider the changes that should be made in alarm behavior as the alarm priority increases. Another approach is to think of the 12 priorities as three groups of four, where the characteristics are determined by the priority's placement within the group.
Changing the default alarm presentation or a presentation method that you selected is quick and easy. Simply change each alarm priority in the DeltaV Explorer and download the Changed Setup Data to each workstation. Alarm priority changes are immediately seen on the workstations.
Alarm Presentation Methods |
Alarm Banner Behavior |
Typical Use |
Alarm Philosophy |
What if a module has one alarm that is critical and another alarm that is not? What do I see in the alarm banner? |
| 1. Show all alarms (All alarm priorities configured to Not Hidden. This is the default.) | The alarm banner shows all alarms in priority order. When multiple alarms are active on the same module, multiple alarms are shown in the alarm banner for that module. |
Systems with a smaller number of alarms per operator. | It is important for operators to see each individual alarm. | The module is shown twice displaying the critical alarm and the other alarm in priority order. |
| 2. Show alarms by module (All alarm priorities configured to Module.) | The alarm banner shows alarms in priority order, by module. When multiple alarms are active on the same module, only the highest priority alarm is shown in the alarm banner for that module. |
Systems with a medium number of alarms per operator. | Showing every alarm adds too much clutter to the alarm banner. Operators need to see which modules have alarm activity. Showing only the highest priority alarm per module is the most productive approach. | The module is shown once displaying the critical alarm. |
| 3. Show alarms by unit (All alarm priorities configured to Unit.) | The alarm banner shows alarms in priority order, by unit. When multiple alarms are active within the same unit, only the highest priority alarm is shown in the alarm banner for that unit. |
Systems with a larger number of alarms per operator. | Operators need an overview of the plant from the alarm banner. Showing only the highest priority alarm per unit is the most productive approach. | The unit is shown once displaying the critical (highest priority) alarm. |
| 4. Show critical (high priority) alarms always, other (lower priority) alarms by module | Critical Alarms The alarm banner shows all critical alarms in priority order. When multiple critical alarms are active on the same module, multiple alarms are shown in the alarm banner for that module. All Other Alarms The alarm banner shows alarms in priority order, by module. When multiple alarms are active on the same module, only the highest priority alarm is shown in the alarm banner for that module. |
Systems with a medium number of alarms per operator, with some very critical alarms. | There are some alarms that must always be presented to the operator. However, the majority of the other alarms are best presented by module. | Both alarms are active and unacknowledged – the module is shown once displaying the critical alarm. Both alarms are active and only the critical alarm is unacknowledged – the module is shown once displaying the critical alarm. Both alarms are active and only the non-critical alarm is unacknowledged – the module is shown twice displaying both the critical alarm and other alarm. |
| 5. Show critical (high priority) alarms always, other (lower priority) alarms by unit | Critical Alarms The alarm banner shows all critical alarms in priority order. When multiple critical alarms are active on the same module, multiple alarms are shown in the alarm banner for that module. All Other Alarms The alarm banner shows alarms in priority order, by unit. When multiple alarms are active on the same unit, only the highest priority alarm within that unit is shown in the alarm banner for that module. |
Systems with a larger number of alarms per operator, with some very critical alarms. | There are some alarms that must always be presented to the operator. However, the majority of the other alarms are best presented by unit. | The module and the critical alarm show once. The unit and the other alarm show once. |
| 6. Show critical (high priority) alarms by module, other (lower priority) alarms by unit | Critical Alarms The alarm banner shows alarms in priority order, by module. When multiple critical alarms are active on the same module, only the highest priority alarm is shown in the alarm banner for that module. All Other Alarms The alarm banner shows alarms in priority order, by unit. When multiple alarms are active on the same unit, only the highest priority alarm within that unit is shown in the alarm banner for that module. |
Systems with a larger number of alarms per operator, with multiple critical alarms on modules. | There are a number of critical alarms. Often there is more than one critical alarm on the same module. However, operators only need to know if a module has any critical alarm active. The majority of other alarms are best presented by unit. | The module and the critical alarm show once. The unit and the other alarm show once. |
The alarm banners with _XP in the name have icons denoting the priority of the alarms. All alarm priorities are mapped as outlined in the AlarmIconPriority table (in frsVariables).
DeltaV Alarm Priority Level Value |
Alarm Priority Name |
Alarm Banner Value |
| 4 | Advisory | 1 |
| 5 | Advisory | 2 |
| 6 | Advisory | 3 |
| 7 | Advisory | 4 |
| 8 | Warning | 5 |
| 9 | Warning | 6 |
| 10 | Warning | 7 |
| 11 | Warning | 8 |
| 12 | Critical | 9 |
| 13 | Critical | 10 |
| 14 | Critical | 11 |
| 15 | Critical | 12 |
The default configuration of the (_XP) alarm banners has all the Advisory alarms using the same icon; all the Warning alarms using the same icon; and, all the Critical alarms using the same icon. However, you can change the icons for each alarm priority by inserting new bitmaps in place of the existing ones on the XP alarm banners. Each icon in the (_XP) alarm banner is a bitmap that has been saved in the GRF file, assigned a number (the Alarm Banner Value) and through the AlarmIconPriority table (in frsVariables) associated with a DeltaV Alarm Priority Level Value.
Note Modifying the default (_XP) alarm banners is not recommended because every upgrade will replace the default files, erasing your changes. Therefore, you must save the alarm banner as a new file and modify your UserSettings.grf (or Layout Templates) to configure your system to use your modified alarm banner.
When changing the bitmaps for the alarm banner icons, the following apply:
Each alarm banner, alarm picture (AlarmList.grf for example), and node status object is capable of sounding a horn for any of the alarms that are displayed. Each alarm display has its own way of being configured for having the alarm horn sound or not sound. DeltaV Operate provides you with flexibility in configuring when and which alarms will sound the horn.
You will need to be familiar with alarm priorities, User_Ref/UserSetting file and the various alarm banners and pictures to configure sounding the horn.
The workstation alarm threshold determines what priority of alarms are shown in the alarm banner and sound the horns. UserSettings file contains one setting each for process alarms, device alarms, hardware alarms, as well as one setting each for SIS process, SIS device, and SIS hardware alarms.
By default, workstations are defined to show and annunciate all (priorities 4 -15) process alarms, SIS process alarms, and SIS hardware alarms. By default, workstations are defined to show and annunciate a subset (priorities 8 - 15) of hardware alarms, device alarms, and SIS device alarms.
This means that hardware, device and SIS device alarms with priorities below 8 will not be shown in the alarm banner and will not sound the horn. These alarm defaults were selected because many low priority alarms do not represent a potential impact on the process and are primarily intended for maintenance personal. However, these alarms are still visible to the operator in the Alarm Summary display, in user-defined graphics and in the Event Chronicle.
The default alarm threshold setting may be modified for one or more workstations in the UserSettings.grf file. The workstation variables used for alarm thresholds are
frsVariables.gn_ProcessAlarmThreshold.CurrentValue
frsVariables.gn_DeviceAlarmThreshold.CurrentValue
frsVariables.gn_HardwareAlarmThreshold.CurrentValue
frsVariables.gn_SISProcessAlarmThreshold.CurrentValue
frsVariables.gn_SISDeviceAlarmThreshold.CurrentValue
frsVariables.gn_SISHardwareAlarmThreshold.CurrentValue
These variables can also be changed dynamically while in run mode. For example a button can be configured to modify the alarm banner to only show and annunciate process alarms of priorities above 12, for use during an upset.
You can customize the priority of the alarms displayed in the alarm banner adjusting the Alarm Threshold values in the UserSettings file. The default settings display all process alarms, all hardware alarms, HART, and fieldbus device alarms of priority eight (8) and above. This means that the highest priority alarm, whether hardware, process or device would occupy the leftmost position in the alarm banner. Node status is shown in the lower right corner of the alarm banner.
Note Hardware alarms default to enabled on newly created nodes. Node status is unaffected by the enabling or disabling of hardware alarms.
The node status section of the alarm banner shows the highest priority hardware problem based on node integrity. You can use the alarmban_HAC.grf file if you want to replace the node status section of the alarm banner with the highest priority hardware problem based on hardware alarms. To remove hardware alarms from the top five alarms shown in the alarm banner, adjust the Alarm Threshold values in the UserSettings file such that the hardware alarm threshold is set to 10. The highest priority hardware problem based on hardware alarms is still shown on the lower right corner of the alarm banner.
To use the alarmban_HAC.grf picture for your alarm banners, set the default initialized alarm banner in the UserSettings or a layout file. Instructions for editing the UserSettings and layout file are found in the script of that file. Refer to Customizing the DeltaV Operate Environment for additional information.
DeltaV Operate Alarm Banner with Highest Priority Hardware Alarm Shown
Acknowledge All - This command acknowledges all of the alarms in the selected picture provided the picture has datalinks referencing each module down to its ALARMS[1] parameter, for example, DVSYS.LIC-101/ALARMS[1].A_ATTR. If there is not an ALARMS[1] datalink on the picture, or if the Alarm Banner or toolbar area is selected, no alarms are acknowledged.
Acknowledge One (Ctrl-K) - This command acknowledges a single selected alarm.
The section provides troubleshooting steps for some possible alarm problems.
When something should be in alarm but is not, perform the following steps:
When an alarm should be in THISUSER/ALARMS but is not, perform the following steps:
When alarm state change records are missing from the Event Chronicle, perform the following steps:
When alarms do not activate the horn, perform the following steps: