Rule-based reduction of alarm signals in industrial control

− The proper handling of alarms is crucial to any automated process control. In practice, many alarms are only distractive and do not represent a potentially dangerous situation. This paper presents a methodology and a computerized tool that aims to remove such nuisance alarms, a so-called alarm cleanup. This is a general, systematic approach that takes advantage of the control system’s built-in functions, and is a first step to an improved overall alarm situation. By the strong reduction of the alarm count, the efficient construction of fault diagnosis and isolation models becomes feasible. In a typical case study, the number of alarms received at the remote control room of an operational bio-fueled District Heating Plant was effectively reduced by 83%.