Recently, Vertech was involved in a root cause analysis of a process control system failure that resulted in a process shutdown. A change had been made to the control software, and all due diligence was completed by the programmer and the operations staff to check the affected systems. Everything seemed normal. Six hours later, a tank went dry and the process was automatically shut down.
The HMI for this system is a typical, graphical P&ID HMI system with color coded run statuses, alarm banners, and small colored icons next to devices indicating fault status. The system is fairly large, and it runs 24x7x365 and there is no overview screen. The operator simply did not see that the tank fill rate was too low, and thanks to some disabled "nuisance" alarms and a mis-calibrated flow meter, he never got a warning.
High Performance HMI (HPHMI) is exactly the kind of tool that could have given the operator a fighting chance at preventing this shut-down from happening. Beyond mere aesthetics, HPHMI is about providing INFORMATION instead of just DATA through efficient design and reduction of visual clutter. Information is visually prioritized to provide system performance status at a glance. hotel comparison . HPHMI really shines in special situations that happen infrequently such as startup and shut-down, with screens specifically designed to provide relevant information and control during these "abnormal" situations.
Why should you consider HPHMI implementation at your facilities?
· Proven effective in detecting problems before they become shut-downs.
· Greatly reduce the effort in creating and maintaining your own HMI standards.
· Improve success rate in handling abnormal situations.
· Reduce down-time when it does occur.
· Focus operations on process optimization, not just keeping the system running.
· Ramp up new operators more quickly.
Implementation of HPHMI does not have to be a complete rip-and-replace of your existing HMI. A great starting point is to implement just an HPHMI overview of your existing system with navigation to your existing screens. This gives you an opportunity to see how your operators interact with the system, and the overall effect on process and operations performance . Existing screens can be incrementally replaced with minimal impact to your operations.
This idea is mature enough that technology is no longer the limiting factor. All major SCADA vendors support this type of implementation now, and have out-of-the-box tools to implement an HPHMI SCADA. Much more than traditional SCADA implementations, however, good up-front design is key to a successful, highly functional HPHMI.
If you are designing a new system, I highly recommend looking in detail at the philosophy behind HPHMI. The design process required for implementation just by itself will improve your operations. It requires thorough identification of what "optimal", "acceptable", and "alarm" conditions actually mean for each control loop and instrument. This is a big step towards optimizing energy use and minimizing waste in your process. In an age of ever more costly resources, that alone is a great reason to implement this modern, more scientific approach to HMI.
High Performance HMI (HPHMI) has become a hot topic at automation conferences over the last couple of years, and there are ever-increasing amounts of information out there about it. A good place to start, however, is the High Performance HMI Handbook by Bill Hollifield. Bill summarizes his ideas in a brief article for InTech titled The High Performance HMI: Process Graphics to Maximize Operator Effectiveness.
Resources:
https://www.isa.org/standards-publications/isa-publications/intech-magazine/2012/december/system-integration-the-high-performance-hmi/ Great overview of what, why, and how of HPHMI by Bill Hollifield.
https://www.isa.org/store/products/product-detail/?productId=116012 The High Performance HMI Handbook by Bill Hollifield and published by ISA.
Really great powerpoint by Rockwell Automation from PSUG 2010. http://www.rockwellautomation.com/resources/downloads/rockwellautomation/pdf/events/automation-fair/2011/psug/afpsug11_ed09.pdf
Until next month……
COMMENTS