GE Energy

WorkstationST* Alarm Viewer fact sheet

GE Energy’s WorkstationST Alarm Viewer is used to monitor
alarms and events from all products in the Mark* VIe
Integrated Control System (ICS) product family. This includes
Mark VIe-based plant controls, turbine controls, the Mark
VIeS* safety control, and the EX2100 Excitation control. This
commonality simplifies operations, maintenance, and training
for plant personnel.

Data Collection
Alarms and events are initiated and time tagged at the rate
that the controller is running its control software (frame rate).
Alarm and event categories include process alarms, control
diagnostic alarms, events, Sequence of Events (SOE), and
holds in the turbine startup sequence. SOE is a special
category used to monitor contact inputs with 1 ms time tags.

Data is also collected from WorkstationST servers and third-

party OPC® AE servers. This data is then available to alarm
viewers and WorkstationST historical files. Redundant Column Name Description
workstations can be provided in a primary or backup Device Time Time that the alarm occurred in Universal
configuration for the alarm server. Time Coordinated (UTC) or local time
Recorded Time Time that the alarm server received the
Alarm Viewer Features alarm
Alarm Viewer options are available from the alarm toolbar or Variable Name Name of the alarm
right-click in the display area. Options include basic Condition Current state of the alarm or event
commands for silence, acknowledge, reset, lock/unlock, print, Ack Acknowledged state of the alarm or event
and the following specialized commands: Type Alarms, events, SOE, holds, diagnostics
Class Priority, color, blinking, and sound values
• Go To Definition in Logic navigates to the application code Device The name of the source device of the alarm
block that is generating the variable. or event
• Alarm Status History selects alarms from a 10 minute, 1 Priority Alarm importance
hour, 1 day, or user configurable period. OPC Severity Alarm importance as specified from an OPC
• Display Variable Attributes displays a data grid with the AE server
selected alarm variable attributes. Alarm ID A unique identifier for an alarm
• Copy Selection copies selected alarms into the clipboard Quality Bad quality (stale alarm) light gray on white
for pasting into Microsoft Word® or Microsoft Excel®. coloring
Description Alarm description
Second Alarm description in a second language
The value of the alarm system depends on the amount and Language (such as, Spanish)
quality of available information, and the way this information Ack Required Acknowledgement is required for the alarm
is presented to the user. To improve readability, alarm and Actor ID Operator ID associated with actions
event information can be selected from a large menu and performed on an alarm
then sorted. Each resulting variable is displayed using the Sound Sound reference name that identifies the
following column names: sound properties
Alarm Server Host name of the alarm server forwarding
the alarm
Silenced Annunciation state of the alarm / event
Plant Area Logical plant area associated with the
alarm

g GEA-S1206A

To view only the data that meets specified criteria, filters are
used for both real-time and historical data. Filter Collections
can contain one or more filters, and each filter can contain
one or more Terms. The Terms correspond to the column
names previously described. For example, the Plant Area filter
is used to filter alarms and events based on the area of the
plant where the alarm occurred. This filter could then be
combined with the Priority filter to pass through alarms and
events based on location and priority.
Alarm Help
The Alarm Viewer has provisions for user help messages
during the analysis of process and control diagnostics alarms.
Help can be accessed with a browser, by selecting an
individual alarm and then selecting the Help button, or
though the Help item in a pop-up menu. To expedite
troubleshooting, each alarm help message identifies both the
probable cause and a recommended corrective action.
Historical Alarms
Through short-term historical logging, the WorkstationST
application archives historical alarm data for up to 30 days.
Columns and filters for historical alarms are available as
previously described. The historical data can be displayed in
Chart or Summary form. Chart form is often used to view the
frequency-of-occurrence of specific alarms, and then
determine repetitive problems or nuisance alarm conditions.
The following is an example of Chart form.
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fact sheet
Sound Options
The Alarm Viewer can play sounds defined in the Alarm Class
definition including Tone, Wave File, and Voice. During each
alarm display refresh, the Alarm Viewer detects the highest
priority alarm that is active, unacknowledged, and not
silenced, and plays the sound for that alarm. If Text To
Speech is selected, the Alarm Viewer states the Priority Value,
Alarm Type, and Description, for example, Priority 1, Process
Alarm, Gas Auxiliary Stop Position Filter Pre-Ignition Trip.
Security
Software security is a vital component of all modern control
systems. Alarm system security begins with logon, by
validating the user against both the Windows® account
credentials on the current computer and the user logon
name entered in the ToolboxST* application. Users are
classified as having either full read and write capability or
read-only capability. Users with full capability can
acknowledge, lock, silence, reset alarms, and define or save
alarm views and filters.
Benefits
• Ease of use with simplified navigation and integration
• More effective alarm management with more information
available
• Reduced mean-time-to-repair with enhanced filtering
and tools
• Less maintenance with alarm message help and user
comment capability to assist troubleshooting
If further assistance or technical information is desired,
contact the nearest GE Sales or Service Office, or an
authorized GE Sales Representative.
© 2008-2009, General Electric Company, All rights reserved.
* Trademark of General Electric Company.
Windows, Microsoft Word, and Excel, are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.
OPC is a registered trademark of The OPC Foundation.
GEA-S1206 issued: 080905 revised: 090715