ANSI/IEEE Std 676-1986

IEEE Guide for Alarm Monitoring and Reporting Systems for Fossil-Fueled Power Generating Stations

Publishedby The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. 345 East 47th Street, New York, NY 10017, USA
July l ,1986 8

SH10603

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ANSI / IEEE Std 676-1986

An American National Standard

IEEE Guide for Alarm Monitoring and Reporting Systems for Fossil-Fueled Power Generating Stations

Sponsor

IEEE Power Generation Committee of the IEEE Power Engineering Society

Approved September 19, 1985

IEEE Standards Board

Approved February 28, 1986

American National Standards Institute

Copyright 1986 by

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc 345 East 47th Street, New York, NY 10017, USA
No part of this publication m a y be reproduced i n any form, i n an electronic retrieval system or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

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IEEE Standards documents are developed within the Technical Committees of the IEEE Societies and the Standards Coordinating Committees of the IEEE Standards Board. Members of the committees serve voluntarily and without compensation. They are not necessarily members of the Institute. The standards developed within IEEE represent a consensus of the broad expertise on the subject within the Institute as well as those activities outside of IEEE which have expressed an interest in participating in the development of the standard. Use of an IEEE Standard is wholly voluntary. The existence of an IEEE Standard does not imply that there are no other ways to produce, test, measure, purchase, market, or provide other goods and services related to the scope of the IEEE Standard. Furthermore, the viewpoint expressed a t the time a standard is approved and issued is subject to change brought about through developments in the state of the art and comments received from users of the standard. Every IEEE Standard is subjected to review a t least once every five years for revision or reaffirmation. When a document is more than five years old, and has not been reaffirmed, it is reasonable to conclude that its contents, although still of some value, do not wholly reflect the present state of the art. Users are cautioned to check to determine that they have the latest edition of any IEEE Standard. Comments for revision of IEEE Standards are welcome from any interested party, regardless of membership affiliation with IEEE. Suggestions for changes in documents should be in the form of a proposed change of text, together with appropriate supporting comments. Interpretations: Occasionally questions may arise regarding the meaning of portions of standards as they relate to specific applications. When the need for interpretations is brought to the attention of IEEE, the Institute will initiate action to prepare appropriate responses. Since IEEE Standards represent a consensus of all concerned interests, it is important to ensure that any interpretation has also received the concurrence of a balance of interests. For this reason IEEE and the members of its technical committees are not able to provide an instant response to interpretation requests except in those cases where the matter has previously received formal consideration. Comments on standards and requests for interpretations should be addressed to: Secretary, IEEE Standards Board 345 East 47th Street New York, NY 10017

USA

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Foreword
(This Foreword is not a part of ANSIIIEEE Std 676-1986, IEEE Guide for Alarm Monitoring and Reporting Systems for Fossil-Fueled Power Generating Stations.)

At the Winter General Power Meeting of IEEE in 1976, the Power Plant Control, Protection and Automation Subcommittee proposed that a working group be established to review and analyze the alarm monitoring and reporting systems that should be used in modern fossil-fueled power generating stations. It was recognized that due to the complexity of modern plants, conventional methods (that is, hardwired window annunciators) were no longer sufficient alone to convey needed information to the operator. An excessive number of window annunciators would be required to properly monitor plant conditions. The application of alarm monitoring and reporting systems necessitates early consideration of the design of the alarm and monitoring system to consider information categorization and the implementation of supplementary reporting techniques. All of these efforts are directed toward presenting information to the operator in an orderly, manageable form. This document provides guidelines for categorizing information on plant conditions and means for presenting this information to the operator. This guide was prepared by the Alarm Monitoring and Reporting Systems Working Group of the Power Plant Control, Protection and Automation Subcommittee, Power Generation Committee. The membership of the working group during the preparation of this guide was:

H. M. Jimenez, Chairman
L. Baggaley D. L. Bradley C. H. Clarridge D. J . Damsker
K. D. Floyd C. E. Kneeburg G. L. Luri N. Petroro N. R. Pillai R. J. Reiman D. E. Spackler W. J . Spengel

Suggestions for improvements of this guide will be welcome. They should be sent to Secretary IEEE Standards Board Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc 345 East 47th Street New York, New York 10017 The following persons were on the balloting committee that approved this document for submission to the IEEE Standards Board:
W. W. Avril M. S. Baldwin J. H. Bellack I. B. Berezowsky G. Berman F. L. Brennan P. G. Brown R. W. Cantrell H. E. Church, J r R. S. Coleman R. E. Cotta M. L. Crenshaw P. M. Davidson A. C. Dolbec G. R. Engmann W. M. Fenner A. H. Ferber D. I. Gorden R. D. Handel F. W. Keay P. R. Landrieu G. L. Luri J. T. Madill 0. S. Mazzoni M. W. Migliaro J. L. Mills W. S. Morgan

J. T. Nikolas M. I. Olken R. E. Penn J . D. Plaxco R. J . Reiman D. E. Roberts M. N. Sprouse A. J. Spurgin G. I. Stillman J. E. Stoner, Jr J. B. Sullivan S. Tjepkema C.J. Wylie T. D. Younkins

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When the IEEE Standards Board approved this standard on September 19,1985,it had the following membership:

John E. May, Chairman

James H. Beall Fletcher J. Buckley Rene Castenschiold Edward Chelotti Edward J. a h e n Paul G. Cummings Donald C.Fleckenstein Member emeritus

John P. Riganati, Vice Chairman Sava I. Sherr,Secretary

Jay Forster Daniel L. Goldberg Kenneth D. Hendrix Irvin N.Howell Jack Kinn Joseph L. Koepfinger' Irving Kolodny R. F. Lawrence Lawrence V. McCall Donald T. Michael* Frank L. Rose Clifford 0. Swanson J. Richard Weger W. B. Wilkens Charles J. Wylie

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Contents
SECTION PAGE

1 .

Scope and Purpose .................................................................................... 1.1 Scope ............................................................................................ 1.2 Purpose ......................................................................................... Definitions .............................................................................................. References .............................................................................................. Purpose and Function of Alarm Monitoring and Reporting Systems ........................... 4.1 Purpose .......................................................................................... 4.2 Function ........................................................................................ Categorization and Prioritization of Alarms ....................................................... 5.1 Purpose ......................................................................................... 5.2 Benefits ......................................................................................... 5.3 Procedure ....................................................................................... Display Devices ........................................................................................ 6.1 Window Annunciator Displays ............................................................... 6.2 CRT Displays ................................................................................... 6.3 Mimic Displays ................................................................................. 6.4 Printed Displays ............................................................................... 6.5 Audible Devices ................................................................................ Methods of Prioritization ............................................................................. 7.1 Window Annunciator Displays ............................................................... 7.2 CRT Displays ................................................................................... Sequence of Events Information ..................................................................... 8.1 Purpose ......................................................................................... 8.2 Characteristics ................................................................................. 8.3 Application ..................................................................................... 8.4 Devices .......................................................................................... Plant Computers ...................................................................................... 9.1 General .......................................................................................... 9.2 Application Characteristics ...................................................................

7
7 7 7 7 7 8

2. 3. 4.

5.

8 8 8 8
9 9 10
1 1 11

6.

11
12 12 12 12 12 12 13 13

7.

8.

9.

13 13 13
14 14 14

10. Window Annunciator, Dedicated SER and Recording System (Plant Computer) Integration ............................................................................................. 1 . Human Factors Engineering ......................................................................... 1 12. Bibliography

...........................................................................................

TABLES

Table 1 Alarm and Information Categorization and Prioritization ................................. Table 2 Correlation Between Alarm and Information Category and Suggested Display Technique ........................................................................................ Table 3 Classification of Display Devices by Attention-Getting Value .............................

11 12

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APPENDIXES

PAGE

Appendix Appendix Appendix Appendix

A B C D

Examples of Alarms for Categories A.1. A.2. and A.3 .................................. Example of a Multiple-Input Window Configuration ................................... Sharing of Field Contacts .................................................................. An Example of Ground Fault Sectionalization Procedure Applicable to Integrated Systems.......................................................................................

15 17 18
19

APPENDIX FIGURE

Fig D1

Conventional Sectionalizing....................................................................

19

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An American National Standard IEEE Guide for Alarm Monitoring and Reporting Systems for Fossil-Fueled Power Generating Stations
1. Scope and Purpose
1.1 Scope. This guide provides guidelines for the organization' of fossil-fueled power generating plant alarm and monitoring information into types and categories, taking into consideration information usefulness and limitations. This guide further serves to establish guidelines for correlating type and category of alarm and monitoring information with the appropriate information-display devices. Adherence to the categorization and the corresponding information-display techniques presents prioritized alarm and monitoring information to the operator which is appropriately proportioned between the window annunciator, CRT, mimic display, and printer. This also permits a reduction in the number of window annunciators over historic practices.
1.2 Purpose. It is the purpose of this guide to define the logical classifications for categories of plant information and to identify display techniques available for monitoring and reporting this information to plant personnel. Use of this guide will: (1) Aid engineers in achieving a balanced and integrated design in alarm monitoring systems (2) Assist control-room operator, supervisory, and training personnel (3) Improve proficiency of control room operators (4) Enhance plant generating station safety, efficiency, and availability

integrated alarm system. An alarm display

system consisting of window annunciators combined with CRT, printer, or mimic display.

predictive alarming. A method of alerting the operator to a potential problem in time for him to respond and initiate corrective action to mitigate the problem. warble-tonegenerator.An audio-frequency oscillator, the frequency of which is varied cyclically at a subaudio rate over a fixed range.

window annunciator. A visual signal device consisting of a number of backlighted windows, each one indicating a condition that exists or has existed in a monitored circuit, and being identified accordingly.

3. References
[l] ANSI / IEEE Std 100-1984. IEEE Standard Dictionary of Electrical and Electronic Terms.2

[2] Illuminating Engineering Society of North America, IES Lighting Handbook, 1981 Application Volume IES Lighting Handbook, Reference Volume, 198L3

4. Purpose and Function of Alarm Monitoring and Reporting Systems

4.1 Purpose. The purpose of alarm monitoring and reporting systems is to: 4.1.1 Alert, identify, and locate for personnel, events, actual or imminent, of varying importance and necessitating different response times, from immediate to delayed, to permit continued safe plant operation.
'ANSI documents are available from the Sales Department, American National Standards Institute, 1430 Broadway, New York, NY 10018. 'IES publications are available from the Illuminating Engineering Society, 345 East 47th Street, New York, NY 10017.

2. Definitions
Definitions of terms used are as described in ANSI / IEEE Std 100-1984 [l].' Where no appropriate term exists, it is defined here.

Numbers in brackets correspond to those of the references in Section 3 of this standard.

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ANSI / IEEE S M 676-1986

IEEE GUIDE FOR ALARM MONITORING AND REPORTING SYSTEMS

4.1.2 Reduce or minimize errors by personnel, thereby, improving plant safety, efficiency, and availability. 4.1.3 Provide comprehensive data for review and analysis as an aid in defining problems and implementing corrective action. 4.1.4 Provide a permanent document for historical records. 4.1.5 Provide a timely indication of conditions requiring maintenance. 4.2 Function. In order to serve a variety of diverse needs, the system should function to monitor and report: 4.2.1 Conditions that may result in danger to plant personnel. 4.2.2 Pretrip conditions that if uncorrected may lead to a unit trip or to damage to the unit. 4.2.3 Conditions that may cause a unit trip, significant reduction in load, or an alternate mode of plant operation. 4.2.4 Information necessary for protection of equipment that represents significant investment, lengthy replacement time, or specialized maintenance requirements. 4.2.5 Conditions requiring equipment repair before restart is possible. 4.2.6 Sufficient pretrip and post-trip information to provide aid in problem definition. 4.2.7 Sufficient information to achieve desired level of unit operation. 4.2.8 Information that has been time synchronized with all related plant monitoring and reporting systems. 4.2.9 Data on all of the above for historical records.

5.2 Benefits. Categorization of alarms and mon-

itoring information results in two principal benefits, that is: (1) Establishes the relative importance of alarms and monitoring information within the control room (2) Predetermines the priority of operators response to various alarm and information inputs
5.3 Procedure. The fundamental step in cate-

5. Categorization and Prioritization of Alarms

5.1 Purpose. In the application of alarm monitoring and reporting systems in power generating stations, early effort should be directed to categorizing alarms and related monitoring information. The fundamental purpose of the categorization is to assist the control-room o p erator in the performance of his duties. Alarm, information categorization, and prioritization also serve as aids in selecting appropriate types of display devices for the various categories. The selection of the appropriate display device is addressed in a subsequent section of this application guide.

gorizing alarms is to group alarms and monitoring information according to the operatorresponse criteria. This categorization process provides alarm and information prioritization and is shown in Table 1. The categorization of total alarms should result in between 5% and 15% of the alarms in the A-1 category, 20% and 30% in A-2, and the remaining in the A-3 category. Description of alarms in each category: A-1 (1) Alarms that indicate that a boiler, turbine, or generator trip has occurred, or will occur following a very short time delay unless the operator responds immediately. (2) Alarms indicating a fire protection system actuation. (3) Alarms indicating imminent or actual damage to major plant equipment. (4) Alarms that indicate failure of major equipment to transfer to the planned mode, following a plant upset. A -2 (1) Alarms indicating a major piece of equipment has been taken out of service automatically. (2) Alarms indicating a loss of minor equip ment. (3) Alarms that indicate failure to meet regulatory requirements. (4) Alarms that indicate failure of equipment needed to support power operation. A-3 (1) Alarms indicating impending damage to minor plant equipment if operator action is not taken. (2) Alarms indicating loss of redundant power to important plant equipment. (3) Alarms that indicate impending failure to meet regulatory requirements. (4) Alarms that indicate impending loss of equipment needed to support power operation.

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FOR FOSSILFUELED POWER GENERATING STATIONS

ANSI / IEEE S M 676-1986

Table 1 Alarm and Information Categorization and Prioritization

ALARM Category A-1 A-2 A-3 5pe Critical Urgent Operational Information Category status Sequence of events information Information not normally requiring corrective action. Information requiring time correlation with other information for fault and problem analysis. It may supplement any of the categories listed above. Priority Highest Second highest Third highest Significance Immediate operator action required to prevent or mitigate significant damage to equipment or property or to avert conditions leading to imminent loss of load. Unusual or serious operational or maintenance situation requiring prompt operators action. Operational or maintenance situation requiring operators attention.

(5) Alarms that indicate a loss of plant communications. Refer to Appendix A for specific examples of alarms for each category. It should be noted that the category of the alarm depends upon the plant mode and the state of the process being monitored, and that a change in situation may alter the significance or priority of the alarm. An alarm, which may be highly significant during failure of a subsystem or process within a subsystem, is meaningless when that alarm results from a system failure. For example, a low-fluid pressure alarm is meaningless to the operator if the pump which produces the pressure is out of service. Under these conditions, this latter alarm can be interpreted as status indication. A parallel situation exists when considering the plant operating mode. Under a given operating mode, that is, start-up, an alarm may be highly significant, whereas under a different operating mode, that is, tripout, the alarm is relegated to a status or information category. These situation-dependent and mode-dependent conditions exist and must be handled and recognized by plant operating personnel. Alarm suppression or recategorization should be designed into the system to automatically suppress or recategorize these alarms where possible.

display techniques utilized should be consistent with the response required. Certain information should be presented in a timely and unique manner to enable the operator to recognize the kind of problem and to respond appropriately. Other information may be presented in a form that requires further interpretation or analysis. Some monitoring information needs to be documented for permanent records or later analysis. By varying the type of display utilized, the designer can effectively establish a correlation between the categorization of alarm and monitoring information and the method of presentation. The specific display devices addressed in this document include: (1) Window annunciator displays (2) CRT displays (3) Mimic displays (4) Printed displays

6. Display Devices
The basic purpose of a display is to provide an effective means of presenting alarm and monitoring information to the operator. The specific
9

6.1 Window Annunciator Displays. This type of display provides high visibility in a consistent manner, is always available without the need to call up the display, and is always in the same place for each unique alarm. Because of these attributes, it is suggested that window annunciator displays always be utilized for critical and urgent alarms. It is further suggested that the number of window annunciators be limited to those necessary to continue restricted unit o p eration when the equipment supporting additional alarm reporting is unavailable. Window annunciator displays should incorporate the following characteristics: 6.1.1 Display Arrangement. Window annunciators should be located above their asso-

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ANSI / IEEE Std 676-1986

IEEE GUIDE FOR ALARM MONITORING AND REPORTING SYSTEMS

ciated displays and controls and grouped by specific systems. By arranging the annunciator display so that it correlates with its associated displays and controls, the operator can more quickly and accurately compare the displays, and then respond to the alarm condition. 6.1.2 Display Illumination. Good practice in window annunciator lighting requires adequate visual distinction between normal and alarm displays under all ambient lighting conditions. Sufficient visual distinction is needed to command the operators attention. Windows should only appear to be in alarm when energized, and not from the effects of direct or reflected light. Flashing capability or other means of attracting attention may be used, such as changing color. Maximum luminance ratios should be as recommended by [2]. 6.1.3 Display Legends. Nameplate legends should reflect consistency in type, style, and size for easy reading by control-room operators. Window characters should be printed in capitals. Abbreviations should be consistent throughout the control room and whenever possible, throughout all alarm reporting devices. A suggested format for presenting window legends is shown below.

COOLING WATER Process component HEADER PRESSURE Process variable LOW Process condition
S / U TRANSFORMER Equipment WINDING TEMP Variable HIGH Condition
To ensure legibility at the intended viewing distance, consideration should be given to the following window legend display parameters. (1) Character height (2) Letter and number width (3) Stroke width (4) Character, word, and line spacing 6.1.4 Return to Normal. When an alarm clears, it should be indicated in a distinctive manner in the window. This should be followed by a resetting of the window alarm to normal. 6.1.5 Nameplate Replacement. Means should be provided to assure nameplate replacement in the correct location after window relam ping. 6.1.6 Multiple-Input Windows. Multiple-input windows are not for critical alarms. Urgent

or operational alarms may be incorporated in multiple-input windows; however, care should be exercised when doing so to ensure that the operator will have sufficient information available in other forms to determine the specific nature of the alarm. An example of this and how multiple-input alarms may be utilized to reduce the number of window displays required is contained in Appendix B. 6.1.7 Multiple-Input Window Realarming. Multiple-input windows should realarm for subsequent alarm inputs and should not return to a normal condition until all alarm inputs to the window have returned to normal. 6.1.8 Nonambiguous Nomenclature. Window alarms should not present multiple choice indications, such as HIGHILOW or LEVEL/ PRESSURE, for critical and urgent alarms. 6.1.9 Annunciator-Control Functions. Annunciator-control functions should be provided for audible silence, window acknowledge, window reset, and system test. Good practice includes multiple-pushbutton locations for parallel operation of the audible-silence function with dedicated locations for acknowledge, reset, and test functions. 6.1.10 Special Considerations. It is suggested that unique size, shape, and color be utilized to differentiate control pushbuttons. It is further suggested that the test pushbutton be of a design that provides restricted access to prevent inadvertent operation during a crisis or stress situation.

6.2 CRT Displays. CRTs inherently have the ability to display a large quantity of information in a relatively small area. CRT displays are easily changed or expanded to include new information since they are normally computer or microprocessor controlled. The CRTs driven by a computer system can provide alarm monitoring and reporting by themselves, or can also be used as a n effective complement to other installed alarm monitoring and reporting systems. 6.2.1 When a CRT is being utilized as an alarm device, the size of the screen, character height, and number of lines of information should be a function of the viewing distance. When the capacity of the display has been exceeded, additional pages of alarms should be stored in memory. The number of pages of memory specified should be determined by the number of anticipated alarms during a worst-case condition.

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ANSI / IEEE FOR FOSSILFUELED POWER GENERATING STATIONS

S d 6761986 t 6.4 Printed Displays. Printers with a wide variety of styles and speeds are available. Printers used for logging information can vary from a type which displays only numeric and logs only a n alarm identification and time of occurrence, to alphanumeric which prints words describing the details in addition to the numeric identification. Degree of sophistication and speed of the printout depends upon the application for both message format desired and printout speed needed. The main function of printers is to record all categories of alarms for future analysis and permanent records. Printers do not convey information to all personnel in the control room as readily as other available display devices. 6.5 Audible Devices. Audible devices are used

6.2.2 A common display format is one where new alarms appear at the top of the screen and existing alarms are moved down. When the screen is filled, the bottom line moves in memory and so on. (Other display formats may be utilized.) Convenient operator controls should be provided to allow an operator to recall any page to the screen for review. When a new alarm appears, most systems return to page one displaying the new alarm. If it is desirable to retain the page when a new alarm appears, a freeze option should be considered where the display is locked in until released by the operator. 6.2.3 To enhance the attention getting capabilities of CRT displays, flash rates, and colors can be effectively utilized. Flashing all or a portion of a message can call attention to a new alarm. Color coding should be consistent with other types of alarm displays. 6.2.4 Return to normal alarm messages may appear as a new message at the top of the screen or be presented as a color change or deletion of the existing message. All messages should move up and fill vacant lines when any messages are deleted. 6.2.5 Alarm messages typically include the point or input address, date, and time information, type of alarm, and a programmable legend field for point description or operator instruction.

6.3 Mimic Displays. A mimic display consists of process flow diagrams containing alarm indications, equipment status indications, and controls. A primary attribute of mimics is that they assist in rapid interpretation of the information in the context of the total system.

in conjunction with display systems to attract the operators attention and to communicate the degree of urgency. Audible devices have a highrecognition factor and provide a multilocational alert. Good practice in audible device application requires the following: 6.5.1 Audible devices should be audible in all parts of the control room without being irritating or excessively loud (90 dB maximum), and at least 10 dB above background noise. 6.5.2 Audible alarms should be positioned to give directional attention to the specific display, such as boiler vs generator. 6.5.3 In some applications it may be desirable to differentiate audible devices by alarm category. (See Appendix A.) 6.5.4 It is advisable to employ a unique audible for alarm clearing conditions. (See Table 2 for suggested display techniques and Table 3 for attention-getting value of various devices.)

Table 2 Correlation Between Alarm and Information Category and Suggested Display Technique
Alarm Category A-1 Critical A-2 Urgent A-3 Operational Information Category Sequence of events Status indication
-

Annunciator Window Primary Primary Secondary

Display Technique Mimic CRTs Display Secondary Secondary Secondary Secondary Primary Secondary

Printer Secondary Secondary Secondary

Secondary Primary

Primary Secondary

* Sequence of events information available from dedicated SER or computer. Refer to Section 8. Secondary-use to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

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ANSI / IEEE S d 676-1986 t

IEEE GUIDE FOR ALARM MONITORING AND REPORTING SYSTEMS

Table 3 Classification of Display Devices by Attention-GettingValue

Presentation Mode Visual Auditory
X X X X
X

Device Window annunciator CRT displays Mimic displays Printed displays

X X

Relative Attention-Getting Value High Low to moderate Moderate Low to moderate

NOTE Auditory presentation is based upon the use of a bell, buzzer, chime, gong, horn or warble-tone in conjunction with the visual presentation. The use of auditory with visual can enhance the overall attention-getting value to very high to moderate.

7. Methods of Prioritization
7.1 Window Annunicator Displays. The area of first consideration in prioritization is window annunicator displays. Without a disciplined and a balanced approach to the use of annunciator displays, this highest priority tool loses its selectivity, becomes a nuisance to the operator during transient plant upsets, and contributes to stress in a major crisis. Prioritization methods include unique window positioning, hierarchical window positioning, and unique window identification. 7.1.1 Unique Window Positioning. An example of this type of prioritization would be to dedicate the top row of each window cabinet as critical alarms. Another example might be a dedicated window cabinet which would contain critical alarms only. The principal disadvantage of this method of alarm prioritization is that it may conflict with the human factors concern of grouping displays with controls or violate alarm input functional grouping. 7.1.2 Hierarchical Window Positioning.

7.2 CRT Displays. The area of second consideration in prioritization is CRT displays. Suggested methods are: 7.2.1 Dedicating CRTs for only alarm presentation. 7.2.2 Locating CRTs in a unique place within the control room. The location should consider proximity to associated controls. 7.2.3 Using foreground or background colors in the CRT display. Care should be taken in selecting colors to be compatible with other control room displays. 7.2.4 Dedicating unique areas of the display screen to different priority levels.

8. Sequence of Events Information

8.1 Purpose. Because of the increasing com-

plexity in plant design, a means to provide high speed monitoring has become a necessity in power plants to track, display, and record cascading events preceding and following a plant or equipment upset.
8.2 Characteristics 8.2.1 Sequence of events should be recorded

This method is consistent with accepted human factors engineering criteria. The principal disadvantage is that alarms can not be previously correlated with their controls, or that the alarms may compete for space with other display devices and equipment. 7.1.3 Unique Window Identification. Color coded windows would appear to provide the optimum type of alarm prioritization without conflicting with human factors considerations. A color prioritzation method could consist of critical alarm displays coded red, urgent alarm displays coded amber, and operational alarm display coded white. Whatever color prioritization method is selected, it should be uniform throughout the control room display devices.

in real time with approximately 1ms resolution between events. 8.2.2 The time of each input status change should be provided, along with identification of status change, that is, abnormal or normal. 8.2.3 Identification of input number and alphanumeric description of event in easily understood language. 8.2.4 The ability to correlate messages with other alarm display devices. 8.2.5 Sequence of events information should be reported on a printer, CRT display or both. 8.2.6 Consideration should be given to the

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FOR FOSSILFUELED POWER GENERATING STATIONS

ANSI / IEEE Std 676-1986

need for synchronizing sequence of events information to a master time source for correlation with other plant functions. 8.2.7 No information should be lost during the most severe plant upset condition.
8.3 Application.Information that provides the sequence of those events, detected in their order of occurrence in real time, is used for operation, engineering, and plant management purposes. Sequence of events information is used by these groups in the following manner: 8.3.1 Operations. For immediate detection, interpretation, and understanding of changing plant conditions to permit timely remedial action. Assists in operational tests and startup of plant equipment. The data also permits analysis of operating procedures. 8.3.2 Engineering. For fault analysis and to collect data for future engineering and design references. 8.3.3 Plant Management. For use in planning outages and maintenance of equipment. For validating proper operation of systems as originally designed. 8.4 Devices 8.4.1 Dedicated Sequential Events Re-

computer adheres to the guidelines outlined above. 8.4.3 Application Characteristics.Both the dedicated SER and the plant computer when utilized as an SER are characterized by the following: 8.4.3.1 Provide redundancy by operating in parallel with inputs to the window annunciator and displaying information on an associated CRT. 8.4.3.2 Indicate specific inputs involved on multiple inputs to a common window from a window annunciator, that is, typically, operational alarms can be indicated on the CRT or by a hard copy on a printer, or both. 8.4.3.3 Return to normal conditions may be displayed on the CRT, or recorded by hard copy on a printer, or both. 8.4.3.4 Hard-copy data records of alarms as they occur can be provided as well as stored summary or historical records, or as logs for later evaluation. 8.4.3.5 Alarm suppression can be activated, based on plant conditions and related inputs. 8.4.3.6 Data and logs can be provided on sequence of events, plant trips, or other eventtriggered occurrences. 8.4.3.7 Provide for long term storage of alarm and event data on disc or magnetic tape for later retrieval and analysis. 9. Plant Computers
9.1 General. The inherent ability of computers to manipulate data offers a more flexible and

corder. Modern sequential events recorders are

microprocessor-based machines accepting digital inputs or inputs that may be digitized, providing continuous surveillance of these inputs and recording status changes in accordance with guidelines outlined above. SERs are designed only for monitoring and recording events. SERs may be interfaced with computers, CRT displays, and other data links. SERs are usually equipped with nonvolatile memories to prevent loss of information on power failure. SERs may be equipped to provide printouts of input reviews, alarm summaries, and similar data. A variety of hardware and software features are available to enhance the versatility of SERs. 8.4.2 Plant Computer. The plant computer may be used as a source of sequential events information. This may be accomplished by dedicating a portion of the computer system to a fast-scan operation or interrupt-response operation, with nonsequence of events on a slower scan operation for status determination. Sequence of events information from the plant
13

versatile means of presenting information to the plant operator than is possible in a typical window annunciator display.
9.2 Application Characteristics. In addition to the application characteristics listed under 8.4.3,plant computers offer the following capabilities for alarm system functions: 9.2.1 Continual rewarning of increased criticality can be displayed on a CRT or by hard copy on a printer, or both, when an input condition continues to move further from the initial alarm setting. 9.2.2 Predictive alarms may be displayed on the CRT, or by hard copy on a printer or both. One method of predictive alarming is by an analysis developed by measuring the rate of change of process parameters and calculating

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the trend to determine the future time when the measured value will exceed the alarm set point. 9.2.3 Specific measurement data can be provided at the time of alarm and on a continuing basis, while in alarm. 9.2.4 Alarm suppression can be activated, based on plant conditions, related inputs and calculations. 9.2.5 Pretrip and post-trip trends of analog values and contact inputs for major plant equipment and systems can be logged for future analysis. 9.2.6 Long term storage of alarm, event, and other plant data can be provided on disc or magnetic tape for later retrieval and analysis. 9.2.7 Process and instrument diagrams, bar diagrams, and plant subsystem pictorials can be presented on CRT or by hard copy on printer, or both. 9.2.8 Computer enhancement of operator performance can be used to help the operator follow and understand the significance of plant alarm conditions as they occur. Some techniques are: (1) Group trending displays (2) Operator guide messages (3) Graphic one line and pictorial displays of plant subsystems

10. Window Annunciator, Dedicated SER and Recording System (Plant Computer) Integration
In modern power plants, the computer system and the window annunciator system are used to supplement each other. In those applications where a dedicated SER is used, it should supplement the window annunciators and the plant computer. A method of implementing the integration of window annunciators with either the plant computer or the SER is described in A p pendix C.

systems. Previous mention has been made in this document of the desirability for correlating display devices with related displays and controls. Consideration should be given to the operator's task and his ability to absorb and comprehend the alarm information displayed, and of limitations on the quantities of such displays. A human factors goal is achieved in a system where the alarms communicate the kind of trouble and the degree of urgency, without overloading the human capacity or causing unusual stress. As an alarm is displayed in the control room, the operator may be sitting or standing, or facing in any direction; thus, the location of alarm display devices are conditioned by this fact. Ambient illumination and sound level may be at a n acceptable, marginal or degraded level. Thus, the display devices and audible devices are designed to provide acceptable performance under varying conditions. Alarm signal level against background is to be sufficient to command the operator's attention without irritation. Adequate visual contrast should be provided to permit immediate operator recognition of the display indication. The seated operator, facing forward, has a narrow cone of sharpest vision of 15 to 20 ". The operator's peripheral vision encompasses close to 180 '. Visual alarms, controls and displays should be optimally located following task analysis.

12. Bibliography
HARRIS, C. M. Handbook of Noise Control. New York: McGraw Hill, 2nd ed, 1979. I.S.A. S.18.1-1979, Annunciator Sequences and Specifications. McCORMICK, E. J. Human Factors in Engineering and Design. New York: McGraw Hill, 1976. VAN COTT and KINKADE. Human Engineering Guide to Equipment Design. Washington, D.C., US Govt Printing Office, 1972.

11. Human Factors Engineering

Early and appropriate consideration to human factors engineering is mandatory by designers of alarm monitoring and reporting

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Appendixes
(These Appendixes are not a part of ANSI / IEEE Std 6761986,IEEE Guide for Alarm Monitoring and Reporting Systems for Fossil-Fueled Power Generating Stations.)

Appendix A Examples of Alarms for Categories A-1, A-2, and A-3

NOTE Categories can change depending on plant specifics; see Table 1.

Al. A-1 Category Al.l The following examples are pretrip or trip
alarms. (1) Master fuel trip (2) Generator differential trip (3) Turbine lube oil pressure low (4) Generator volts / hertz high (5) Boiler drum level low

(1) Trip of a n ID, FD, or PA fan motor (2) Trip of a pulverizer motor (3) Trip of a boiler feed pump motor

A2.2 The followingexamples cover loss of minor

equipment. (1) Turbine auxiliary oil pump motor trip (if plant has dc turbine oil pump motor) (2) Vacuum pump motor trip (3) Station air compressor motor trip

A1.2 The following examples pertain to fire

alarms. (1)Pulverizer fire (2) Turbine oil fire (3) Fire pump autostart (4) Deluge valve autotrip

A2.3 The following examples pertain to failure to meet regulatory requirements. (1) Stack opacity high (2) Stack sulfur dioxide emissions high (3) Precipitator efficiency low A2.4 The following examples indicate failure of
equipment needed to support power operations. (1) Station control battery voltage low (2) Station power battery charger failure (3) UPS power supply (to boiler or turbine controls) transfer to station supply

A1.3 The following examples are warnings of a

critical problem. (1)Boiler superheat temperature high (2) Turbine EH governor fluid pressure low (3) Generator winding temperature high (4) Turbine eccentricity high

A1.4 The following examples cover failure of

major equipment needed to transfer to the planned mode, following a plant upset. (1)4 kV aux bus, failure to transfer to reserve (2) Diesel engine generator, failure to autostart (3) Emergency seal oil pump motor, failure to autostart (4) Turbine turning gear motor, failure to autostart

A3. A-3 Category A3.1 The following examples indicate impending danger to minor plant equipment. (1) Service water pump motor bearing temperature high (2) Control air compressor vibration high (3) Boiler sump overflow (4) Sootblower air pressure low

A2. A-2 Category A2.1 The following examples indicate loss of major equipment.
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A3.2 The following examples cover loss of redundant power to important plant equipment.

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(1)Supply to station UPS failure (2) Turbine ac oil pump or dc oil pump failure (3) Station control battery failure

A3.3 The following are examples of alarms for

impending failure to meet regulatory requirements. (l)High pH in basin (Overflow goes to river) (2) Sulfur dioxide emissions near limit (3) Opacity near limit (4) Fly ash pond excessive dusting

impending loss of equipment needed to support power operation. (1) Isolated phase bus forced cooling unit out of service (2) Cooling tower basin level low (3) Differential pressure at circulating water low

A . The following examples cover alarms for 34

A . The following alarms are examples of 35 those that indicate a loss of plant communications. (1) Telephone battery voltage low (2) Station loud speaker system out of service (3) Microwave (communications) system failed

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Appendix B Example of a Multiple-Input Window Configuration

B1. General Comments

An example of how various display techniques may be combined to provide an effective alarm reporting mechanism for the plant operator is indicated below. Note that by using a dedicated multiple-input window for the major piece of equipment the operator is informed of a system disturbance or pending plant trip via a dedicated window display and can ascertain the specific reason for the failure of the major piece of equip ment via a CRT or printer. This can be a n effective mechanism for reducing the number of fixed window displays required without jeopardizing alarm categorization, prioritization, and reporting to the plant operator.

(3) FD (4) FD (5) FD (6) FD (7) FD

fan fan fan fan fan

motor overload trip motor overheated motor vibration high lube oil pressure low standby lube oil pump failure

B2. Example
Typical annunciation provided for large FD fans is as follows: (1) FD fan motor differential trip (2) FD fan motor instantaneous trip

Instead of providing individual window displays for each alarm, all of the above alarms can be grouped into one or two multiple-input windows. If one multiple-input window were utilized, it could read FD fan failure or trip. If two windows were used, one could be for FD fan trips and the other for FD fan failures. In either case, the specific input that caused the multiple-input window to go into alarm would be displayed on a CRT or printer. The number of dedicated window displays required is greatly reduced without loss of information to the operator. If the CRT or printer were out of service, the multiple-input windows would still alert the operator to an abnormal condition and conventional panel instrumentation could provide information to ascertain the problem.

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S d 676-1986 t

Appendix D An Example of Ground Fault Sectionalization Procedure Applicable to Integrated Systems

When applying visual annunciators, computers, SERS, and other types of alarm monitoring systems, consideration should be given to the problem of ground faults on trouble contact input wiring. Because of the widespread location of alarm system initiating devices in varying environments, and the resultant convergence of the input wiring to the alarm monitoring system, the probability and hence the frequency of ground faults is greater than on other plant systems. These grounds represent a problem to plant operating personnel. A single ground of itself does not cause any alarm system operational anomalies, but it does represent a potential problem should a second ground occur. In spite of high quality, long life wire, and cable insulation used in power plants, grounds occur in both new and old plants. Probable causes of grounds in new plants include: (1) Insulation damage during construction (2) Human errors in design or wiring (3) Component failure In older plants grounds result from: (1) Build-up of contaminants in combination with moisture (2) Hostile ambient conditions such as heat, vibration, or motion (3) Age deterioration (4) Human errors Once they occur, grounds may be eliminated by a combination of detection and a disciplined method of sectionalization permitting isolation and identification. In those applications where the visual annunciator, computer, or sequential events recorder are not electrically interconnected, conventional sectionalizing may be used. This usually consists of switches by which, after ground fault detection, trouble contact input wiring is disconnected in convenient groups, typically 16 or 20 inputs per disconnect switch to locate the group of inputs in which the ground

exists. After locating the group, individual inputs may be disconnected until the precise location of the grounded input is determined. Multiple grounds on alarm monitoring systems involve a somewhat more complicated disconnecting procedure requiring input groups to be disconnected and remain disconnected while individual groups are reconnected one group a t a time, until all grounds have been located. The sectionalizing procedure is further complicated when there is a mixture of grounds on both sides of the trouble contacts. In those applications in which the computer, visual annunciator, and possibly the SER are integrated, a special consideration must be given to the problem of ground fault sectionalization. In the integrated system, a single trouble contact may be utilized and both systems wired in parallel from a common trouble contact voltage source as shown in Fig D1.

Fig D1 Conventional Sectionalizing

INITIATING CONTACT SENSING LEAD (SIGNAL)

1, 8

COMMON LEAD (RETURN)

L- DISCONNECT

SWITCH
GROUND DETECTOR

I
19

CONTACT VOLTAGE SOURCE

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In order to isolate the inputs to sectionalize, one of the parallel paths must be eliminated. Most modern generating plant visual-annunciator systems are required to accept random input window assignments, that is, any input or group of inputs may be assigned randomly to any window within the system. Thus, it is not possible to disconnect the visual annunciator on a disciplined basis; that is, 16 inputs per group due to the random wiring. However, the computer inputs are usually sequential and most alarm inputs are wired to the computer, whereas only a selected few are displayed by annunciator windows. Because of these characteristics, the primary means of sectionalizing is through the computer. Since the annunciator window inputs are randomly wired, it is necessary to disconnect these inputs before proceeding with disconnecting the computer inputs. The sectionalizing procedure is to disconnect

one of the parallel paths (window annunciators) and then to proceed to sectionalize, in a sequential manner. Disconnection of the window annunciators obviously disables their monitoring capability during the sectionalizing process. While this is not the optimum situation, it represents the least undesirable option. If the window annunciator inputs were not disconnected because of the parallel wiring paths and the random wiring, under certain conditions of a ground or grounds on the input wiring could never be isolated and located. Special hardware or software might be considered which would prevent total loss of surveillance and superfluous printout during the sectionalizing procedure when it is necessary to leave sections of the inputs in a disconnected position for a protracted period of time, as would be the case when multiple grounds occur on both sides of the initiating contacts.

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