Alarm Systems

In any control room alarm indications are installed to present particularly important information to the operator about process deviations, plant disturbances and critical plant conditions. It is the operator’s responsibility to observe the patterns of warning and alarm indications and to deduce the correct actions which are needed. Alarm systems have been a major concern within complex industrial processes for many years. The Halden Project has developed many computer-based alarm system concepts and performed a series of tests and experiments in HAMMLAB since 1983. This chapter provides a short summary of the different alarm concepts and findings from tests and experiments. The experience that the Halden Project has gained in alarm system development and testing have been instrumental in providing lessons learned and recommendations for alarm system design and implementation for the industry.