Q: How does ACM interface with control systems?A: ACM uses OPC DA communications to read and write the three parameters for each alarm: Priority, Trip Point and Enable Status as well as accessing all other information associated with each tag in the DCS. A personalization to accommodate the specific naming conventions and other rules for accessing tag information is necessary for each DCS type. The specific availability of all data via this interface varies by DCS. To date, Honeywell has personalized for TotalPlant™ Solution (TPS), Experion PKS, PMX, and ACS systems, and is currently working on other personalizations.
Q: Where does the ACM store all of the information?A: ACM stores all alarm configuration information in a database. That database may be hosted in either Oracle or SQL Server. The user must provide the database manager.
Q: Does ACM provide mode-based, state-based or dynamic alarming?A: Yes. ACM specifically documents its capabilities as mode-based alarming, which allows there to be a unique configuration for alarms associated with each mode in which the tag.alarm participates. This is referred to as state-based alarming by some, dynamic alarming by others. As implemented by ACM, this is very deterministic, and provides a method to keep the operator in the loop, and logs the changes made to the alarm system. This is intended as a complement to the sub-second changes to alarm configuration typically done by contact cutout and direct logic manipulation of the alarm configuration as used for immediate suppression of consequential alarms.
Q: How are mode changes initiated?A: ACM provides several options for initiating changes to alarms. ACM basically changes the alarm setting when it does enforcement and the requested mode indication is different than the mode indicated at the previous enforcement. First, the operator through ACM, or through some other mechanism, including automatically due to some logic that drives the mode-requested indicator, can execute the function of changing the requested mode. Second, the actual initiation of the enforcement to change the alarm setting can be initiated on-demand by the operator from the ACM, or by an operator or logic initiated sequence in the control system. So, if mode identification and enforcement are both automated, this can happen entirely automatically. Or the operator can be told that the mode requested has changed and he can initiate the enforcement. Or the operator can observe the mode change and initiate the change to requested mode and the enforcement.
Q: What are fundamental plant limits and what does ACM do with them?A: Fundamental plant limits can include design limits, operating limits to maximize lifetime, safety limits, limits to minimize corrosion, etc. These limits are recorded into ACM. They may then be related to an alarm limit via a Boundary name such that any time the configured alarm limit is outside of the fundamental plant limit, a warning is given to the user to resolve the disparity. The limits are passed along to Operations Management and UserAlert, and are available to other applications via an OPC DA connection.
Q: Is the ACM equipment model related to other equipment models?A: Starting in release R200, ACM will use the Experion PKS Equipment Model facilities to create its equipment model. This facility will be available no matter whether ACM is used with Experion PKS system. If it is being used with Experion PKS, then the same equipment model will be used in both cases. If it is not used with Experion PKS, then the user will have the responsibility of creating the equipment model appropriate to their installation.
Q: How may ACM be used when the control system is not available?A: Those familiar with ACM know that it has required the control system to be available in order to edit information. Because ACM might be used before the control system exists, or may be used at a location distant from the control system, there are times that it is desirable to use ACM without an associated DCS. Starting in R200, this will be possible using Honeywell-supplied templates of the alarm configuration of selected point types for selected DCSs.
Q: How does the user import existing alarm data?A: For those with alarm data from previous work, this data can be imported into ACM and re-used. An import utility is provided with ACM for this purpose.