PDVSA

ENGINEERING DESIGN MANUAL

VOLUME 9II
ENGINEERING GUIDELINE

PDVSA N

TITULO

ALARM SYSTEM GUIDELINES

90620.1.115

JAN.02

REV.

FECHA

APPD.

APPROVED

Alexis Arvalo

E PDVSA, 1983

5
DESCRIPCION
DATE

JAN.02

Y.K.

PAG. REV.
APPD.

Enrique Carmona

A.A.

E.C.

APPD.

APPD.

DATE

JAN.02

SPECIALIST

ENGINEERING GUIDELINE

PDVSA

ALARM SYSTEM GUIDELINES

PDVSA 90620.1.115
REVISION

DATE

JAN.02

Page
Men Principal

Indice manual

Indice volumen

Indice norma

INTRODUCTION
1.1

Purpose
These guidelines provide recommendations on alarm management fundamentals
and alarm management implementation. It also addresses alarm classification,
signal handling considerations and test procedures. It is the intention of this
document to provide guidance on alarming philosophy, alarm rationalization and
enhancing screen displays.
PDVSA has decided to adopt the API Recommended Practice 55495, Section 3,
as an integral part of the Engineering Design Manual (MID), the requirements
within this document shall be considered as additions or modifications. The
paragraph numbers and associated headings used in this document correspond
to API 55495, Section 3, which covers alarms and protective devices. As this
document covers only alarms, Delete shall be read as Not applicable to these
guidelines.

3.2
3.2.1

References (modification)
Petrleos de Venezuela Specifications (PDVSA) (Addition)
PDVSA K343 Alarm Systems Criteria.
PDVSA K336 Safety Instrumented Systems.

3.2.2

Local Standards (Addition)

Covenin Cdigo Elctrico Nacional.

3.2.3

International Standards (Modification)

ANSI/ISAS18.1
ANSI/ISAS67.04
ANSI/ISATR67.04.08
ISARP67.04 Part II
ISATR 77.60.04
PIP PCSPS001
PIP PCESS001

3.3

Annunciator Sequences and Specifications.

Setpoints for Nuclear SafetyRelated Instrumentation,
Part I.
Setpoints for Sequenced Actions.
Methodologies for the Determination of Setpoints for
Nuclear SafetyRelated Instrumentation.
Fossil Fuel Power Plant HumanMachine Interface
CRT Displays.
Packaged Equipment Instrumentation Specification.
Safety Instrumented Systems Guidelines.

General
On first paragraph Replace:
Petroleum refineries with petroleum and petrochemical processes.

ENGINEERING GUIDELINE

PDVSA

ALARM SYSTEM GUIDELINES

PDVSA 90620.1.115
REVISION

DATE

JAN.02

Page
Men Principal

Indice manual

Indice volumen

Indice norma

On second paragraph Delete:

Protective systems rather than.
On third paragraph Replace:
Refinery with process.
On one before last paragraph Modify:
DCS with DCS, Alarm Annunciator Panel and other Alarm Managing Systems.
On last paragraph Modify:
DCS with DCS and others Microprocessor based Alarm Managing Systems.

3.4
3.4.2

Alarm Systems
Integrated Alarm Systems
On Figure 3 Modify:
Redundant Operator Station box with the following:
Redundant operator stations
Process Alarms
Shutdown Alarms
Preshutdown Alarms

Annunciator Panels Control Room box with the following:

Annunciator Panels
Control Room

Critical Alarms

ENGINEERING GUIDELINE

PDVSA

ALARM SYSTEM GUIDELINES

PDVSA 90620.1.115
REVISION

DATE

JAN.02

Page
Men Principal

3.5

Indice manual

Indice volumen

Indice norma

Protective Systems
Delete this section.

3.5.1

Type of Protection Systems

Delete this section.

3.5.2

Sensor Considerations
Delete this section.

3.5.3

Shutdown Alarms Replace

Annunciated with annunciated (displayed, audibly indicated and recorded).
In many cases, a different audible signal is used to with A different audible signal
is recommended to.

3.5.5

Final Control Elements

Delete this section.

3.5.6

Logic
Delete this section.

3.5.7

Testing
Delete first paragraph.
Delete second paragraph.
Replace third paragraph with:
When Bypass facilities for testing of Protective Systems is in effect it should be
annunciated in the control room. This alarm could be colored or flashing to alert
the operator.
The bypass system should be designed to keep the alarms circuits functional (as
much as possible) during the testing period.
Delete fourth paragraph.
Delete fifth paragraph.
Delete sixth paragraph.

3.5.8

Enhancing Reliability of Protective Systems

Delete this section.

3.5.9

Documentation
Delete this section.

ENGINEERING GUIDELINE

PDVSA

ALARM SYSTEM GUIDELINES

PDVSA 90620.1.115
REVISION

DATE

JAN.02

Page
Men Principal

3.6
3.6.1

Indice manual

Indice volumen

Indice norma

Engineering Considerations
General Requirements Replace with
The following practices are recommended for implementing alarm systems.

3.6.1.2

Addition
Add to end of paragraph: (Normally, preshutdown alarms and the process alarm
devices are the same.)

3.6.1.5

Delete this Section

3.6.1.6

Modify
Replace protective system logic with alarm setting.

3.6.1.8

Modify
Replace trip with alarm.

3.6.2

Electrical Requirements (Addition)

Add at the end of first paragraph:
Exception: common wires for field sensor powering may be used on fieldbus
networks.

3.7
3.7.1

Alarm Management (New)

Alarm Display Capabilities
Process alarm functions should be provided. These functions should include (a)
outofservice, (b) outofrange (high, low, opencircuit, and certain
userconfiguration contact statuses), (c) absolute high and low with deadband, (d)
rateofchange with deadband, (e) output high and low with deadband, and (f)
contact input and output status alarms. The adjustment of any alarm
value/deadband/time/disabling should be protected by security access level.

3.7.2

Alarm Annunciation
The control system should continuosly monitor all process variables for alarm
conditions. Alarms refer to any system diagnostic alarms or process alarms
including the failure or disconnection of any device in the control system.
The colors used for alarming should be exclusive on displays for consistency and
visibility within a system.
There should be common alarm acknowledge capability within a console . Critical
alarms may be individually acknowledged or cleared in order to silence the audible
signal.

ENGINEERING GUIDELINE

PDVSA

ALARM SYSTEM GUIDELINES

PDVSA 90620.1.115
REVISION

DATE

JAN.02

Page
Men Principal

3.7.3

Indice manual

Indice volumen

Indice norma

Critical Alarm Displays

A dedicated critical alarm display should be provided. The critical alarm display
should indicate the status (active or clear) of each and every critical alarm and
must be updated in realtime. This may be a hardwired annunciator.

3.7.4

Alarm Identification
Loops in alarms should be identified on displays by a userspecified color change.
Unacknowledged alarms shall be indicated on displays by a flashing color change.
The type of alarm (absolute, deviation, etc.) may be shown on the loop faceplates
or groups displays.

3.7.5

Alarm Priorities
A minimum of four levels of process alarm priorities should be provided, such as
critical, important, abnormal, and information/status. Each priority level shall have
a unique visual and audible annunciation.