Events

Conference Welcome

Keynote: Extracting Measurable Business Value from Manufacturing Assets
Peter Martin, VP, InvensysExtracting Measurable Business Value from Manufacturing Assets
Peter Martin, VP, Invensys
9:00 am - 10:15 am Tuesday April 17
Rio Grande Ballroom

Peter Martin, VP of Performance Management at Invensys, provides his perspective on world-class performance, including discussion of the current state of performance benchmarks, and the tools and methods available to improve performance in process plants.

Laying the Foundation for Performance Improvement - George Buckbee, ExperTuneLaying the Foundation for Performance Improvement
George Buckbee, ExperTune
10:30 am - 11:30 am Tuesday April 17
Brazos 1

This session covers the fundamentals of Control System Asset Performance Management. A model for Control System Asset Performance is presented. Specific plans for establishing a system to manage control system assets is presented.

From Data Overload to Focused Information - Sandeep Lal, Chevron Phillips ChemicalFrom Data Overload to Focused Information
Sandeep Lal, Chevron Phillips Chemical
11:30 am - 12:00 pm Tuesday April 17
Brazos 1

Due to modern DCS systems, there is a lot of data that needs to analyzed and interpreted correctly to make it useful. Data overload is a common problem, and at Sweeny we have tried to control data and keep it from overrunning our lives. The presentation also highlights the experiences of CPChem Sweeny in deploying Plant Triage and using PID Tuner for regulatory loop monitoring and maintenance.

Alarm Improvement: What You Get for What You Do - Doug Rothenberg, InvensysAlarm Improvement: What You Get for What You Do
Doug Rothenberg, Invensys
10:30 am - 11:00 am Tuesday April 17
Brazos 2

Alarm management and the projects that comprise a program for alarm improvement are rewarding activities. It is clear that a fully functional and properly designed alarm system can form the central part of effective and efficient production. However, completely redesigning an alarm system can be a daunting activity. For a single operator area, the costs can run into several hundreds of thousands of dollars, involve the work of several individuals, and take several months to design and install. It is little wonder that those who desire to make substantive improvements seek alternatives that can be developed in a step-wise, progressive manner using smaller projects of lesser cost and faster time to implementation. This paper breaks down alarm improvement projects into smaller, bite-sized programs to show what you get for what you do.

Practical Alarm Management: Getting Started, Getting it Done - Bridget Fitzpatrick, Mustang Eng.Practical Alarm Management: Getting Started, Getting it Done
Bridget Fitzpatrick, Mustang Eng.
11:00 am - 11:30 pm Tuesday April 17
Brazos 2

Bridget Fitzpatrick will provide an overview of the Mustang Engineering Alarm Management Improvement Process. Key topics include the key deliverables from an alarm managemnet project, approaches to getting started, lessons learned from past projects.

The New Process Safety KPI - Ed Marszal, Kenexis ConsultingThe New Process Safety KPI
Ed Marszal, Kenexis Consulting
11:30 am - 12:00 pm Tuesday April 17
Brazos 2

Current best practice for managers in the process industries has relied on measurement of injury accident rates as a proxy for all safety performance, inclusive of major losses such as catastrophic explosions, fires, and toxic releases. These measures are not well correlated with actual performance against major hazards. As a result, some proxies must be developed for use as key performance indicators (KPI) for major losses that occur frequently enough to be measured, which if neglected, will ultimately result in a major loss.

This paper presents some potential KPIs that more directly represent performance against major losses - specifically scaled initiating event rate and scaled safeguard unavailability. These metrics have the benefits of being closely correlated to major hazard prevention and the ability to be tracked automatically utilizing existing control system infrastructure and add-on data analysis software.

PlantTriage Installation at Gas Plant - Mayankumar Shah, RasGasPlantTriage Installation at Gas Plant
Mayankumar Shah, RasGas
1:00 pm - 1:30 pm Tuesday April 17
Brazos 1

This presentation focuses on the application of a PlantTriage system at Natural Gas Plant in the Middle East. Over 400 control loops were monitored. Specific issues with equipment and tuning were identified. Oscillation detection was used to identify the root cause of a major process cycle. This presentation will discuss the methods used, and the key benefits from a PlantTriage installation.

Techniques to Improve OPC Connectivity - John Weber, President, Software ToolboxTechniques to Improve OPC Connectivity
John Weber, President, Software Toolbox
1:30 pm - 2:00 pm Tuesday April 17
Brazos 1

OPC is the de-facto standard for control system connectivity, and for good reason: it is fast, reliable, and accepted by all major control system providers. This tutorial session explores methods to increase OPC connectivity, reliability, and performance.

Documenting the Financial Impact of Performance Improvement - George Buckbee, ExperTuneDocumenting the Financial Impact of Performance Improvement
George Buckbee, ExperTune
2:00 pm - 2:30 pm Tuesday April 17
Brazos 1

If you have ever struggled to calculate the economic value of control system improvements, this session is for you. Learn how to identify and quantify the benefits of process control improvements.

Dynamic Alarming Special Session - David Strobhar, Beville Engineering, Jules Oudmans, UReason and Dustin Beebe, ProSysDynamic Alarming Special Session
David Strobhar, Beville Engineering, Jules Oudmans, UReason and Dustin Beebe, ProSys
1:00 pm - 2:30 pm Tuesday April 17

Three leaders in the business of designing operator information systems for optimum effectiveness share insights and anecdotes about dynamic alarm techniques and the foundational requirements that underly effective advanced alarm strategies.

Alarm Basics for Advanced Alarming - David Strobhar, Beville EngineeringAlarm Basics for Advanced Alarming
David Strobhar, Beville Engineering
1:00 pm - 1:30 pm Tuesday April 17
Brazos 2

The holy grail of alarm management is to automatically vary alarm parameters based upon the state of the process. Alarm trip-points, priorities, and even alarming of specific conditions would change as the plant moved from steady state to upset to shutdown to startup. However, prior to making this happen, the base alarm system design must meet the principles of good alarm system design.

The path to the holy grail is through a well-designed and maintained alarm system. An example of a simple progression from an unmanaged alarm system to a partial state-based alarm system is described. Problems in applying state-based techniques to an alarm system that has not met the basics in alarm management are delineated. Causes and pitfalls in achieving a good, base alarm system are discussed. Next steps in managing alarms for a state-based approach are listed.

David is the founder and President of Beville Engineering® which has conducted human factors analyses for all major oil companies, authoring numerous alarm & display standards. David's career began with GPU Nuclear®, where he was charged with analysis of the incident at Three Mile Island. He is currently working on the creation of the Center for Operator Performance®, an industry-academia collaboration to research human factors issues in process control.

From Data to Advisories - Jules Oudmans, UReason From Data to Advisories
Jules Oudmans, UReason
1:30 pm - 2:00 pm Tuesday April 17
Brazos 2

Following a major process upset operators are expected to analyse and act on lots of alarms within a short space of time. Sometimes key alarms are missed leading to major incidents. The close integration of OASYS-AM® with TiPS' LogMate® solution allows companies to provide valuable advisories which enable operators to quickly focus on important alarms. As a result, control rooms will be geared up for the next logical step in alarm management: predicting process upsets, or equipment failure thereby preventing subsequent alarm floods.

Alarm Dynamics Overview - Dustin Beebe, ProSysAlarm Dynamics Overview
Dustin Beebe, ProSys
2:00 pm - 2:30 pm Tuesday April 17
Brazos 2

This will be a brief discussion of Alarm Management, specifically alarm management from the perspective of the dynamic nature of modern industrial processes. The discussion will include information on the importance of developing a clear alarm philosophy document that has buy-in at the management, engineering and operator level, understanding the keys to effective alarm system design, and the practical aspects of solution implementation and maintenance. The ultimate goal is to increase operational safety, plant reliability and production throughput. The very predictable results will be happier operators, lower operating costs and higher profits.

ExperTune TutorialTutorial sessions are instructionals led by a teacher demonstration. In hands-on sessions attendees have the opportunity to participate in the lessons.

Decoupling Control Loops Using ExperTune Software - Bernardo Soares Torres, ATAN

LogMate Hands-On TrainingHands-on sessions are instructionals where all attendees have the opportunity to participate in the lessons.

Reviewing Incidents and Targeting Nuisance Alarms Using LogMate Software

Remote Diagnostics with PlantTriage Enterprise - Chris McAnarney, ImerysRemote Diagnostics with PlantTriage Enterprise
Chris McAnarney, Imerys
3:00 pm - 4:00 pm Tuesday April 17
Brazos 1

In this case study, remote diagnostics were used to leverage plant and corporate engineering experts, to solve problems quickly and efficiently. Before PlantTriage, troubleshooting was difficult, due to limited staffing at both the plant and corporate levels. There just wasn't enough expertise to go around. Through remote monitoring, plant and corporate personnel were able to cooperate directly and immediately to resolve issues. This case study demonstrates how this was accomplished, and shows some specific results, including improvements to reliability, production, and energy reductions.

Performance Assessment and Tuning at a Cement Plant - W. Reis, LaFarge do BrasilPerformance Assessment and Tuning at a Cement Plant
W. Reis, LaFarge do Brasil
4:00 pm - 5:00 pm Tuesday April 17
Brazos 1

This case study presents the results from performance assessment, automatic diagnosis and PID control loop tuning software at a cement plant. With continuous performance assessment, it is possible to ensure high final product quality, raw material savings and reduction of shutdowns for equipment maintenance. The newly available features made it possible to increase the overall efficiency of the maintenance team, which uses the software information to increase and then to maintain control loops' performance at an excellent level.

Keeping Alarms in Check at US Oil and Refining - Kris Åkre, US OilKeeping Alarms in Check at US Oil and Refining
Kris Åkre, US Oil
3:00 pm - 3:30 pm
Brazos 2

US Oil and Refining Co.® has implemented LogMate® into our operations out of a call for better alarm management, like many other companies. Prior to 2006, we knew we had a problem managing alarms, but of course did not know to what extent. After collecting data for several months, we began a process of investigation and elimination, better refining our use of alarms. We have a long way to go, however are developing several strategies to aid our effort.

One such avenue is implementation of Alarm KB, incorporating design limits. Using these data points, we can evaluate what alarms are inappropriately set. We have also taken guidelines out of EEMUA® 191 and developed metrics to gauge our alarming. We have been taking our alarm rates and trying to focus on those that contribute most to the alarm densities.

In addition, we utilize the e-mailing function to get Operations and Engineering involved. Each week and month we look at different reports using AlarmKB Analysis and TRAC to determine what loops give us the most trouble. Working between different departments, we chip away at unnecessary alarms and make sure what we have in place are not only acceptable but appropriate and make sense.

Alarming Improvements at Eli Lilly and Company - Angela Stump, Eli LillyAlarming Improvements at Eli Lilly and Company
Angela Stump, Eli Lilly
3:30 pm - 4:00 pm
Brazos 2

Yesterday, today, and tomorrow: A look at the state of alarm management prior to implementing an alarm management product, the current state of alarm management post-implementation, and the expectations we have for 2007 and beyond.

So, just how do we foster the expectation of leveraging an alarm management system's functionality more emphatically this year - and do it in a pharmaceutical site? Can we validate it? How do we share our experiences with other plant sites? This presentation provides responses to these questions as well as takes a look backwards at “the way we were". It will cover an introduction of the previous status quo, then move on to the process of implementation and validation, and finish up with how the site plans to see measured improvement in the management of alarms. Other topics: Introducing alarm management to our local users; and Experiences with implementing an interface for displaying and analyzing event and historian data on the same screen.

Avoiding Risk in Pulp and Paper with Alarm Management - John Rudd, NusoftAvoiding Risk in Pulp and Paper with Alarm Management
John Rudd, Nusoft
4:00 pm - 4:30 pm Tuesday April 17
Brazos 2

With the advent of the Distributed Control Systems (DCS), it has become so easy and inexpensive to add alarms that we now alarm everything. The only problem with this approach is that now the operators are so overwhelmed with alarms that his main concern is keeping a match stick tightly jammed into the acknowledge button. This creates a very real risk; critical alarms are missed resulting in lost production, damage to equipment and possibly injury to personnel. This paper will discuss some of the issues based upon past experience and will make recommendations for corrective actions.

ISA SP-18 Alarm Systems Management and Design Guide - Donald Dunn, Aramco ServicesISA SP-18 Alarm Systems Management and Design Guide
Donald Dunn, Aramco Services
4:30 pm - 5:00 pm Tuesday April 17
Brazos 2

This presentation is an overview of ISA-SP18 "Alarm Systems Management and Design Guide", a Guide that assists individuals, organizations, and suppliers with the application of alarm systems management and design. The guide is intended to provide guidance in alarm management for industrial facilities over the entire life cycle from the planning stage, including the development of a philosophy, through the continuous improvement stage, including performance management. This guidance applies to platforms consisting of programmable electronic systems and processor based graphical user interfaces. This Guide documents industry experience and established practices for the application of alarm management and design. This paper gives an overview of the work to date on this topic. Manufacturers, users, and other industry experts have been working since 2003 to develop this consensus standard.

LogMate TutorialTutorial sessions are instructionals led by a teacher demonstration. In hands-on sessions attendees have the opportunity to participate in the lessons.

Measuring Alarm KPIs and Building Alarm Performance Dashboards

ExperTune Hands-On TrainingHands-on sessions are instructionals where all attendees have the opportunity to participate in the lessons.

How to Identify Equipment Problems with PlantTriage

Techniques to Improve OPC Connectivity

Day 2 Overview

Keynote: The View Ahead: How You CAN Prosper as an Automation Professional in the Years to Come!
Walt Boyes, Editor, Control MagazineThe View Ahead: How You CAN Prosper as an Automation Professional in the Years to Come!
Walt Boyes, Editor, Control Magazine
8:45 am - 9:30 am Wednesday April 18th
Rio Grande Ballroom

The global economy is forcing change in markets, change in process manufacturing, and changes in your job. With change comes opportunity…if you can spot it. Learn how to adjust your approach, your skills, and your direction to cope with the forces of change.

Critical Condition Management on a Corporate Scale
Lothar Lang, Lyondell®Critical Condition Management on a Corporate Scale
Lothar Lang, Lyondell®
9:30 am - 10:15 am Wednesday April 18
Rio Grande Ballroom

Managing a large plant, you have many things on your mind. How can you focus resources and attention on the most important issues? Critical conditon management is addressing the operator's workload and ability to handle plant disturbances and abnormal conditons. The main aspects are alarm management, controller performance monitoring (CPM), operator graphics and operator advisory systems.

These "human reliability" aspects are addressed by Lyondell's Operations and Controls Best Practice team. The focus of this presentation is on the current status, metrics,and implementaton of alarm management and CPM. To emphasize the nature of this continuous improvement process Lyondell has introduced meaningful KPI and efficient support tools for alarm management (LogMate®) and controller performance (PlantTriage®). These are currently being rolled out to all Lyondell sites. This is an important contribution to increase "human reliablity" at Lyondell's production sites.

How One Oil Refinery Saved Millions - DH Lee, APST Inc.How One Oil Refinery Saved Millions
DH Lee, APST Inc.
10:30 am - 11:15 am Wednesday April 18
Brazos 1

This case study reviews a control loop optimization program at an oil refinery in Asia. Using loop optimization tools, the refinery methodically optimized control loops plant-wide. Specific case study examples are presented. Economic benefits of the work were clearly documented, and shared with management.

Chemical Plant Stabilization Project - DH Lee, APST Inc.Chemical Plant Stabilization Project
DH Lee, APST Inc.
11:15 am - 12:00 pm Wednesday April 18
Brazos 1

Cheil Industries, a Korean chemical plant used ExperTune software to stabilize operations. This resulted in dramatic reductions in process variability, and increased process predictability and stability. This presentation discusses the methods used, and the results achieved. The study shows results in energy consumption and in reactor performance.

DCS Systems and Alarm Management - Maruti Dey, InvensysDCS Systems and Alarm Management
Maruti Dey, Invensys
10:30 am - 11:00 am Wednesday April 18
Brazos 2

Distributed Control Systems have not always been designed to meet the needs of alarm management solutions. Explore the DCS design from a system, tag, and human interface perspective, and how alarm management solutions are being developed to supplement the modern day control system.

Alarmaholics Anonymous - Mike Homma, GAP EngineeringAlarmaholics Anonymous
Mike Homma, GAP Engineering
11:00 am - 11:30 am Wednesday April 18
Brazos 2

Not too long ago most people took it for granted that almost every tag in most modern control systems required alarms. We now know that this leads to chaos. There are tried and true ways to create alarm systems that help rather than hinder during times of crisis and do not lull people into ignoring them because they have lost their importance. This is the story of one person who has traveled this path and would like to share their story with everyone.

Six Sigma Project in Alarm Management - Brent Thomas, MonsantoSix Sigma Project in Alarm Management
Brent Thomas, Monsanto
11:30 am - 12:00 pm Wednesday April 18
Brazos 2

Brent Thomas is a Six Sigma Green Belt at the Soda Springs, Idaho Monsanto facility. This paper overviews their Six Sigma approach to alarm management, stepping through each of the DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control) phases as they relate to Monsanto's objectives for reduced operator loading.

ExperTune TutorialTutorial sessions are instructionals led by a teacher demonstration. In hands-on sessions attendees have the opportunity to participate in the lessons.

Decoupling Control Loops Using ExperTune Software - Bernardo Soares Torres, ATAN

LogMate Hands-On TrainingHands-on sessions are instructionals where all attendees have the opportunity to participate in the lessons.

Managing the Alarm Lifecycle Part 1 - Implementing an Alarm Design (Rationalization) Infrastructure

Optimizing Diagnostics in an Oil Refinery - Adrian Meaburn, AMTOptimizing Diagnostics in an Oil Refinery
Adrian Meaburn, AMT
1:00 pm - 1:45 pm Wednesday April 18
Brazos 1

PlantTriage diagnostics can be powerful tools for troubleshooting the process. This case study demonstrates effective techniques to configure PlantTriage for a high level of diagnostic accuracy.

Linear Particle Accelerator Control Performance - Johnny Tang, Oak Ridge National LabsLinear Particle Accelerator Control Performance
Johnny Tang, Oak Ridge National Labs
1:45 pm - 2:30 pm Wednesday April 18
Brazos 1

The Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) is an accelerator-based neutron research facility being designed for scientific and industrial research and development. The SNS generates and uses neutrons as a diagnostic tool, much like X-rays, for medical purposes as well as physical, chemical, biological, and material sciences. The SNS produces neutrons by bombarding a heavy metal target with a high-energy beam of protons, generated and accelerated with a linear particle accelerator (linac). The low energy end of the SNS linac consists of a room temperature copper structure that dissipates roughly 60-60% of the RF energy in the form of heat. To deal with this waste heat, a water cooling system has been designed as an integral part of the room-temperature linac. The water cooling system removes the undesired RF waste heat and maintains the electrical resonance of the copper RF structures by controlling operating temperature. In this paper, we will present the performance of the current RCCS and discuss the performance optimization options with using ExperTune for PID auto tune.

The Changing DCS - Ian Nimmo, UCDSThe Changing DCS
Ian Nimmo, User Centered Design Services
1:00 pm - 2:00 pm Wednesday April 18
Brazos 2

The proprietary nature of control system infrastructure is giving way to standards-based, open architecture technology, much like the progression of business "IT" from mainframe systems to "off the shelf" personal computer networks. By illustrating the relationship between "Business IT" and "Automation IT", we can project a vision for the future of DCS control, including standardized hardware and software and universally shared interface standards and products.

Implementation of ASM®-Style Operator Graphics - Mike Ewing, DCSWareImplementation of ASM®-Style Operator Graphics
ike Ewing, DCSWare
2:00 pm - 2:30 pm Wednesday April 18
Brazos 2

Mike Ewing, founder and President of DCSWare discusses specific challenges of implementing ASM-Style Operator Graphics on DCS and PLC/MMI platforms. You are thinking of purchasing/designing/implementing ASM-Style graphics in your plant. Is your plant infrastructure ready? Mike will use a specific graphical element as an example to facilitate a discussion on how current DCS and PLC technology can be used to implement this new graphical style.

LogMate TutorialTutorial sessions are instructionals led by a teacher demonstration. In hands-on sessions attendees have the opportunity to participate in the lessons.

Measuring Operational Effectiveness Using Operator Loading Metrics and PlantTriage Integration

ExperTune Hands-On TrainingHands-on sessions are instructionals where all attendees have the opportunity to participate in the lessons.

How to Customize PlantTriage Dashboards - Steve Burt, ExperTune

How to Tune Cascade Systems - Michel Ruel, TOPControl

Selling Engineering Results to Management - Kevin Gibbs, CEO, ExperTuneSelling Engineering Results to Management
Kevin Gibbs, CEO, ExperTune
3:00 pm - 4:00 pm Wednesday April 18
Brazos 1

Just because you have improved your business, it doesn't mean that your management understands. This session contains practical advice for communicating your results to the people in the corner office. Put this into practice, and you will get more support for your projects, and maybe even improve your career prospects!

PID Controls in a PLC Environment - Rob Zaun, Rockwell AutomationPID Controls in a PLC Environment
Rob Zaun, Rockwell Automation
4:00 pm - 5:00 pm Wednesday April 18
Brazos 1

PID controls have been part of the PLC environment for many years. Unfortunately, over 90% of PID blocks in PLCs are initially configured improperly. This tutorial session identifies the most common pitfalls, and shows you how to successfully configure PID blocks in a PLC environment.

Alarm Management Panel -
Doug RothenbergDoug is an expert in alarm management technology, serving as the lead technical controls representative of BP Amoco® to the EEMUA® 191 task force and the ASM Consortium®. He later founded the D-RoTH® engineering firm, which specializes in DCS alarm management and DCS operator display design. Doug is the alarm management training resource for the ISA®.
Ian NimmoA well respected expert in the control room environment and its impact on operations, Ian is President of User Centered Design Services®. Ian was a founder and the initial Program Director of the ASM Consortium®, following his 10 year tenure at Honeywell® as Senior Engineer Fellow. Before that Ian was Section Manager and an Engineer for 20 years for Imperial Chemical®.
Bridget FitzpatrickBridget Fitzpatrick worked for Celanese AG® for 15 years, where she was involved with alarm management starting in 1994, and worked on several ASM Consortium® documents. She joined Mustang Engineering® in 2003 and is the Practice Lead for HMI and Abnormal Condition Management.
David StrobharDavid is the founder and President of Beville Engineering® which has conducted human factors analyses for all major oil companies, authoring numerous alarm & display standards. David's career began with GPU Nuclear®, where he was charged with analysis of the incident at Three Mile Island. He is currently working on the creation of the Center for Operator Performance®, an industry-academia collaboration to research human factors issues in process control.

ExperTune TutorialTutorial sessions are instructionals led by a teacher demonstration. In hands-on sessions attendees have the opportunity to participate in the lessons.

How to Identify Equipment Problems with PlantTriage, Chris Strohm, ExperTune

LogMate Hands-On TrainingHands-on sessions are instructionals where all attendees have the opportunity to participate in the lessons.

Managing the Alarm Lifecycle Part 2 - Design, Rationalization, Management of Change

PlantTriage RoadMap & Product Panel

Iron Ore Mining with PlantTriage - Roberto Dias Aquino, CVRD

Optimizing a Metallurgical Furnace - L. Ventura, V&M

LogMate Roundtable and Feedback Session

Conference Feedback Session

LogMate TutorialTutorial sessions are instructionals led by a teacher demonstration. In hands-on sessions attendees have the opportunity to participate in the lessons.

Equipping Operators with a Central Information Resource

ExperTune Hands-On TrainingHands-on sessions are instructionals where all attendees have the opportunity to participate in the lessons.

Advanced PID Loop Workshop

How to Tune Cascade Loops - Michel Ruel, TOPControl

Working with the Loop Simulator - Michel Ruel, TOPControl

PID Loop Optimizer Product Road Map & Panel Discussion

LogMate Roundtable and Feedback Session

ExperTune TutorialTutorial sessions are instructionals led by a teacher demonstration. In hands-on sessions attendees have the opportunity to participate in the lessons.

PlantTriage Tips, Tricks, and Advanced Topics - Various Presenters

Private Meetings
Presenter Q&A