Alarm vs. Process Indicator

We have always ended up including all of our process indicators as alarms in DeltaV so that operators have a convenient place to see them.  If we keep them out of the alarm banner, the operators always end up not seeing them (sicne they are located on a specific graphic, etc).  The downside is that our alarm banner is cluttered up with process indicators.

I would like to separate these process indicators out of the alarm banner and place them in another area where operations will be sure to see them.  I am considering using the extra space on a wide screen monitor to list these process indicators (as a priority 4 alarm).  I would then have to modify the alarm banner to exclude alarm priority 4.  Has anyone done something like this before? 

Is there a better/easier way to do it?

  • What you want to do is very common. Using a low priority (like 4) and adjusting the alarm banner threshold to ignore process indicators and other such non-alarms is the way to go. FYI, alarm banner thresholds can be different per workstation, done by creating workstation-specific user settings files, which is done via DeltaV Operate Configure. Look for the UserSettings file in the Pictures/Standard folder. Note that in the UserSettings file the thresholds are per source (Device, System, Process, etc.) and that the threshold priority must be exceeded to be included on the banner. That is, the threshold would be 4 if you wanted the banner to report alarms of priority 5 or above.

    Also, pay close attention to the priority properties to get the auto/ack and horn sounds the way you want them.