Understanding Alarms
What are Alarms?
Alarms are automated notifications triggered when equipment or process conditions exceed safe operating limits. They alert operators to abnormal situations requiring immediate attention, such as high temperature, excessive pressure, or equipment faults.
When to Use Alarms?
Alarms are essential for:
- Equipment Fault Detection: Monitor temperature, pressure, flow, and other critical parameters
- Process Anomaly Alerts: Detect out-of-spec conditions, flow disruptions, or process deviations
- Safety Event Notifications: Respond to fire, gas leaks, or emergency stop conditions
- Communication Failures: Alert when network connections or device communications fail
- Equipment Health Monitoring: Track maintenance schedules and equipment lifecycle
- Production Quality Issues: Identify defects or out-of-tolerance products
- Compliance Violations: Ensure adherence to safety standards and regulations
Understanding the Alarm System
Alarm Data Flow
Key Concepts
| Concept | Description |
|---|---|
| Alarm Group | Organizes related alarms for easier management (e.g., Line1_Alarms, Safety_Alarms) |
| Alarm Level | Indicates severity (e.g., Critical, High, Medium, Low) |
| Alarm Category | Classifies alarms by type for analysis (e.g., Temperature, Pressure, Equipment Fault) |
| Trigger Condition | Logical expression that activates the alarm |
| Alarm Constraint | Delay before triggering to avoid nuisance alarms |
| Real-time Table | Stores currently active alarms |
| Historical Table | Archives recovered alarms for analysis |
Alarm Data Tables
AI SCADA automatically manages two alarm data tables:
Real-time Alarm Table
Purpose: Stores currently active alarms.
Location: Data Management → Alarm Management → Real-time Table
Behavior:
- When an alarm triggers, a record is added
- When the alarm recovers, the record is moved to the historical table (if recording is enabled)
Fields:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Alarm Name | Unique identifier |
| Alarm Message | Description |
| Alarm Level | Severity |
| Alarm Category | Classification |
| Trigger Time | When the alarm activated |
| Status | Active |
Historical Alarm Table
Purpose: Archives recovered alarms for analysis and compliance.
Location: Data Management → Alarm Management → Historical Table
Behavior:
- Records are added when alarms recover (if recording is enabled)
- Records are never automatically deleted (configure retention policy if needed)
Fields:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Alarm Name | Unique identifier |
| Alarm Message | Description |
| Alarm Level | Severity |
| Alarm Category | Classification |
| Trigger Time | When the alarm activated |
| Recovery Time | When the alarm cleared |
| Duration | How long the alarm was active |
| Status | Recovered |
📷 [Screenshot: Historical Alarm Table showing recovered alarms with duration]
Next Steps
Now that you understand the alarm system, learn how to configure alarms:
- Creating Alarms: Set up alarm levels, categories, groups, and alarm points
- Displaying Alarms: Show alarms on views and create analysis dashboards
- Alarms Reference: Expression syntax, best practices, and troubleshooting