WO2019130082A1

WO2019130082A1 - A method and system for announcing announcements in an industrial facility

Info

Publication number: WO2019130082A1
Application number: PCT/IB2018/057140
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ganpat KALAL; Paraskumar RANKA; Vinod BODDEPALLI
Original assignee: ABB Schweiz AG
Current assignee: ABB Schweiz AG
Priority date: 2017-12-28
Filing date: 2018-09-18
Publication date: 2019-07-04
Anticipated expiration: 2020-06-28

Abstract

In aspects, the present invention provides a method for announcing alarms in an industrial facility having a plurality of sections. The industrial facility comprises a control system connected to a Public Address subsystem. The method comprises receiving an alert message from an operator device, the alert message comprising an identifier of the operator device and one of voice data and text data, indicative of an occurrence of an abnormal event in at least one section of the industrial facility; authenticating the alert message based on the identifier of the operator device; determining presence of one or more preset commands in the alert message; determining an announcement configuration based on the presence of the preset commands and a preconfigured setting; and announcing one or more announcements in one or more sections of the facility in one or more languages based on the determined announcement configuration.

Description

A METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ANNOUNCING ANNOUNCEMENTS IN AN INDUSTRIAL

FACILITY

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to safety and control systems in industrial facilities. More particularly, the present invention relates to public address subsystems in safety and control systems in industrial facilities.

BACKGROUND

[0002] Conventionally, industrial facilities have a plurality of sensors and other instrumentation device for monitoring and controlling various industrial devices and process. The signals to and from these sensors and other such device are connected to the control system for enabling operation of the industrial devices. The control system utilizes the signals from the sensors for detecting a plurality of events in the industrial facility. Upon the occurrence of abnormal events relating to hazardous conditions, the control system, generates the alarms for notifying such events. The alarms generated are then transmitted as a trigger to the public address subsystem for making the corresponding announcements.

[0003] However, in certain circumstances, certain unforeseen conditions may exist for which an appropriate alarm may not be set and accordingly such conditions/ failures in the facility may not be detected automatically in the process control system. During such failures/conditions, it may not be possible for the facility operator to alert the facility personnel in the fastest possible way. Since time is most critical factor in such situations, the inability of the operator in his/her current state and location to initiate alerts immediately, is often undesirable.

[0004] Therefore, in light of the abovementioned discussion, there is a need for a method and system that satisfies the above mentioned problems.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0005] The above-mentioned shortcomings, disadvantages and problems are addressed herein which will be understood by reading and understanding the following specification.

[0006] In one aspect, the present invention provides a method for announcing alarms in an industrial facility having a plurality of sections, each section comprising one or more industrial equipment. The industrial facility comprises a control system connected to a Public Address (PA) subsystem, the public address subsystem comprises a plurality of announcement devices in the one or more sections of the industrial facility.

[0007] The method comprises receiving an alert message from an operator device, the alert message comprising an identifier of the operator device and one of voice data and text data, wherein the voice data and text data is indicative of an occurrence of an abnormal event in at least one section of the industrial facility; authenticating the alert message based on the identifier of the operator device; determining presence of one or more preset commands in the alert message; determining an announcement configuration based on the presence of the preset commands and a preconfigured setting; and announcing one or more announcements in one or more sections of the facility in one or more languages based on the determined announcement configuration.

[0008] The announcement configuration comprises a plurality of parameters associated with the one or more announcements, wherein the plurality of parameters include number of languages and the languages in which the announcement is to be made, volume of the announcement, frequency of the announcement, identifier associated with the announcement to be announced, one or more sections of the facility in which the announcement are to be made. In an embodiment the method further comprises generating an alarm message, the alarm message comprising an announcement and the determined announcement configuration associated with the announcement.

[0009] In another aspect the present invention discloses a system for announcing alarms in an industrial facility having a plurality of sections, each section comprising one or more industrial equipment. The system comprises a control system comprising a plurality of controllers and field devices for controlling and monitoring the industrial equipment; and a Public Address (PA) subsystem connected to the control system, the Public Address subsystem comprises a plurality of announcement devices in the one or more sections of the industrial facility. The control system comprises an alarm management server configured to receive an alert message from an operator device, the alert message comprising an identifier of the operator device and one of voice data and text data, wherein the voice data and text data is indicative of an occurrence of an abnormal event in at least one section of the industrial facility; authenticate the alert message based on the identifier of the operator device; determine presence of one or more preset commands in the alert message; determine an announcement configuration based on the presence of the preset commands and a preconfigured setting; generate an alarm message comprising an announcement to be announced and the determined announcement configuration associated with the announcement. The public address system is configured to announce the announcement in one or more sections of the facility in one or more languages based on the determined announcement configuration.

[0010] Systems and methods of varying scope are described herein. In addition to the aspects and advantages described in this summary, further aspects and advantages will become apparent by reference to the drawings and with reference to the detailed description that follows.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0011] Figure 1 illustrates a control system connected to a public address system in an industrial facility, in accordance with various embodiments of the present invention; and

[0012] Figure 2 illustrates a method for announcing alarms in an industrial facility, in accordance with various embodiments of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0013] In the following detailed description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration specific embodiments, which may be practiced. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the embodiments, and it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that logical, mechanical, electrical and other changes may be made without departing from the scope of the embodiments. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense.

[0014] Figure 1 illustrates a control system 110 connected to a public address system 130 in an industrial facility 100, in accordance with various embodiments of the present invention. The industrial facility 100 has a plurality of sections, and each section comprising one or more industrial equipment. The one or more industrial equipment is monitored and controlled by the controllers (illustrated in the figure 1 as controller 113 and controller 116) and field devices (illustrated in the figure 1 as sensor devices 112 and 115 and actuator 114) of the control system 110. The controllers 113 and 114 are connected to each other via a control network. The control system 120 further comprises a connectivity server 120 for connecting the control network to an distcributed control system network. The distributed control system network comprises a plurality of alarm management servers (illustrated in figure 1 as alarm management server 133). The control system 110 is connected to the Public address system 130. In an embodiment, the connection between the control system 110 and the Public address system 130 over the distcributed control system network. The public address system 130 comprises a plurality of announcement devices (illustrated in the figure 1 as PA devices 140 and PA 150) in the one or more sections of the industrial facility. The announcement devices are connected to acoustic transducers (shown in figure as loud-speakers 145 and 155) for making the announcements.

[0015] The alarm management server 133 of the control system 110 is configured during engineering and commissioning of the facility 100 for generating alarms upon the occurrence of abnormal events or conditions within the facility 100. The occurrence of abnormal events is detected based on the signals and the measurements from the field devices (112, 114 and 115), the process data from the controllers (113 and 115) and predetermined thresholds corresponding to the particular industrial equipment/process associated with the field devices (112, 114 and 115).

[0016] For example, when a temperature sensor 112 associated with a boiler indicates a measured temperature above a preconfigured threshold, the controller 113 transmits information indicative of the same to the alarm management server 133. Based on the safety logic configured in the alarm management server 133, the alarm management server 133 generates and transmits an alarm message to the application server 136 of the public address system 130. In an embodiment the alarm message includes section identifier of the section in which the corresponding boiler is present, along with announcement (i.e. audio data) for the announcement to be made. The announcement includes announcements in one or more languages along with an identifier for the boiler. In an embodiment, alarm message includes also includes a value for a frequency (i.e. number of times with a predetermined time period) of the announcement to be made along with the volume at which the announcement is to be made.

[0017] In addition to detection of abnormal events based on process/ equipment data from the field devices (112, 114 and 115) and the controllers (113 and 115), the alarm management server 133 is configured to generate alarms based on messages from operator devices (shown in the figure 1 as operator device 160). Field personnel and operators, during routine inspection of the industrial facility 100, may come across abnormal unsafe events and accordingly utilize their operator devices to communicate information regarding the event to the alarm management server 133 for generating alarms and making announcements via the public address system 120 in the industrial facility 100. This is explained in further in the description of figure 2.

[0018] Figure 2 illustrates a method 200 for announcing alarms in an industrial facility 100, in accordance with various embodiments of the present invention.

[0019] At step 210, the alarm management server 133 of the control system 110, receives an alert message from an operator device 160. The alert message comprising an identifier of the operator device 160 and one of voice data and text data in a predefined message template. The voice data or text data is indicative of an occurrence of an abnormal event in a section of the industrial facility 100. In an embodiment, the voice data includes one or more voice commands. Similarly, in another embodiment, the text data includes one or more text commands.

[0020] At step 220, the alarm management server 133 authenticates the alert message based on the identifier of the operator device 160. The alarm management server 133 compares the identifier of the operator device 160 against a list of identifiers of active operator devices to ensure that the alert message is from an active operator device. In an embodiment, where the alert message includes text data, the alert message includes a passcode provided by the operator. The alert message is authenticated by the alarm management server on the basis of the identifier of the operator device 160 and the operator passcode. In another embodiment, the alert message is authenticated on the basis of the voice data of the alert message and the identifier of the operator device 160. The voice recognition is performed against the voice data to authenticate that the alert message originates from the operator.

[0021] At step 230, the alarm management server 133 determines the presence of one or more preset commands in the alert message. In an embodiment, wherein the alert message contains text data, the alarm management server 133 compares the text data against a set of predetermined or preset text commands to determine the presence of the preset commands. Text commands as mentioned herein a preset terms along with values which indicate to the alarm management server 133 the manner in which the announcement is to be made. For example, text command Section_#value would indicate to the alarm management server 133 that the announcement is to be made only in the particular section of the industrial facility 100. In an embodiment, when the alert message contains voice data, the voice data is converted into text data by using voice to text conversion techniques, commonly known in the state of the art. Subsequent to the conversion to text, the alarm management server 133 compares the converted text data against the set of predetermined or preset text commands to determine the presence of the preset commands.

[0022] At step 240, the alarm management server 133 determines an announcement configuration based on the presence of the preset commands and a preconfigured setting. Announcement configuration relates to values of a plurality of parameters on the basis of which the public address system 120 makes the announcements. The plurality of parameters include the number of languages and the languages in which the announcements are to be made, volume of the announcements, frequency of the announcements, identifier associated with the announcement message to be announced, one or more sections in which the announcements are to be made, etc. Subsequent to determining the announcement configuration, the alarm management server generates an alarm message. The alarm message comprises the announcement configuration and the announcement to be made. The alarm message is then sent to the application server 136.

[0023] In an embodiment, the alert message from the operator device 160 includes only an announcement to be announced in voice or text form and does not include any commands. Accordingly, the alarm management server 133 determines the announcement configuration based on a predetermined settings. The predetermined settings include preset values for the plurality of the parameters of the announcement configuration.

[0024] At step 250, based on the alarm message from the alarm management server 133, the application server 136 via the PA devices 140 and 150 announces one or more alarms in one or more sections of the facility 100 in one or more languages based on the determined announcement configuration. Based on the announcement configuration, the application server 136 converts the announcement into a number of preconfigured languages. These announcements are then made by the PA devices 140 and 150 as per the announcement configuration which includes volume, frequency, etc. The method 200 is further explained using two examples provided below.

[0025] . In a first example, outside the main process area, where there is no fire and gas detectors installed, when an operator observes some fire/smoke from a particular area, he uses his operator device 160 to select a predefined channel and voice out an announcement for example“Fire in the facility Area C, Please Evacuate Immediately”. The operator device 160 creates an alert message based on the announcement and the identifier of the operator device 160, and transmits the same to the alarm management server 133. [0026] The alert message is then received by the alarm management server 133. The alarm management server 133 uses the identifier of the operator device 160 and voice recognition techniques to authenticate the alert message. The alarm management server 133 then converts the voice data into text data by performing voice to text conversion. The alarm management server 133 then determines the presence of commands in the converted text data. Since the alert message does not contain any commands, the alarm management server 133 then determines the announcement configuration based on predetermined settings. For example, the predetermined settings are number of languages: 2 [English, German], volume of announcement: 70%, speed of announcement: normal, delay between two language when announcement is going on: 2 seconds, maximum number of repeat of each announcement: 2, interval between repeat announcement: 5 second, etc. Then the alarm management server 133 generates an alarm message including the determined announcement configuration and the announcement from the alert message. The alarm management server 133 then forwards the same to the application server 136.

[0027] The application server 136 receives the alarm message from the alarm management server 133. The application server 136 then converts the announcement in the alarm message to announcements in English and German. Then, the application server 136 along with the PA devices 140 and 150 makes the announcements based on the announcement configuration.

[0028] In a second example, outside the main process area, where there is no fire and gas detectors installed, when an operator observes some fire/smoke from a particular area, he uses his operator device 160 to select a predefined channel and voice out an Msg_ID and a corresponding value. In the example, the operator voices out“MSG ID: 3”. The operator device 160 creates an alert message based on the announcement and the identifier of the operator device 160, and transmits the same to the alarm management server 133.

[0029] The alert message is then received by the alarm management server 133. The alarm management server 133 uses the identifier of the operator device 160 and voice recognition techniques to authenticate the alert message. The alarm management server 133 then converts the voice data into text data by performing voice to text conversion. The alarm management server 133 then determines the presence of commands in the converted text data. In the current case Msg_ID is a command for announcing a preconfigured announcement in preset languages. For example the Msg_ID command with value 3 corresponds to an announcement regarding “fire in the facility, evacuate immediately” and is to be made in English, Swedish and German. Similarly, example the Msg_ID command with value 5 corresponds to an announcement regarding“Gas leak in the facility, evacuate immediately” and is to be made in. Accordingly, the values relating to announcement text, the number of languages and the languages parameters in the announcement configuration is determined based on the command MSG_ID: 3. the remaining values of the parameters of the announcement configuration are configured using the predetermined setting.

[0030] . Then the alarm management server 133 generates an alarm message including the determined announcement configuration and the announcement from the alert message. The alarm management server 133 then forwards the same to the application server 136.

[0031] The application server 136 receives the alarm message from the alarm management server 133. The application server 136 then converts the announcement“Fire in the facility, evacuate immediately” in the alarm message to announcements in English, Swedish and German. Then, the application server 136 along with the PA devices 140 and 150 makes the announcements based on the announcement configuration.

[0032] Accordingly, the present disclosure enhances the safety of the environment for the personnel, the infrastructure of the facility and the process itself. The present invention provides a method and system for handling unforeseen events by providing a robust environment so that the actions can be taken in a timely sense. It will save the human and other facility resource from unavoidable and unforeseen event. The present invention allows for reuse of existing the PA system in the existing control system.

[0033] This written description uses examples to describe the subject matter herein, including the best mode, and also to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use the subject matter. The patentable scope of the subject matter is defined by the claims, and may include other examples that occur to those skilled in the art. Such other examples are intended to be within the scope of the claims if they have structural elements that do not differ from the literal language of the claims, or if they include equivalent structural elements with insubstantial differences from the literal language of the claims.

Claims

CLAIMS What is claimed is:

1. A method (200) for announcing alarms in an industrial facility (100) having a plurality of sections, each section comprising one or more industrial equipment, wherein the industrial facility (100) comprises a control system (110) connected to a Public Address (PA) subsystem (120), the Public Address subsystem (120) comprises a plurality of announcement devices (140, 150) in the one or more sections of the industrial facility (100), the method (200) comprising a. receiving (210) an alert message from an operator device (160), the alert message comprising an identifier of the operator device (160) and one of voice data and text data, wherein the voice data and text data is indicative of an occurrence of an abnormal event in at least one section of the industrial facility (100); b. authenticating (220) the alert message based on the identifier of the operator device (160); c. determining (230) presence of one or more preset commands in the alert message; d. determining (240) an announcement configuration based on the presence of the preset commands and a preconfigured setting; and e. announcing (250) one or more announcements in one or more sections of the facility (100) in one or more languages based on the determined announcement configuration.

2. The method (200) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the announcement configuration comprises a plurality of parameters associated with the one or more announcements, wherein the plurality of parameters include number of languages and the languages in which the announcement is to be made, volume of the announcement, frequency of the announcement, identifier associated with the announcement to be announced, one or more sections of the facility in which the announcement are to be made.

3. The method (200) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the method (200) further comprises generating an alarm message, the alarm message comprising an announcement and the determined announcement configuration associated with the announcement.

4. A system for announcing alarms in an industrial facility (100) having a plurality of sections, each section comprising one or more industrial equipment, the system comprising a. a control system (120) comprising a plurality of controllers (113, 116) and field devices (112, 114, 115) for controlling and monitoring the industrial equipment; and b. a Public Address (PA) subsystem (120) connected to the control system (110), the Public Address subsystem (120) comprises a plurality of announcement devices (140 and 150) in the one or more sections of the industrial facility (100),

Wherein the control system (120) comprises an alarm management server (133) configured to a. receive an alert message from an operator device (160), the alert message comprising an identifier of the operator device (160) and one of voice data and text data, wherein the voice data and text data is indicative of an occurrence of an abnormal event in at least one section of the industrial facility;

b. authenticate the alert message based on the identifier of the operator device (160);

c. determine presence of one or more preset commands in the alert message; d. determine an announcement configuration based on the presence of the preset commands and a preconfigured setting;

e. generate an alarm message comprising an announcement to be announced and the determined announcement configuration associated with the announcement; and wherein the public address system (120) is configured to announce the announcement in one or more sections of the facility (100) in one or more languages based on the determined announcement configuration.