Emerson reported July 14 that its DeltaV AgileOps operations management software recently helped Rompetrol Rafinare reduce distributed control system (DCS) alarm volumes by more than 95% at its Petromidia refinery in Navodari, Romania. The project improved control system alarm performance, increased operator effectiveness, and brought refinery alarm rates within the Engineering Equipment and Materials Users Association’s 191 guideline recommendations.

With an annual processing capacity of approximately 5 million tonnes of fuel, Petromidia is Romania’s largest refinery. It operates a range of conversion units, and maintains a Nelson Complexity Index of 9.32, which means it generates large volumes of process data and alarms. Over time, its control system alarms multiplied beyond recommended best practices, exposing operators to high alarm volumes, particularly during plant disturbances. Chattering alarms also contributed unnecessary noise, making it more difficult for operators to identify and respond to critical process events. Operators routinely experienced alarm flooding, while some alarms remained permanently active under normal operating conditions.

To resolve these difficulties, Rompetrol’s engineering and maintenance services provider, Rominserv, collaborated with Emerson to improve alarm quality, and reduce nuisance alarms at the refinery. It implemented DeltaV AgileOps to provide continuous visibility into alarm performance, including average and peak alarm rates, recurring alarm sequences and time spent outside recommended operating thresholds.

DeltaV AgileOps captures alarm and event data from the DeltaV DCS that runs the plant, enabling engineering teams to identify high-frequency alarms, stale alarms and nuisance/bad-actor alarms responsible for disproportionate alarm activity. Using performance dashboards and historical trending tools, refinery personnel evaluated alarm behavior during steady-state operation, startup conditions and process disturbances. They also validated proposed changes to alarm limits, priorities and suppression strategies compared to actual plant data.

Consequently, the refinery reduced alarm generation from more than 2 million alarms per month during normal operations to fewer than 50,000 alarms per month. According to EEMUA 191 guidelines, operators should receive no more than one alarm every 10 minutes during steady-state operations.

“Alarm management plays a critical role in maintaining safe, efficient refinery operations,” says Nilca George, process engineering director atRompetrol Rafinare. “The continuous alarm performance monitoring and analytics provided by DeltaV AgileOps significantly reduced the alarm burden on our operators, while improving overall operational awareness. The resulting system is more stable and better aligned with actual plant conditions, enabling operators to focus on meaningful alarms and respond more effectively to process disturbances.”

The implementation also improved long-term visibility into control system performance via automated alarm and event reporting. Existing historical alarm and event retention was extended from approximately four to five days to nearly two months, enabling more effective analysis of recurring issues, and supporting better-informed maintenance and optimization decisions.

“Modern control systems provide enormous amounts of operational information, but operators need the right context and visibility to act effectively,” explains Guido Wink, VP of Emerson’s control systems and software business in Europe. “DeltaV AgileOps helps organizations continuously monitor and improve alarm system performance, so operators can focus on the events that matter most to safe, efficient operations.”