Dal Vernon C. Reising

Impact of Functional and Schematic Overview Displays on Console Operators’ Situation Awareness

Console operators in process plants have to maintain a high level of situation awareness to operate the plant safely, effectively, and efficiently. An overview display is one of the primary displays in a control room that operators monitor to gain and maintain an understanding of the plant. In this study, the authors evaluated operator performance using two overview display formats. The first format, characterized as a functional design, included qualitative, graphical indicators for process parameters and organized the position of the indicators on the basis of functional relations of the process equipment. The second format, characterized as a traditional schematic display, showed connecting process lines between equipment and numerical fields to present process information. Both displays contained the same indicator values. Eighteen plant operators used both display formats to monitor a crude unit process for process parameters that deviated from normal values. We measured operators’ situation awareness using think-aloud protocols and situation awareness global assessment technique, subjective workload, and usability ratings. Results indicated that operators’ situation awareness was significantly higher when they monitored the process on a functional display compared with a schematic display. Their subjective workload and usability ratings also favored the functional overview display format. Implications of the findings for continuous process control and overview display design are discussed.

A Direct Perception, Span-of-Control Overview Display to Support a Process Control Operator's Situation Awareness: A Practice-oriented Design Process

This paper presents a practice-oriented design work process for designing effective, direct perception span-of-control overview displays for process control operator positions. Several industry-based failure modes of overview displays are discussed in the context of Endsleys model of situation awareness and the practice-oriented process. The three high-level steps of the design work process are: identify critical process variables, identify the critical interaction requirements, and identify the appropriate visualization requirements. This practice-oriented process draws from cognitive engineering techniques, namely cognitive work analysis and scenario-based design. A conceptual overview display for an actual process plant console operator position is presented and illustrative visualization requirements are discussed.

An integrated decision support framework for managing and interpreting information in process diagnosis

Abstract In this paper we describe and demonstrate a comprehensive decision support framework for rapid operator understanding of abnormal plant situations. The operational objective is to manage fault situations that are on a trajectory to exceed the capabilities of distributed control (or optimization), but have not yet reached alarm limits. This is accomplished through early detection of an abnormal situation, assimilation of relevant information for quick understanding, rapid assessment and diagnostic localization. The early detection, assimilation and assessment components are briefly described in the context of the operator Graphical User Interface (GUI). The paper focuses on diagnostic localization, diagnosis to a level of explanatory detail that is just sufficient for operator action.

Effective Practices in Deploying Mobile Computing Devices for Field Operations in Process Industries

The deployment of mobile devices in process industries promises greater efficiencies in operations and more effective uses of limited plant resources, compared with current practices. Yet, the adoption and use of these devices has been limited. This paper reports effective practices, applications, and lessons learned from deploying mobile devices for field operations in the refining and petrochemicals industries. Six petrochemical production facilities participated in the study. We interviewed various stakeholders at these facilities on their culture, business drivers, field operations, current use of mobile devices, infrastructure and platforms in place, current applications, and potential needs. Four general areas were identified as critical to the success of deployment: 1) Organizations, Policies and Processes, 2) Applications, 3) Infrastructure, Hardware and Software, and 4) Training.