Exploring challenges of alarm root-cause analysis across varying production process types

Alarm management systems in the process industry use root-cause analysis methods to reduce alarm logs. To enable the application of these methods in different plant types, the alarm characteristics of a continuous, two discrete, and a hybrid plant are examined. The main contribution is threefold. First, root-cause analysis requirements, posed by different plant types, are revealed. Next, existing approaches are assessed against the requirements. Since the root-cause is not necessarily the first alarm in time, its justification requires further plant knowledge. Thus, engineering documents and the necessary formalized knowledge to justify root-causes are identified.