SCADA

Industrial Pipeline SCADA Solution Overview

Our Industrial Pipeline SCADA system delivers comprehensive real-time monitoring and control for oil and gas pipeline operations. Designed for seamless integration into existing industrial automation infrastructure, it provides a secure, distributed, and highly available platform for safe and efficient pipeline management.

Core System Features & Architecture

  • Integrated & Scalable Platform: A modern, distributed client-server solution ensuring flexibility, extensibility, and reliability. It integrates seamlessly with other systems from remote field environments to the central site.
  • Secure Data Acquisition & Control: Configure, monitor, and acquire pipeline parameters securely. Supports multiple interfaces (Serial, Ethernet) for various instruments and I/O.
  • High Availability & Reliability: Engineered as a high-availability computing solution to ensure uninterrupted pipeline flow and optimal return on assets (ROA).
  • Comprehensive Alarm & Event Management: Features advanced alarm notification via Email and SMS, enabling real-time parameter monitoring from anywhere globally.
  • Advanced Data Analysis: Generates reports from historical trends and spreadsheets to improve decision-making and operational analysis.

Compliant High-Performance HMI for Control Rooms

Our solution is specifically engineered for pipeline control rooms, with a dedicated focus on human factors and operator effectiveness.

  • Full Compliance: Ensures natural compliance with API 1165 (Pipeline SCADA Displays) and delivers a fully compliant High-Performance HMI.
  • Human-Centered Design: Optimizes the SCADA-HMI connection by considering ergonomics, cognitive load, and visual clarity to enhance situational awareness across all operating conditions (Normal, Abnormal, Emergency, Crisis).

Benefits for Control Room Managers:

  • Simplified adherence to API 1165 standards.
  • Establishment of an advanced, compliant HMI.
  • Ability to implement standardized HMI style and design policies.

Benefits for Controllers:

  • Increased situational awareness and decision-making clarity.
  • An HMI designed to support the working environment and reduce cognitive strain.

Clear, consistent style guides that minimize interpretation errors.

Key Solution Advantages

  • Cost-Effective Implementation: Pre-engineered with standardized objects, animations, and processing for midstream and pipeline operations, reducing custom development time and cost.
  • Enhanced Situational Awareness: Provides tool sets to create overviews that improve communication, alertness, and response effectiveness in the control room.
  • Integrated Alarm Management: Fully integrated suite offering alarm response sheets within the HMI and advanced alarm analysis.
  • Tailored & Monitored Implementation: We collaborate with your team to tailor graphical elements, behaviors, and system monitoring for your specific architecture, network, and security infrastructure.

The Importance of API 1165 Compliant HMI Design

Modern HMI screens are the critical bridge between field data and operators. Poor design leads to clutter, confusion, and compromised safety—often characterized by excessive numeric data, inconsistent symbols, and lack of hierarchy.

What is API 1165?
API 1165 provides recommended practices for pipeline SCADA screen design, offering guidelines on:

  • Screen hierarchy and navigation
  • Consistent use of objects, colors, and text
  • Object dynamics and control points
    The goal is to create intuitive displays where any operator can instantly assess system status.

Advantages of API 1165 Implementation:

  1. Safety: Enables faster, more accurate decision-making by improving situational awareness.
  2. Productivity: Reduces operator hesitation and reaction time to abnormal events.
  3. Reliability: Ensures clear communication of process states.
  4. Reduced Human Error: Design consistency across all screens and stations minimizes misinterpretation.

Conclusion

Our SCADA solution combines a robust, integrated technical platform with a human-centered, API 1165 compliant HMI design. This dual focus ensures not only the secure and efficient monitoring of your pipeline assets but also optimizes controller performance and safety. We are equipped to assist with full system migration, API 1165 implementation, or addressing specific SCADA challenges.

Advanced Alarm Management (ISA-18.2 Compliant)

Effective alarm management is critical for maintaining pipeline safety and operational integrity. Our SCADA solution incorporates a comprehensive, philosophy-driven approach aligned with the ISA-18.2 (ANSI/ISA-18.2-2016)standard, the international benchmark for alarm system design and management.

The Challenge of Alarm System Effectiveness

In traditional control rooms, operators are often overwhelmed by “alarm floods” during upsets, where hundreds of alarms activate in seconds. This leads to:

  • Critical alarms being missed.
  • Increased operator stress and cognitive load.
  • Delayed response to actual process upsets.
  • A reactive “alarm culture” that undermines safety.

Our Solution: An ISA-18.2 Lifecycle Approach

Our integrated Alarm Management Suite moves beyond basic notifications to implement a full alarm management lifecycle, ensuring every alarm is necessary, clear, prioritized, and effective.

  1. Alarm Philosophy Development
    We collaborate with your team to establish a foundational Alarm Philosophy Document. This governance framework defines:
  • The clear purpose and objective of the alarm system.
  • Key roles and responsibilities for alarm management.
  • Consistent alarm classification, prioritization (e.g., Critical, High, Medium, Low), and design principles.
  1. Alarm Rationalization (Identification & Justification)
    Every potential alarm is rigorously assessed through a rationalization process to answer:
  • Is it a true alarm? Does it require a defined operator action?
  • What is its correct priority? Based on consequence, urgency, and time to respond.
  • What are the specific response procedures? Clear instructions are embedded within the HMI.
  1. Purpose-Built Design & Implementation
    Alarms are implemented within the SCADA/HMI system to be effective:
  • Dynamic Prioritization: Alarm priority may change based on operating mode.
  • State-Based Alarm Management: Alarms are suppressed or re-enabled automatically during specific procedures (e.g., startup, shutdown) to prevent nuisance alarms.
  • Shelving: Authorized operators can temporarily shelve identified nuisance alarms for a defined period.
  • Advanced Filtering: Operators can view alarms by priority, area, or status to manage floods.
  1. Real-Time Operation & Support
    The system supports the operator during both steady-state and upset conditions:
  • Integrated Alarm Response Sheets: Clear procedures are accessible directly from the alarm dialog in the HMI.
  • Dedicated Alarm Summary Displays: Designed per EEMUA 191/ISA-18.2 guidelines for optimal clarity.
  • Audible & Visual Distinction: Different sounds and colors are used for each priority level to enable instant recognition.
  1. Ongoing Maintenance & Monitoring
    Alarm system performance is continuously measured and improved:
  • Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): Automated tracking of metrics such as:
    • Average Alarm Rate (per hour per operator)
    • Percentage of time in “Flood” state
    • Top 10 most frequent alarms
    • Stale and chattering alarm counts.
  • Periodic Audit and Review: Scheduled reviews ensure the alarm system remains effective as the pipeline system evolves.

Seamless Integration with SCADA & HMI

Our alarm management is not a standalone tool but deeply integrated, creating a unified operator experience:

  • Situational Awareness: High-Performance HMI screens (API 1165 compliant) provide context, while prioritized, rational alarms direct attention to the most important issues.
  • Reduced Cognitive Load: By presenting only actionable, relevant alarms, operators can make faster, safer decisions.
  • Compliance Documentation: The system supports the documentation and reporting required for regulatory compliance and industry best practices.

Benefits of an ISA-18.2 Managed Alarm System

  • Enhanced Safety: Operators can reliably identify and act on critical situations.
  • Increased Operational Efficiency: Reduces downtime caused by operator overload or missed alarms.
  • Reduced Operational Risk: Mitigates the likelihood of incidents due to alarm system failure.
  • Sustainable Performance: Establishes a culture of continuous improvement for the alarm system.

By implementing an ISA-18.2 compliant framework, our solution transforms the alarm system from a source of noise into a structured, reliable tool that guides operators toward safe and optimal pipeline operations.

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