Method for implementing quality alarms in an energy management system remote terminal

• US 9,704,381 B2
• Filed: 08/25/2015
• Issued: 07/11/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 03/15/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Gridpoint (Twenty First Century Utilities LLC)
• Original Assignee: Gridpoint (Twenty First Century Utilities LLC)
• Inventors: Mello, Erin
• Primary Examiner(s): Lieu, Julie
• Application Number:
  US14/835,084
• Publication Number:
  US 20150364032A1
• Time in Patent Office: 686 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 23/0272 Presentation of monitored results, e.g. selection of status reports to be displayed; Filtering information to the user
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 29/185 Signal analysis techniques for reducing or preventing false alarms or for enhancing the reliability of the system

Abstract

Methods for creating high quality alarms raise EMS operator awareness to abnormal conditions in monitored assets across multiple sites in a single EMS software platform. An embodiment includes steps for accessing an alarm designer software tool that contains a library of alarm definitions and the ability to create new alarm definitions, clone and edit existing alarm definitions, lock alarm definitions and delete alarm definitions. Applicable data is defined using channel attributes identifying which channel or channels associated with the multiple monitored sites are to be evaluated for alarming conditions. The alarm frequency, trigger conditions, pending open duration, close conditions, and pending close duration are also defined. Alarms can trigger upon one or more channels'"'"' behavior over periods of time and conditional relationships between multiple channels. Close conditions for an alarm can be, but are not required to be, the resolution of the trigger conditions.

Claims

1. A method of creating alarms triggered based on conditions of assets at one or more sites, the assets being monitored by an EMS software platform, the EMS software platform including an alarm designer software tool that can create new alarm definitions, the method comprising:

defining applicable channel data using one or more channel attributes, wherein the applicable channel data identifies which channels associated with the one or more sites are to be evaluated for alarming conditions;

defining alarm definition parameters, including (1) a frequency, (2) a trigger condition, (3) a pending open duration, (4) a close condition, and (5) a pending close duration;

applying the alarm definition parameters against test channel data having the same one or more channel attributes as the defined applicable channel data;

generating test results, including potential alarm instances created based on the trigger condition and avoided alarms based on the pending open duration; and

saving the alarm definition parameters.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the test results include avoided repeat alarms in which the close condition did not last the pending close duration.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more channel attributes includes one or more of the following:

a channel name, a unit of measure, a measurement type, and a channel category.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the applicable channel data are grouped by site or system, and the potential alarm instances include a potential trigger of a group of channels.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the close condition for an alarm is defined independently from the trigger condition, and wherein the pending open duration is defined independently from the pending close duration.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the trigger condition includes a conditional relationship between two or more of the applicable channel data.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising copying alarm definition parameters to create a new alarm, and editing the copied alarm definition parameters to create the new alarm.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising validating the alarm definition parameters, wherein validation includes ensuring the alarm definition parameters do not have errors.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the test channel data includes historical data from a site, and the method further includes selecting a date range of the historical data and generating test results for the alarm definition parameters using the selected date range of the historical data.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the test results include which potential alarm instances developed into triggered alarms, which potential alarm instances did not develop into triggered alarms but met trigger conditions for a duration less than the pending open duration, which triggered alarms closed, and which triggered alarms met close conditions for a duration less than the pending close duration.

2. A non-transitory computer program product for creating alarms triggered based on conditions of assets at one or more sites, comprising:

a computer usable medium having computer readable program code embodied in the computer usable medium for causing an application program to execute on a computer system, the computer readable program code comprising;

computer readable program code for defining applicable channel data using one or more channel attributes, wherein the applicable channel data identifies which channels associated with the one or more sites are to be evaluated for alarming conditions;

computer readable program code for defining alarm definition parameters, including (1) a frequency, (2) a trigger condition, (3) a pending open duration, (4) a close condition, and (5) a pending close duration;

computer readable program code for applying the alarm definition parameters against test channel data having the same one or more channel attributes as the defined applicable channel data;

computer readable program code for generating test results, including potential alarm instances created based on the trigger condition and avoided alarms based on the pending open duration; and

computer readable program code for saving the alarm definition parameters.

12. The product of claim 2, wherein the test results include avoided repeat alarms in which the close condition did not last the pending close duration.

13. The product of claim 2, further comprising energy management system software, wherein the assets are monitored by the energy management system software.

14. The product of claim 2, wherein the one or more channel attributes includes one or more of the following:

a channel name, a unit of measure, a measurement type, and a channel category.

15. The product of claim 2, wherein the applicable channel data are grouped by site or system, and the potential alarm instances include a potential trigger of a group of channels.

16. The product of claim 2, wherein the close condition for an alarm is defined independently from the trigger condition, and wherein the pending open duration is defined independently from the pending close duration.

17. The product of claim 2, wherein the trigger condition includes a conditional relationship between two or more of the applicable channel data.

18. The product of claim 2, further comprising computer readable program code for copying alarm definition parameters to create a new alarm, for editing the copied alarm definition parameters to create the new alarm, and for validating the alarm definition parameters, wherein validation includes ensuring the alarm definition parameters do not have errors.

19. The product of claim 2, wherein the test channel data includes historical data from a site, and the product further includes computer readable program code for selecting a date range of the historical data and for generating test results for the alarm definition parameters using the selected date range of the historical data.

20. The product of claim 2, wherein the test results include which potential alarm instances developed into triggered alarms, which potential alarm instances did not develop into triggered alarms but met trigger conditions for a duration less than the pending open duration, which triggered alarms closed, and which triggered alarms met close conditions for a duration less than the pending close duration.