Process Safety Solutions has recently completed the Factory Acceptance Test for a full HMI upgrade for a key UK onshore gas terminal’s emergency shutdown (ESD), fire and gas (F&G) and Burner management systems (BMS).
All HMI operator screens, static elements (such as vessels, heat exchangers), dynamic elements (including valves, analogue indicators, histograms) were updated to align with the recommendations of the EEMUA 201 guidelines, including but not limited to;
- Limited use of colour, where colour is used very specifically and consistently
- Grey backgrounds to minimize glare
- No animation except for specific alarm-related graphic behaviour
- Analogue representation of important measurements, indicating their value relative to normal, abnormal, and alarm conditions
- A proper hierarchy of display content providing for the progressive exposure of detailed information as needed
- Low-contrast depictions in 2D, not 3D
- Logical and consistent navigation methods
- Consistent process flow depiction and layout to minimise crossing lines
In addition to aligning with EEMUA 201, a study was conducted to ensure common functionality and visual representation with the ABB 800xA DCS HMI, currently being upgraded by PSS.
The ESD, F&G and BMS HMI is based on the Codra Panorama E2 platform. The existing HMI, based on Panorama E2 version 5 was migrated, as part of the upgrade, to Panorama Suite 2020. New redundant servers and operator stations were deployed with the latest operating systems and all servers and PCs have been cyber security hardened aligning with the guidelines of IEC 62443.
