Project Examples

One: A chemical company in Canada decided to build three new plants on their site in Alberta. They retained our services to address abnormal situation management in the design of the control buildings, control rooms, consoles, management systems, operator interfaces, alarm system configuration, and operator training. The project produced significant savings in the development effort as well as more effective operator performance.

Two: A refinery in Louisiana was preparing to undergo a major re-instrumentation project. As part of the project, the consoles for several of the process units were to be relocated into one new and one refurbished control rooms. We were retained to determine the best location for the new control building, the most effective alignment of process units within the two control buildings, the strategy for accommodating field operators in local shelters, and the functional layouts of all the buildings. A follow-on study included the development of a design basis for console layouts, operator graphics philosophy and style guide, and example large screen display design for one console position.

Three: A refinery in Louisiana wanted to evaluate the impact of two control system designs on its strategy for centralized vs. decentralized control buildings. A follow-on study was conducted to develop a console operator staffing analysis to help determine optimal allocation of human resources to process units as part of the strategy for decentralized control buildings.

Four: A paper mill in Georgia requested a two-day workshop to understand the role of human factors in the design of human machine systems and develop a shared vision for alarm system design and operator interfaces. The workshop resulted in a vision document to facilitate a follow-on project to deploy a new approach to operator interfaces and alarm management throughout the mill.

Five: A large chemical complex in Texas was compelled by API RP752 (Management of Hazards Associated with Location of Process Plant Buildings) to improve the protection provided to operators. We collaborated on the assessment of the advantages and disadvantages of an offsite, centralized control building vs. one or more blast resistant buildings inside the plant.