HUMAN FACTORS ENGINEERING IN CONTROL ROOM DESIGN AND OPERATION David A. Strobhar Beville Engineering, Inc.

201 West Franklin, Suite D Dayton, Ohio 45459 ABSTRACT Human factors engineering is the branch of engineering dedicated to the enhancement of system performance through the application of information on human characteristics and limitations to the analysis and design of complex man-machine systems. While relatively new to the oil refining industry, human factors has been used extensively by the Department of Defense to enhance man-machine system effectiveness. The potential exists for significant benefits in improved refinery operation through the application of some simple and basic human factors engineering principles. Listening to non-human factors engineers describe human factors engineering is similar to the story of the three blind men describing an elephant, where one was holding the trunk, one the body, and one the tail. Rarely are two descriptions the same, with the responses ranging from designing chairs that are comfortable to developing programs to ensure that workers are happy. While human factors engineering often becomes involved in such activities, human factors goes far beyond furniture and morale. Human factors engineering as a discipline is concerned with the total man-machine system, and focuses in on those elements that will most enhance system performance. Sometimes chairs are the most important element, sometimes morale; however, in oil refineries, it is usually something else all together. Human factors engineering views man as a necessary component in a system. The employee is present to carry out a function, just as a pump or valve are present to carry out a function. Like the mechanical engineer designing a fluid system, human factors engineers who design man-machine systems are concerned with the characteristics of the components and the anticipated conditions of component use. There are certain general characteristics of man-machine interaction as it relates to process control (Figure 1). Obviously, the operator in a refinery is viewing a variety of instruments that are measuring the process itself, and the operator can alter the process through a set of controls. What most people dont consider is how the information from the displays is processed to produce a control action. Certain variables are at work influencing the man-machine system, including:

Figure 1. Model of Operator-Process Interaction and Characteristics

Information Processing Limitations- The human information processing system is a capacity- limited system, with seven chunks of information being the normal amount that can be handled by a person at one time in their conscious or short-term memory. Information in excess of seven chunks must either be ignored or current information dropped/sent to long-term memory. Handling information in short-term memory and transferring to long-term memory requires that mental workload capacity be available. The ability to effectively transfer information to and from long term memory is dependent upon how long term memory has been structured, which is a function of training. Key words: Human Factors engineering, alarm system design, control room design, displays, training. Training-the manner in which a person has been trained influenced how they acquire and utilize data. People have an internal model of how the world works, a model that is molded by experience and instruction. If an erroneous model is created, erroneous output results. The operators at Three Mile Island had never been trained on a leak in the pressurizer so they chose to look at indications that would match and upset on which they had been trained, and they ignored those indications that were contradictory to their diagnosis. The result was a $6 billion dollar accident. Selection of which information on the process to view is of course influenced by its presentation, namely the displays. Displays- Data can be presented in many forms, and certain forms are better for certain purposes. Digital displays are much easier and faster for people to generate precise responses, but they are terrible if qualitative and predictive responses are required. Using any display required that it be seen at the appropriate time, which of course is impacted by the environment. Environment- Noise, glare, or people can all disrupt a persons attention and cause them to miss some important piece of information on the process. Interactions with other people and support facilities play an important role in the ability of a person to perform correctly. Excessive environmental stimulation reduces the capacity of the information processing system, which brings us back to the beginning. The human factors engineer operator, with sophisticated control systems, is primarily a problem solver. People are very bad at monitoring, and so that task has been allocated to the control system to perform. People are very good at decision-making, and it is in decision making that the operator can have the greatest impact. In general, there are three steps to decision making or problem solving: 1. Detection- The operator must be made aware that the system is deviating from the desired state. Typically this is the domain of alarm system design, to warn the operator that they must make some decision or take some action. 2. Identification- The operator must identify the cause of the disturbance or deviation. At this point the structure of the data relevant to the problem, the

operators training, and the amount of mental workload capacity that the operators can apply to the problem come into play. 3. Compensation- The operator must take some action to bring the unit to the desired state. As part of this step, the operator must determine that their actions are being effective. A common operator error occurs at this step, with the operator failing to realize that their actions are not having the desired effect. Given that we know there are certain variables influencing the man-machine interaction and that the operator is trying to be a problem solver, how does human factors engineering help? There are four key methods in which the human factors engineer can enhance the operator ability to act as a problem solver: ensure consistency, provide structure, provide information, and control information flow. Much of human behavior is done without conscious decisions; habits, reflexes, and rote responses to various stimuli allow humans to function quickly and allow the information processing system to be unburdened with routine activities. The ability to develop stimulus-response relationships is predicated on the assumption that the given stimulus always produces the same response. Consider what would happen if red on a stop light didnt always mean stop, but sometimes meant go or caution depending on what country you were in. Or that the sequence of red-yellow-green varied with the day of the week. Information needs to be provided in a consistent manner. Most people would agree that being consistent is both good and common sense, and yet at one refinery, numerous inconsistencies were found. In Figure 2, two methods to access distributed control system displays form one refinery are shown. In the one method, steam system access is in the first column, second row, while in the other method it is in the first three columns, first row. Similarly, boilers are oriented 1-2-3 left-to-right in one method and 1-2-3 top-to-bottom in the other method. Similar inconsistencies were found throughout the design of the system. People perform better in a structured environment. Just as structure in our physical environment allows us to move about it effectively (e.g., turn right at the rock that looks like a bear), so to does structure in the information environment allow us to effectively move about it. For one thing, information structure allows us to aggregate information into a hierarchy, reducing the total number of information chunks which we have to handle. Beville Engineering was requested to perform a human factors analysis of a hardwired alarm system, and it became quickly apparent that structure was needed. Figure 3 shows both the original design concept and the design after structure had been added. Panel A was designed by the refinery and was to contain the critical alarms for a Fluid Catalytic Cracking unit. After determining how the operator would interact with the alarms a revised panel, panel B, was created. In the revised panel, columns are dedicated to systems with the group of four alarms in each column dedicated to sub-systems. Within the group of four alarms there is a hierarchy, with the top most alarm being of greatest importance.

Figure 2. Comparison of Display Access Methods

Figure 3. Human Factored Alarm Design

The decision process is based upon information processing and it is essential that information be provided. There is a difference between data and information. The bit of data, 43 degrees, is meaningless unless structure is added (e.g., centigrade or Fahrenheit, body temperature or boiler temperature) to turn the data into information. Information is data that can be used to make a decision or take an action. The trick is to structure the data in such a way as to ensure that it provides the greatest amount of information. An evaluation was performed to try and determine what information the operators were using from their alarm system and incorporate that into the system design. Fluid Catalytic Cracking operators had wanted all riser low flow alarms grouped together and the refinery designers had obliged. However, in the course of the analysis it was determined that those alarms by themselves were insufficient for the operator to take real action. The operator upon low riser flow immediately checked the associated pump trip alarm to see if it had actuated. If it had actuated, then that was probably the cause of the low flow alarm and a back-up pump should be started. If the pump alarm had not actuated, then the low flow was probably the cause of controller failure and the operator should put the controller in manual. The information, why is there low flow, requires data on both flow (low or not) and the possible causes (pump or controller). The flow of information can be controlled and adjusted for maximum benefit just as the flow of hydrocarbons can be adjusted. Information comes to the operator both from displays and from other people. Since the operators information processing system has limited capacity, ensuring that only the necessary information reaches him is important. Figure 4 shows tow control room configurations along with the flow of information between units. The difference in the configuration of the units is that in layout B, the units have been arranged so that there is minimal crossing of information lines. Those units with the greatest need to interact are located closely together. The same technique can be applied to control the flow of information from displays. Obviously, human factors engineering has a role in the design and operation of refinery control rooms. However, a starting point must be chosen for the application of human factors technology. Beville Engineering believes that there are three areas where human factors engineering can pay immediate dividends to oil refineries: alarms, displays, and training. State-of-the-art distributed control systems allow the creation of intelligent alarms, providing the operator information and not just data. The issue of pump versus controller malfunction in the earlier example had to be resolved by close proximity of the alarms so that the operator could make an assessment cause of the low riser flow. Computer based systems can, through logical combinations of parameters, do some of the basic processing to indicate to the operator potential problems. However, combining alarms requires that information be presented and that the alarm is consistent with how the operator will utilize the information. On the negative side, alarms can be added much more easily with computer-based systems, increasing potential for alarm overload. Consistency, structure,

Figure 4. Control Room Layout Based Upon Interactions

and information must be applied to alarm system additions to ensure that the operator can utilize the information to its fullest advantage. The use of computer-based display systems allows the operator to be presented information in a form that best matches task requirements. For example, in a pressurized water reactor at a nuclear generating station, the operators had to keep the primary system liquid at all times. This essentially necessitated that they have had memorized the steam tables in order to determine where the unit was with regard to pressure, temperature, and the saturation curve, an almost impossible task to perform mentally. Computer generated display allowed plotting of the pressure versus temperature on one display, with the saturation curve superimposed to allow the operator to visually see how far the unit was from boiling. As people are required to do less monitoring and more problem solving, the role of training in molding the operators mental model becomes more important. One primary method by which people solve problems is to access their mental model of how the system functions and correlate what is happening in the real world with their internal representation of what should happen (cause-effect). If the operators mental model is in error, then through no fault of the operator they will generate erroneous decisions. Training is the means by which an accurate mental model must be created, maintained, and modified with time. Human factors engineering in control room design and operation is more than the design of furniture and analysis of operator morale. Human factors engineering is a systematic approach to ensuring that the operator is provided the necessary tools to do their job in the most efficient manner. The design of alarms, displays, and training systems are all enhanced through the application of human factors engineering principles and technology.