Emerson has helped Rompetrol Rafinare reduce Distributed Control System (DCS) alarm volumes by more than 95% at its Petromidia refinery in Navodari, Romania, using DeltaV AgileOps operations management software. According to Emerson, the project improved control system alarm performance, increased operator effectiveness, and brought alarm rates within the recommendations of the Engineering Equipment and Materials Users Association (EEMUA) 191 guideline.

Petromidia, Romania's largest refinery, processes approximately five million tonnes of fuel products annually and operates a wide range of conversion units. The facility's operational complexity generated large volumes of process data and control system alarms, including nuisance alarms, alarm flooding during plant disturbances, and alarms that remained continuously active under normal operating conditions.

To improve alarm performance, Rompetrol's engineering and maintenance provider, Rominserv, worked with Emerson to deploy DeltaV AgileOps software across the refinery. The software continuously monitors alarm performance by tracking average and peak alarm rates, recurring alarm sequences, and time spent outside recommended operating thresholds.

The platform captures alarm and event data directly from the DeltaV Distributed Control System, allowing engineering teams to identify high-frequency, stale, and nuisance alarms. Refinery personnel also used performance dashboards and historical trend analysis to evaluate alarm behavior during normal operations, startups, and process disturbances before validating changes to alarm limits, priorities, and suppression strategies.

According to Emerson, the refinery reduced alarm generation from more than two million alarms per month during normal operations to fewer than 50,000. The company noted that EEMUA 191 guidelines recommend operators receive no more than one alarm every 10 minutes during steady-state operation.

The project also extended historical alarm and event retention from approximately four to five days to nearly two months. According to Emerson, the additional historical data provides greater visibility into recurring issues and supports more informed maintenance and operational optimization decisions.

Nilca George, process engineering director at Rompetrol Rafinare, said the continuous monitoring and alarm analytics provided by DeltaV AgileOps reduced operator alarm burden, improved operational awareness, and created a more stable alarm system aligned with actual plant conditions.

Guido Wink, vice president of Emerson's control systems and software business in Europe, said modern control systems generate significant operational data, and effective alarm management helps operators focus on the events most critical to safe and efficient refinery operations.