Alarm Notification Solution at Quasar Energy Group

Quasar Energy Group operates a wastewater anaerobic digester system that breaks down volatile solids in compliance with regulatory requirements while generating biogas as a renewable natural gas source. In this type of continuous biological process, delayed response to equipment alarms carries severe consequences: if an issue with the digester goes unaddressed, the entire process cycle must restart from the beginning — a costly setback that disrupts both production output and environmental performance targets. Operators confined to fixed HMI consoles lacked the mobility and immediate notification capabilities needed to catch and resolve issues before they escalated.

WIN-911, a Rockwell Automation technology partner since 1998, deployed its industrial alarm notification software integrated directly with Quasar Energy's existing Rockwell Automation SCADA infrastructure running FactoryTalk® View Site Edition (SE) and FactoryTalk® Alarms and Events. The WIN-911 platform connects in real time to the SCADA layer, pulling alarm severities, tag names, and group names to route critical notifications to remote workers via mobile app, text, voice, or email — on their device of choice. An advanced escalation workflow feature allows alarms to be organized by type, severity, and worker role, freeing operators from console-bound monitoring. Following a successful initial deployment, Quasar Energy rolled the solution out to two additional wastewater sites.

The headline outcome at Quasar Energy was a 75% reduction in alarm and event response time after deploying the WIN-911 notification system. This improvement directly protected the integrity of the anaerobic digestion cycle, preventing costly process restarts. Key outcomes include:

• 75% faster alarm response across the digester operation
• Multi-site adoption: solution expanded from the initial site to two additional wastewater facilities
• Operators gained mobility from fixed HMI consoles, enabling faster on-site intervention
• Improved regulatory compliance posture for biogas production processes

• Alarm notification is a force multiplier for existing SCADA investments — WIN-911 extended Quasar Energy's FactoryTalk infrastructure without replacing it, delivering outsized results from a targeted integration.
• Process continuity stakes should drive alarm prioritization — in cyclic processes like anaerobic digestion, a single missed alarm can reset hours of work; escalation workflows must reflect that asymmetry.
• Pilot-then-expand is a proven path: validating the solution at one site before rolling out to two additional facilities reduced deployment risk and built operator confidence.
• Mobile notification removes the console bottleneck — enabling workers to respond from anywhere on-site is often the simplest lever for cutting response times.