WebinarIs Your Piping Integrity Program Effective? Is RBI the Right Program?Live Webinar | Hosted by Cognascents Date: March 25, 2026 Time: 11:30 am CST Duration: 60 minutes (45-minute presentation + 15-minute Q&A) Register Now Register Here Speaker Justin Daarud – Director of Asset Integrity & Reliability Justin is an experienced mechanical engineer with…
Case StudyAlarm Rationalization for a Refinery Client: Refinery | Location: USA Cognascents is supporting a refinery with a facility-wide alarm rationalization effort aimed to improve alarm system performance, enhance operator effectiveness, and align with industry best practices. To date, the program has focused on a pilot subset of units, targeting reduction of alarm load, improvement…
Technical BlogFrom an Auditor’s Perspective: Common Mechanical Integrity Gaps in PSM Audits After participating numerous Process Safety Management (PSM) and Risk Management Program (RMP) compliance audits, you start to notice that Mechanical Integrity (MI) findings tend to look very similar from site to site. It doesn’t usually matter whether the facility is large or small,…
Case StudyFortifying Critical PSM Program Elements for a Lithium-Ion Battery Manufacturer Client: Lithium-Ion Battery Manufacturer | Location: USA A leading EV battery manufacturer partnered with Cognascents to strengthen and harden its Process Safety Management (PSM) program. Lithium battery manufacturing involves handling flammable and reactive chemical – such as electrolyte solutions, predominantly ethyl methyl carbonate (EMC),…
Technical BlogRethinking EAC and HAC: Why Ventilation Design Matters I was recently auditing a midstream facility up North. The weather was great compared to the heat and humidity that dominate Houston most of the year. I and the other audit participants inevitably talked about the weather and the differences between operating a facility in the…
Technical BlogPutting the Rational in Alarm Rationalization Alarm Rationalization is the process of reviewing the process control system alarms in a unit, deciding which are necessary and how to prioritize them. While this is a simple exercise, it can be very time-consuming. Most clients have a clear understanding of their objectives – alarms should be…
Case StudyRefinery-Wide Integrity Operating Window Development Client: Refinery | Location: Oklahoma, USA Our client, a refinery operator, recognized the need to strengthen their mechanical integrity and corrosion management programs by formalizing the monitoring of key process variables that directly influence equipment degradation. Within the process units, several challenges were noted, particularly with several sour water…
NewsCognascents Celebrates 15 Years of Excellence, Integrity, and Growth Fifteen years ago, a shared vision to make the industry safer and to do things the right way, sparked the creation of Cognascents Consulting. Founded in 2010 by John and Colette Perez, a husband and wife and both experienced engineers, Cognascents began as a small process…
Case StudyPressure Relief Device (PRD) Evaluation for Ethanol Processing Tank Project: Pressure Relief Device (PRD) Calculations Industry: Food & Beverage Location: North Carolina The Challenge A new molecular sieve surge tank and associated column system used in the production of ethanol-based specialty chemicals required evaluation to ensure adequate protection against all credible overpressure scenarios. The…
Technical BlogBridging the Gap Between Cause & Effect-Based Trips and IPLs in PHAsInsights from our Latest Poll At Cognascents, we’re always curious about how process safety practices play out in the real world. In a recent Question of the Week (QOTW), we asked our network a timely question: What percentage of cause & effect-based trips…
