PROGNOST Systems

SIL 3 rated online monitoring and diagnostics for reciprocating compressors

As of 1 September 2026, PROGNOST Systems's pricing is not published; the vendor quotes on request. A German specialist in the one machine most vibration platforms handle badly: the reciprocating compressor. Softwr lists it under Manufacturing. PROGNOST Systems is made by PROGNOST Systems GmbH, available on Windows, On-premise.

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Overview

What PROGNOST Systems does

PROGNOST Systems builds online condition monitoring for reciprocating compressors, rotating machinery and screw compressors. The flagship PROGNOST-NT combines segmented vibration analysis, dynamic piston rod position for rider ring wear, online pressure-volume diagrams for valve and leakage diagnosis, and calculated dynamic rod load. Automated diagnostics run against a damage pattern library built from decades of compressor failures, so the output is a named fault rather than a spectrum for an analyst to interpret. The distinguishing fact is certification. PROGNOST-NT is SIL 3 rated for machine protection, meaning it can perform the safety shutdown function on the compressor rather than merely advising an operator. That collapses two purchases into one: sites otherwise buy a separate protection system for shutdown and a separate condition monitoring system for diagnostics. It also changes the approval process, because the system is now in scope for functional safety assessment and its configuration falls under management of change. Buyers are refineries, gas processing plants, petrochemical sites and gas transmission operators, where a single reciprocating compressor trip can cost more per day than the monitoring system costs outright. PROGNOST-NT is also OEM-fitted on Burckhardt Compression machines. The trade-off is specificity and cost structure. This is instrumented hardware plus software plus engineering, installed per machine, with proximity probes, pressure transducers and rod position sensors that mostly need a machine outage to fit. It is not a comparison against a wireless vibration sensor at a few hundred dollars a point; it is a capital project on one machine train, and the vendor publishes nothing about what that costs.

What people use it for

A refinery hydrogen recycle compressor where an unplanned trip costs more per day than the monitoring system
Replacing a separate protection system and a separate condition monitoring system with one SIL 3 rated installation
Gas transmission stations needing valve and rider ring wear diagnosis without opening the machine
A plant moving reciprocating compressors from time-based overhaul to condition-based intervals with evidence a regulator will accept

Where it falls short

Concrete and checkable, so you can decide whether any of them matter to you. This is the half of a review a vendor will not write about PROGNOST Systems.

Nothing about price is published, and because the system is instrumented per machine train, there is no per-point comparison that lets a buyer benchmark it against general-purpose condition monitoring.
Installation requires proximity probes, rod position sensors and pressure instrumentation on the machine, which usually means a planned outage and mechanical work before any data exists.
The value is concentrated in reciprocating compressors; for general rotating equipment across a whole plant it is a far more expensive route than a broad vibration programme.
SIL 3 certification brings the configuration into functional safety scope, so changes to thresholds and logic go through management of change rather than being adjusted by a reliability engineer.
The company is small and German-based, so response times and spares logistics for remote sites depend on a partner network rather than a global direct service organisation.

Cross-shopped

What people choose instead of PROGNOST Systems

Each pairing was judged by two reviewers asking whether a buyer would genuinely weigh the two against each other. The ones that failed were deleted rather than published.

PROGNOST Systemsvs
AVEVA PI System
AVEVA PI System: If you need the historian and plant-wide data layer rather than machine-specific protection
PROGNOST Systemsvs
Schneider Electric EcoStruxure
Schneider Electric EcoStruxure: If the requirement is a broad plant asset performance programme rather than compressor-specific diagnostics
PROGNOST Systemsvs
Ignition
Ignition: If a general supervisory and alarming layer over existing machine sensors is sufficient

Pricing

What PROGNOST Systems costs

Taken from the vendor's own pricing page. Prices move, so check before you buy.

PROGNOST-NT

On request

Priced per machine train as an instrumented system
Sensors, proximity probes, rod position and pressure instrumentation included in scope
Installation typically requires a machine outage for probe fitting
Engineering, commissioning and baseline configuration quoted separately
Optional annual remote diagnostic service agreement with vendor engineers

Capabilities

Features

Segmented vibration analysis
Vibration evaluated per crank angle segment rather than as a single overall level
Dynamic rod position
Rider ring wear calculated from measured piston rod movement
Online pV diagram
Pressure-volume analysis to identify valve failure and leakage while running
Dynamic rod load
Calculated combined rod load with early overload warning
SIL 3 machine protection
Certified to perform the compressor shutdown function, not only advisory monitoring
Damage pattern library
Automated diagnosis against a catalogue of known reciprocating compressor faults
PROGNOST-Predictor
Trend-based remaining-life estimation on monitored components
Remote expert service
Vendor diagnostic engineers reviewing site data under a service agreement

Answered, with sources

Questions people ask

Each answer names the page it came from, so you can check it rather than take our word for it.

Does it replace the compressor protection system?

It can. PROGNOST-NT is SIL 3 rated for machine protection, which is the main reason sites choose it over advisory-only monitoring.

Can it be retrofitted to an existing compressor?

Yes, but fitting rod position and internal instrumentation generally needs a machine outage.

Does it work on centrifugal machines?

PROGNOST offers products for general rotating equipment, but the differentiated diagnostics are for reciprocating compressors.

Is it available on new Burckhardt machines?

Yes, Burckhardt Compression offers PROGNOST-NT as a factory-fitted condition monitoring option.

Keep looking

Where to go from PROGNOST Systems

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Softwr does not host reviews and shows no star rating for PROGNOST Systems, because a rating we did not collect is not ours to publish. What is here is the pricing and platform detail from the vendor’s own pages, limitations we could state concretely, and alternatives a reviewer confirmed people weigh against it. Tell us if any of it is wrong.

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