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Chemical Plant and System Operators

It's a bright outlook for

This career will grow rapidly in the next few years.

Learn more about what they do.

Control or operate entire chemical processes or system of machines.

Related: Chemical Equipment Operators & Tenders Petroleum Pump System Operators, Refinery Operators, & Gaugers Power Plant Operators Separating, Filtering, Clarifying, Precipitating, & Still Machine Setters, Operators, & Tenders Water & Wastewater Treatment Plant & System Operators

Industries: Manufacturing

Summary
Details

Interpret chemical reactions visible through sight glasses or on television monitors and review laboratory test reports for process adjustments.
Monitor recording instruments, flowmeters, panel lights, or other indicators and listen for warning signals to verify conformity of process conditions.
Draw samples of products and conduct quality control tests to monitor processing and to ensure that standards are met.
Turn valves to regulate flow of products or byproducts through agitator tanks, storage drums, or neutralizer tanks.
Repair or replace damaged equipment.
Record operating data, such as process conditions, test results, or instrument readings.
Move control settings to make necessary adjustments on equipment units affecting speeds of chemical reactions, quality, or yields.
Calculate material requirements or yields according to formulas.
Draw samples of products and conduct quality control tests to monitor processing and to ensure that standards are met.
Start pumps to wash and rinse reactor vessels, to exhaust gases or vapors, to regulate the flow of oil, steam, air, or perfume to towers, or to add products to converter or blending vessels.
Confer with technical and supervisory personnel to report or resolve conditions affecting safety, efficiency, or product quality.
Notify maintenance, stationary engineering, or other auxiliary personnel to correct equipment malfunctions or to adjust power, steam, water, or air supplies.
Repair or replace damaged equipment.
Control or operate chemical processes or systems of machines, using panelboards, control boards, or semi-automatic equipment.
Gauge tank levels, using calibrated rods.
Inspect operating units, such as towers, soap-spray storage tanks, scrubbers, collectors, or driers to ensure that all are functioning and to maintain maximum efficiency.
Direct workers engaged in operating machinery that regulates the flow of materials and products.
Regulate or shut down equipment during emergency situations, as directed by supervisory personnel.
Patrol work areas to ensure that solutions in tanks or troughs are not in danger of overflowing.
Supervise the cleaning of towers, strainers, or spray tips.
Defrost frozen valves, using steam hoses.

Operations Analysis
- Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
Writing
- Writing things for co-workers or customers.
Social Perceptiveness
- Understanding people's reactions.
Service Orientation
- Looking for ways to help people.
Coordination
- Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
Troubleshooting
- Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
Time Management
- Managing your time and the time of other people.
Systems Evaluation
- Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
Management of Financial Resources
- Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
Management of Personnel Resources
- Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
Negotiation
- Bringing people together to solve differences.
Programming
- Writing computer programs.
Installation
- Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
Judgment and Decision Making
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
Quality Control Analysis
- Testing how well a product or service works.
Critical Thinking
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
Science
- Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
Mathematics
- Using math to solve problems.
Active Learning
- Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
Operation and Control
- Using equipment or systems.
Speaking
- Talking to others.
Equipment Selection
- Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
Technology Design
- Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
Reading Comprehension
- Reading work-related information.
Learning Strategies
- Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
Complex Problem Solving
- Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
Repairing
- Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
Management of Material Resources
- Managing equipment and materials.
Instructing
- Teaching people how to do something.
Active Listening
- Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
Monitoring
- Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
Persuasion
- Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
Systems Analysis
- Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
Equipment Maintenance
- Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.

Written Expression
- Communicating by writing.
Information Ordering
- Ordering or arranging things.
Flexibility of Closure
- Seeing hidden patterns.
Response Orientation
- Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
Fluency of Ideas
- Coming up with lots of ideas.
Glare Sensitivity
- Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
Control Precision
- Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
Mathematical Reasoning
- Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
Wrist-Finger Speed
- Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
Static Strength
- Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
Peripheral Vision
- Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
Problem Sensitivity
- Noticing when problems happen.
Speech Clarity
- Speaking clearly.
Number Facility
- Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
Speed of Limb Movement
- Quickly moving your arms and legs.
Extent Flexibility
- Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Speed of Closure
- Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
Gross Body Coordination
- Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
Memorization
- Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
Multilimb Coordination
- Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
Dynamic Flexibility
- Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Far Vision
- Seeing details that are far away.
Originality
- Creating new and original ideas.
Speech Recognition
- Recognizing spoken words.
Gross Body Equilibrium
- Keeping your balance or staying upright.
Oral Comprehension
- Listening and understanding what people say.
Inductive Reasoning
- Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
Hearing Sensitivity
- Telling the difference between sounds.
Spatial Orientation
- Knowing where things are around you.
Finger Dexterity
- Putting together small parts with your fingers.
Written Comprehension
- Reading and understanding what is written.
Night Vision
- Seeing at night or under low light.
Auditory Attention
- Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
Sound Localization
- Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
Near Vision
- Seeing details up close.
Oral Expression
- Communicating by speaking.
Category Flexibility
- Grouping things in different ways.
Perceptual Speed
- Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
Manual Dexterity
- Holding or moving items with your hands.
Reaction Time
- Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
Trunk Strength
- Using your lower back and stomach.
Visualization
- Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
Stamina
- Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
Arm-Hand Steadiness
- Keeping your arm or hand steady.
Rate Control
- Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
Dynamic Strength
- Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
Selective Attention
- Paying attention to something without being distracted.
Visual Color Discrimination
- Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
Depth Perception
- Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
Deductive Reasoning
- Using rules to solve problems.
Time Sharing
- Doing two or more things at the same time.
Explosive Strength
- Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.

Communications and Media
- Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
Medicine and Dentistry
- Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
Foreign Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
Engineering and Technology
- Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
Physics
- Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
Sales and Marketing
- Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
Mathematics
- Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
Biology
- Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
Telecommunications
- Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
Education and Training
- Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
Fine Arts
- Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
English Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.
Mechanical
- Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
Public Safety and Security
- Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
Customer and Personal Service
- Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Geography
- Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
Philosophy and Theology
- Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
Food Production
- Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
Psychology
- Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
Computers and Electronics
- Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
Administrative
- Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
Production and Processing
- Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
Building and Construction
- Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
Law and Government
- Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
Therapy and Counseling
- Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
History and Archeology
- Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
Administration and Management
- Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Design
- Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
Transportation
- Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
Economics and Accounting
- Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
Sociology and Anthropology
- Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
Personnel and Human Resources
- Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
Chemistry
- Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.

Education

High school diploma or equivalent

Work Experience

No work experience

Training

1 to 12 months on-the-job training

Education and Training Opportunities

Washington Annual Salary

58280/yr

Washington Hourly Wage

28.02/hr

Currently Employed

650

Yearly Projected Openings

Realistic: People interested in this work like activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They do well at jobs that need:

Dependability
Attention to Detail
Integrity
Stress Tolerance
Analytical Thinking
Cooperation

Air conditioners
Air dryers
Barometers
Belt conveyors
Bucket conveyors
Calorimeters
Capacitance meters
Cathode ray tube CRT monitors
Centrifugal compressors
Centrifugal pumps
Chain conveyors
Chemical absorption gas analyzers
Chemical tanks
Collection tanks
Conveyor feeders
Desktop computers
Distillation pipings or columns or fittings
Distribution or control board fixtures
Evaporative coolers
Fans
Fire extinguishers
Flowmeters
Hazardous material protective apparel
Heating or drying equipment or accessories
Humidifiers
Hydraulic accumulators
Logging instruments for water wells
Manometers
Packaged water treatment systems
Positive displacement pumps
Pressure sensors
Processing tanks
Radiation detectors
Reciprocating compressors
Reciprocating pumps
Refrigerated tanks
Rotary pumps
Screw conveyor
Silencer sections
Special hoses
Steam engines
Storage tanks
Surface thermometers
Tension testers
Thermocouple probes
Thermocouples
Viscosimeters
Water tube boiler
Wet scrubbers

Industrial control software
Network security or virtual private network VPN management software
Office suite software
Spreadsheet software
Word processing software

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

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Chemical Plant and System Operators

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