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Chemical Equipment Operators and Tenders

It's a bright outlook for

This career will grow rapidly in the next few years.

Learn more about what they do.

Operate or tend equipment to control chemical changes or reactions in the processing of industrial or consumer products. Equipment used includes devulcanizers, steam-jacketed kettles, and reactor vessels.

Related: Chemical Plant & System Operators Cleaning, Washing, & Metal Pickling Equipment Operators & Tenders Heat Treating Equipment Setters, Operators, & Tenders, Metal & Plastic Separating, Filtering, Clarifying, Precipitating, & Still Machine Setters, Operators, & Tenders Water & Wastewater Treatment Plant & System Operators

Industries: Manufacturing

Summary
Details

Draw samples of products at specified stages so that analyses can be performed.
Observe safety precautions to prevent fires or explosions.
Add treating or neutralizing agents to products, and pump products through filters or centrifuges to remove impurities or to precipitate products.
Direct activities of workers assisting in control or verification of processes or in unloading of materials.
Inventory supplies received and consumed.
Read plant specifications to determine products, ingredients, or prescribed modifications of plant procedures.
Measure, weigh, and mix chemical ingredients, according to specifications.
Estimate materials required for production and manufacturing of products.
Test product samples for specific gravity, chemical characteristics, pH levels, concentrations, or viscosities, or send them to laboratories for testing.
Patrol work areas to detect leaks or equipment malfunctions or to monitor operating conditions.
Record operational data, such as temperatures, pressures, ingredients used, processing times, or test results.
Adjust controls to regulate temperature, pressure, feed, or flow of liquids or gases and times of prescribed reactions, according to knowledge of equipment and processes.
Drain equipment, and pump water or other solutions through to flush and clean tanks or equipment.
Flush or clean equipment, using steam hoses or mechanical reamers.
Make minor repairs, lubricate, and maintain equipment, using hand tools.
Make minor repairs, lubricate, and maintain equipment, using hand tools.
Monitor gauges, recording instruments, flowmeters, or products to ensure that specified conditions are maintained.
Inspect equipment or units to detect leaks or malfunctions, shutting equipment down, if necessary.
Implement appropriate industrial emergency response procedures.
Measure, weigh, and mix chemical ingredients, according to specifications.
Control or operate equipment in which chemical changes or reactions take place during the processing of industrial or consumer products.
Open valves or start pumps, agitators, reactors, blowers, or automatic feed of materials.
Observe and compare colors and consistencies of products to instrument readings and to laboratory and standard test results.
Make minor repairs, lubricate, and maintain equipment, using hand tools.
Read plant specifications to determine products, ingredients, or prescribed modifications of plant procedures.
Dump or scoop prescribed solid, granular, or powdered materials into equipment.
Inspect equipment or units to detect leaks or malfunctions, shutting equipment down, if necessary.
Notify maintenance engineers of equipment malfunctions.
Adjust controls to regulate temperature, pressure, feed, or flow of liquids or gases and times of prescribed reactions, according to knowledge of equipment and processes.

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

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

Law and Government
- Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
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.
Economics and Accounting
- Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
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.
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.
Computers and Electronics
- Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
Mathematics
- Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
Sociology and Anthropology
- Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
Production and Processing
- Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
Biology
- Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
Transportation
- Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
Fine Arts
- Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Telecommunications
- Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Design
- Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
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.
History and Archeology
- Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
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.
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.
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.
Food Production
- Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
Mechanical
- Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
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.
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.
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.
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.

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

65240/yr

Washington Hourly Wage

31.36/hr

Currently Employed

1,340

Yearly Projected Openings

120

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

Stress Tolerance
Cautiousness
Attention to Detail
Dependability
Integrity
Self-Control

Air dryers
Air filters
Air scrubbers
Augers
Barometers
Belt conveyors
Bi distillation units
Blowers
Bucket conveyors
Capacitance meters
Catalytic converters
Centrifugal pumps
Chain conveyors
Chemical tanks
Circulation heaters
Collection tanks
Colorimeters
Crystallizers
Deionization or demineralization equipment
Density gradient fractionators
Evaporative coolers
Extracting equipment for laboratories
Facial shields
Fans
Filtering machinery
Fire blankets
Fire extinguishers
Flowmeters
Gas chromatographs
Gas recovery machinery
Gear pumps
Goggles
Grease guns
Hazardous material protective apparel
Heat exchangers
Humidifiers
Hydraulic accumulators
Laboratory blenders or emulsifiers
Laboratory evaporators
Laboratory separators
Ladders
Logging instruments for water wells
Manometers
Metal fabric media
Pipe wrenches
Positive displacement pumps
Power buffers
Pressure sensors
Processing tanks
Reactors
Reactors or fermenters or digesters
Reamer
Reciprocating compressors
Reciprocating pumps
Respiration air supplying self contained breathing apparatus or accessories
Respirators
Reverse osmosis equipment
Rotary pumps
Rotating shakers
Safety shoes
Screw conveyor
Screwdrivers
Special hoses
Spectrometers
Spectrophotometers
Spray dryers
Standard fermentation units
Steam engines
Storage tanks
Surface thermometers
Thermocouple probes
Thermocouples
Turbine engines
Two way radios
Vacuum pumps
Water purification equipment
Water softening accessories
Welding masks

Data base user interface and query software
Electronic mail software
Enterprise resource planning ERP software
Office suite software
Presentation software
Spreadsheet software
Word processing software

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