Biomass Plant Technicians

• Summary

• Details

Work Activities

• Inspect biomass power plant or processing equipment, recording or reporting damage and mechanical problems.
• Operate valves, pumps, engines, or generators to control and adjust production of biofuels or biomass-fueled power.
• Perform tests of water chemistry in boilers.
• Record or report operational data, such as readings on meters, instruments, and gauges.
• Perform routine maintenance or make minor repairs to mechanical, electrical, or electronic equipment in biomass plants.
• Operate valves, pumps, engines, or generators to control and adjust production of biofuels or biomass-fueled power.
• Perform tests of water chemistry in boilers.
• Inspect biomass power plant or processing equipment, recording or reporting damage and mechanical problems.
• Preprocess feedstock to prepare for biochemical or thermochemical production processes.
• Operate high-pressure steam boiler or water chiller equipment for electrical cogeneration operations.
• Operate equipment to start, stop, or regulate biomass-fueled generators, generator units, boilers, engines, or auxiliary systems.
• Calculate, measure, load, or mix biomass feedstock for power generation.
• Inspect biomass power plant or processing equipment, recording or reporting damage and mechanical problems.
• Measure and monitor raw biomass feedstock, including wood, waste, or refuse materials.
• Calibrate liquid flow devices or meters, including fuel, chemical, and water meters.
• Assess quality of biomass feedstock.
• Read and interpret instruction manuals or technical drawings related to biomass-fueled power or biofuels production equipment or processes.
• Manage parts and supply inventories for biomass plants.
• Operate equipment to heat biomass, using knowledge of controls, combustion, and firing mechanisms.
• Operate biomass fuel-burning boiler or biomass fuel gasification system equipment in accordance with specifications or instructions.
• Calculate, measure, load, or mix biomass feedstock for power generation.
• Operate heavy equipment, such as bulldozers and front-end loaders.
• Calculate, measure, load, or mix biomass feedstock for power generation.
• Clean work areas to ensure compliance with safety regulations.

Skills

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

Abilities

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

Knowledge

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

Education

Education

High school diploma or equivalent

Work Experience

No work experience

Training

More than 1 year on-the-job training

Education and Training Opportunities

×

Education and Training Opportunities

Close

Pay

Washington Annual Salary

124050/yr

Washington Hourly Wage

59.64/hr

Washington Employment Trends

Currently Employed

370

Yearly Projected Openings

40

Personality

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

Tools

• Air dryers
• Batching plants or feeders
• Belt conveyors
• Conveyor feeders
• Desktop computers
• Dump trucks
• Extendable conveyors
• Fire tube boilers
• Front end loaders
• Grinding mills
• Hammer mills
• Intake structures
• Notebook computers
• Personal computers
• Steam engines
• Steam generators
• Truck or rail scales
• Water samplers
• Water tube boiler

Technology

• Analytical or scientific software
• Development environment software
• Electronic mail software
• Industrial control software
• Inventory management software
• Office suite software
• Spreadsheet software
• Word processing software