Job Description:

• 1) Analyzes specifications and controls continuous operation of petroleum refining and processing units to produce products, such as gasoline, kerosene, and fuel and lubricating oils, by such methods as distillation, absorption, extraction, adsorption, thermal and catalytic cracking and reforming, polymerization, isomerization, coking, visbreaking, and alkylation: Reads processing schedules, operating logs, test results of oil samples, and laboratory recommendations to determine changes in equipment controls required to produce specified quantity and quality of product.

• 2) Moves and sets controls, such as knobs, valves, switches, levers, and index arms, on control panels to control process variables, such as flows, temperatures, pressures, vacuum, time, catalyst, and chemicals, by automatic regulation and remote control of processing units, such as heaters, furnaces, compressors, exchangers, reactors, quenchers, stabilizers, fractionators, rechargers, absorbers, strippers, debutanizers, stills, and towers.

• 3) May control activities of several processing units operated in conjunction.

• 4) May be designated according to process involved or plant operated as Absorption Plant Operator; Purification Operator; Refinery Operator, Cracking Unit; Refinery Operator, Polymerization Plant; Refinery Operator, Reforming Unit; Refinery Operator, Visbreaking.

• 5) May be designated: Refinery Operator, Alkylation; Refinery Operator, Coking; Refinery Operator, Crude Unit; Refinery Operator, Gas Plant; Refinery Operator, Light-Ends Recovery; Refinery Operator, Vapor Recovery Unit.