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Power Plant Operators

Control, operate, or maintain machinery to generate electric power. Includes auxiliary equipment operators.

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    Work Activities

    Work Activities

    • Open and close valves and switches in sequence to start or shut down auxiliary units.
    • Clean, lubricate, or maintain equipment, such as generators, turbines, pumps, or compressors, to prevent failure or deterioration.
    • Clean, lubricate, or maintain equipment, such as generators, turbines, pumps, or compressors, to prevent failure or deterioration.
    • Control generator output to match the phase, frequency, or voltage of electricity supplied to panels.
    • Receive outage calls and request necessary personnel during power outages or emergencies.
    • Examine and test electrical power distribution machinery and equipment, using testing devices.
    • Adjust controls to generate specified electrical power or to regulate the flow of power between generating stations and substations.
    • Control or maintain auxiliary equipment, such as pumps, fans, compressors, condensers, feedwater heaters, filters, or chlorinators, to supply water, fuel, lubricants, air, or auxiliary power.
    • Control power generating equipment, including boilers, turbines, generators, or reactors, using control boards or semi-automatic equipment.
    • Inspect records or log book entries or communicate with plant personnel to assess equipment operating status.
    • Regulate equipment operations and conditions, such as water levels, based on instrument data or from computers.
    • Operate, control, or monitor equipment, such as acid or gas carbon dioxide removal units, carbon dioxide compressors, or pipelines, to capture, store, or transport carbon dioxide exhaust.
    • Operate or maintain distributed power generation equipment, including fuel cells or microturbines, to produce energy on-site for manufacturing or other commercial purposes.
    • Collect oil, water, or electrolyte samples for laboratory analysis.
    • Operate or maintain distributed power generation equipment, including fuel cells or microturbines, to produce energy on-site for manufacturing or other commercial purposes.
    • Communicate with systems operators to regulate and coordinate line voltages and transmission loads and frequencies.
    • Record and compile operational data by completing and maintaining forms, logs, or reports.
    • Operate, control, or monitor gasifiers or related equipment, such as coolers, water quenches, water gas shifts reactors, or sulfur recovery units, to produce syngas or electricity from coal.
    • Operate, control, or monitor integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) or related equipment, such as air separation units, to generate electricity from coal.
    • Clean, lubricate, or maintain equipment, such as generators, turbines, pumps, or compressors, to prevent failure or deterioration.
    • Place standby emergency electrical generators on line in emergencies and monitor the temperature, output, and lubrication of the system.
    • Place standby emergency electrical generators on line in emergencies and monitor the temperature, output, and lubrication of the system.
    • Monitor power plant equipment and indicators to detect evidence of operating problems.
    • Control or maintain auxiliary equipment, such as pumps, fans, compressors, condensers, feedwater heaters, filters, or chlorinators, to supply water, fuel, lubricants, air, or auxiliary power.
    • Start or stop generators, auxiliary pumping equipment, turbines, or other power plant equipment as necessary.
    • Start or stop generators, auxiliary pumping equipment, turbines, or other power plant equipment as necessary.
    • Take regulatory action, based on readings from charts, meters and gauges, at established intervals.
    • Make adjustments or minor repairs, such as tightening leaking gland or pipe joints.

    Skills

    • Programming

      Writing computer programs.

    • Operation and Control

      Using equipment or systems.

    • Repairing

      Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.

    • Quality Control Analysis

      Testing how well a product or service works.

    • Monitoring

      Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.

    • Complex Problem Solving

      Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.

    • Mathematics

      Using math to solve problems.

    • Reading Comprehension

      Reading work-related information.

    • Science

      Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.

    • Technology Design

      Making equipment and technology useful for customers.

    • Instructing

      Teaching people how to do something.

    • Speaking

      Talking to others.

    • Service Orientation

      Looking for ways to help people.

    • Active Listening

      Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.

    • Active Learning

      Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.

    • Social Perceptiveness

      Understanding people's reactions.

    • Writing

      Writing things for co-workers or customers.

    • Learning Strategies

      Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.

    • Equipment Selection

      Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.

    • 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.

    • Systems Analysis

      Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.

    • Time Management

      Managing your time and the time of other people.

    • Management of Financial Resources

      Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.

    • Operations Monitoring

      Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.

    • Equipment Maintenance

      Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.

    • Troubleshooting

      Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.

    • Systems Evaluation

      Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.

    • Critical Thinking

      Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.

    • Persuasion

      Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.

    • Negotiation

      Bringing people together to solve differences.

    • Operations Analysis

      Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.

    • Coordination

      Changing what is done based on other people's actions.

    • Management of Material Resources

      Managing equipment and materials.

    • Management of Personnel Resources

      Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.

    WorkKeys®

    Applied Math
    4
    Workplace Documents
    4
    Graphic Literacy
    4

    Abilities

    • Multilimb Coordination

      Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.

    • Stamina

      Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.

    • Speed of Limb Movement

      Quickly moving your arms and legs.

    • Memorization

      Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.

    • Speed of Closure

      Quickly knowing what you are looking at.

    • Inductive Reasoning

      Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.

    • Gross Body Equilibrium

      Keeping your balance or staying upright.

    • Night Vision

      Seeing at night or under low light.

    • Control Precision

      Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.

    • Static Strength

      Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.

    • Explosive Strength

      Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.

    • Wrist-Finger Speed

      Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.

    • Visual Color Discrimination

      Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.

    • Speech Clarity

      Speaking clearly.

    • Fluency of Ideas

      Coming up with lots of ideas.

    • Deductive Reasoning

      Using rules to solve problems.

    • Problem Sensitivity

      Noticing when problems happen.

    • Category Flexibility

      Grouping things in different ways.

    • Oral Comprehension

      Listening and understanding what people say.

    • Written Comprehension

      Reading and understanding what is written.

    • Response Orientation

      Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.

    • Gross Body Coordination

      Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.

    • Trunk Strength

      Using your lower back and stomach.

    • Reaction Time

      Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.

    • Finger Dexterity

      Putting together small parts with your fingers.

    • Manual Dexterity

      Holding or moving items with your hands.

    • Speech Recognition

      Recognizing spoken words.

    • Flexibility of Closure

      Seeing hidden patterns.

    • Perceptual Speed

      Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.

    • Spatial Orientation

      Knowing where things are around you.

    • Visualization

      Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.

    • Selective Attention

      Paying attention to something without being distracted.

    • Originality

      Creating new and original ideas.

    • Near Vision

      Seeing details up close.

    • 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.

    • Peripheral Vision

      Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.

    • Sound Localization

      Noticing the direction that a sound came from.

    • Auditory Attention

      Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.

    • Far Vision

      Seeing details that are far away.

    • Glare Sensitivity

      Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.

    • Dynamic Strength

      Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.

    • 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.

    • Extent Flexibility

      Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.

    • Information Ordering

      Ordering or arranging things.

    • Oral Expression

      Communicating by speaking.

    • Written Expression

      Communicating by writing.

    • Mathematical Reasoning

      Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.

    • Number Facility

      Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.

    • Arm-Hand Steadiness

      Keeping your arm or hand steady.

    • Dynamic Flexibility

      Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.

    Knowledge

    • 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.

    • 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.

    • Food Production

      Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.

    • 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.

    • English Language

      Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, 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.

    • 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.

    • 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.

    • 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.

    • Production and Processing

      Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.

    • Mathematics

      Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.

    • Mechanical

      Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.

    • 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.

    • Computers and Electronics

      Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

    • Sociology and Anthropology

      Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.

    • 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.

    • Transportation

      Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.

    • 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.

    • 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.

    • 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.

    • History and Archeology

      Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.

    • 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.

    • 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.

    • 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.

    • 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.

    • 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.

    • Law and Government

      Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.

    • Telecommunications

      Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.

    • Biology

      Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.

    • Economics and Accounting

      Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.

    • 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.

    • Design

      Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.

    • 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.

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    Pay

    • Ohio Annual Salary 91600/yr
    • Typical Salary
    • Ohio Hourly Wage 44.04/hr
    • Typical Hourly Wage

    Ohio Employment Trends

    • Currently Employed 670
    • Yearly Projected Openings 60

    Typical Education

    Personality

    Realistic: People interested in this work like activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions.They do well at jobs that need:
    • Dependability
    • Analytical Thinking
    • Attention to Detail
    • Integrity
    • Adaptability/Flexibility
    • Cooperation

    Tools

    • Absorbent booms
    • Adjustable widemouth pliers
    • Adjustable wrenches
    • Air compressors
    • Air dryers
    • Air samplers or collectors
    • Air scrubbers
    • Alarm systems
    • All terrain vehicles tracked or wheeled
    • Anemometers
    • Backhoes
    • Belt conveyors
    • Blowers
    • Boiler or heater igniter
    • Brushless motor DC
    • Bucket conveyors
    • Catalytic combustion analyzers
    • Chain conveyors
    • Claw hammer
    • Combustible or hazardous gas detectors for power generators
    • Commercial water heaters
    • Condensing units
    • Conductivity meters
    • Desktop computers
    • Diesel generators
    • Digital readout recorders
    • Dump trucks
    • Electrical control panels for generators
    • Electrical or power regulators
    • Electrostatic apparatus
    • Evaporative coolers
    • Facial shields
    • Fire tube boilers
    • Fixed screens
    • Flare or vent stacks
    • Flow transmitters
    • Flowmeters
    • Gas detectors
    • Gas generators
    • Gasoline engines
    • Graphic recorders
    • Grease guns
    • Hand pumps
    • Hard hats
    • Heat exchangers
    • Heat pumps
    • Impact crushers
    • Infrared imagers
    • Level sensors or transmitters
    • Light trucks or sport utility vehicles
    • Limit switch
    • Mainframe computers
    • Motor compressors
    • Multi gas monitors
    • Notebook computers
    • Oil filters
    • Oil gun
    • Oxygen gas analyzers
    • Personal computers
    • Portable data input terminals
    • Power supply transformers
    • Pressure indicators
    • Pressure sensors
    • Pressure transmitters
    • Process air heaters
    • Pulverizing machinery
    • Respiration air supplying self contained breathing apparatus or accessories
    • Rotameters
    • Safety valves
    • Sampling pumps
    • Screw conveyor
    • Screwdrivers
    • Sight flow windows
    • Signal converters
    • Skid steer loaders
    • Steam engines
    • Steam generators
    • Substation load control switchgears
    • Switchyard disconnect switches
    • Temperature transmitters
    • Thermal engines
    • Touch screen monitors
    • Turbine engines
    • Vacuum pumps
    • Venturis
    • Vibration testers
    • Water filters
    • Water pumps
    • Water purification equipment
    • Water samplers
    • Water softening accessories
    • Water tube boiler
    • Wet scrubbers

    Technology

    • Analytical or scientific software
    • Data base user interface and query software
    • Electronic mail software
    • Enterprise resource planning ERP software
    • Facilities management software
    • Industrial control software
    • Internet browser software
    • Office suite software
    • Operating system software
    • Presentation software
    • Spreadsheet software
    • Word processing software

    Tags

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