Explore by Career/Production
Gas Plant Operators
Distribute or process gas for utility companies and others by controlling compressors to maintain specified pressures on main pipelines.
- Median pay
- $83,400
- per year
- 10-year outlook
- -8.8%
- Declining
- Typical entry
- High school diploma or equivalent
Key skills
- Operations Monitoring
- Operation and Control
- Monitoring
- Critical Thinking
- Quality Control Analysis
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Reading Comprehension
- Active Listening
What they do
- Monitor equipment functioning, observe temperature, level, and flow gauges, and perform regular unit checks to ensure that all equipment is operating as it should.
- Distribute or process gas for utility companies or industrial plants, using panel boards, control boards, and semi-automatic equipment.
- Control operation of compressors, scrubbers, evaporators, and refrigeration equipment to liquefy, compress, or regasify natural gas.
- Control equipment to regulate flow and pressure of gas to feedlines of boilers, furnaces, and related steam-generating or heating equipment.
- Record, review, and compile operations records, test results, and gauge readings such as temperatures, pressures, concentrations, and flows.
- Determine causes of abnormal pressure variances, and make corrective recommendations, such as installation of pipes to relieve overloading.
- Adjust temperature, pressure, vacuum, level, flow rate, or transfer of gas to maintain processes at required levels or to correct problems.
- Collaborate with other operators to solve unit problems.
- Monitor transportation and storage of flammable and other potentially dangerous products to ensure that safety guidelines are followed.
- Start and shut down plant equipment.
Majors that lead here
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS, Employment Projections) and O*NET, used under CC BY 4.0.