A professional who controls equipment units or system that processes chemical substances into specified industrial or consumer products, according to knowledge of operating procedures, chemical reactions, laboratory test results, and correlation of process instrumentation. Respnsibilities include:

• Reads plant specifications to ascertain product, ingredients, and prescribed modifications of plant procedures.
• Starts automatic feed of solid or semisolid materials through equipment units, such as heating vessels and mixing tanks; or dumps preweighed ingredients into tanks, hoppers, or onto conveyor.
• Moves controls to regulate feed of liquids and gases through equipment in specified timing and sequence, or starts automatic feed.
• Sets up and adjusts indicating and controlling devices, such as gas analyzers, recording calorimeters, and radiographic detecting or gauging instruments to facilitate simultaneous analysis and control of process conditions.
• Observes gauges, signals, and recording instruments, turns valves, and moves controls to regulate temperatures, pressures, and flow of steam, coolant, and chemical constituents through system to effect prescribed reaction within critical limits, according to knowledge of equipment and process.
• Draws samples of product at specified stages of synthesis and performs litmus, titration, refractometer, gas-analyses, or other standard tests to determine if reaction is proceeding efficiently and in conformity with plant standards.
• Observes color or consistency of product through sight glasses, and correlates observations with test results, laboratory analyses, and instrument readings to facilitate regulation of process and production of standardized product.
• Maintains log of gauge readings, shift production, and equipment malfunctions.
• May patrol area to inspect equipment for leaks and hazards and to record gauge readings.
• May direct activities of other workers assisting in control or verification of process.
• May be designated according to equipment or system controlled as caustic-purification operator; gas-generator operator; lanolin-plant operator; sulfonator operator; or according to product produced as alkylation operator; ethylene-oxide panelboard operator; polymer operator; sodium-chlorite operator.