Stationary Engineers and Boiler Operator Operate or maintain stationary engines, boilers, or other mechanical equipment to provide utilities for buildings or industrial processes. Operate equipment such as steam engines, generators, motors, turbines, and steam boilers.
Stationary Engineers and Boiler Operator is Also Know as
In different settings, Stationary Engineers and Boiler Operator is titled as
- Auxiliary Operator
- Boiler Operator
- Boiler Technician (Boiler Tech)
- Operating Engineer
- Operator
- Plant Utilities Engineer
- Recovery Boiler Operator
- Stationary Engineer
- Stationary Steam Engineer
- Utilities Operator
Education and Training of Stationary Engineers and Boiler Operator
Stationary Engineers and Boiler Operator is categorized in Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed
Experience Required for Stationary Engineers and Boiler Operator
Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.
Education Required for Stationary Engineers and Boiler Operator
Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.
Degrees Related to Stationary Engineers and Boiler Operator
Training Required for Stationary Engineers and Boiler Operator
Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.
Related Ocuupations
Some Ocuupations related to Stationary Engineers and Boiler Operator in different industries are
- Power Plant Operators
- Biomass Plant Technicians
- Gas Compressor and Gas Pumping Station Operators
- Control and Valve Installers and Repairers, Except Mechanical Door
- Engine and Other Machine Assemblers
- Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers
- Industrial Machinery Mechanics
- Mechanical Engineers
- Hydroelectric Plant Technicians
- Petroleum Pump System Operators, Refinery Operators, and Gaugers
- Geothermal Technicians
- Chemical Plant and System Operators
- Gas Plant Operators
- Pump Operators, Except Wellhead Pumpers
- Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters
- Power Distributors and Dispatchers
- Maintenance and Repair Workers, General
- Boilermakers
- Electric Motor, Power Tool, and Related Repairers
- Aircraft Structure, Surfaces, Rigging, and Systems Assemblers
What Do Stationary Engineers and Boiler Operator do?
- Operate or tend stationary engines, boilers, and auxiliary equipment, such as pumps, compressors, or air-conditioning equipment, to supply and maintain steam or heat for buildings, marine vessels, or pneumatic tools.
- Observe and interpret readings on gauges, meters, and charts registering various aspects of boiler operation to ensure that boilers are operating properly.
- Test boiler water quality or arrange for testing and take necessary corrective action, such as adding chemicals to prevent corrosion and harmful deposits.
- Activate valves to maintain required amounts of water in boilers, to adjust supplies of combustion air, and to control the flow of fuel into burners.
- Monitor boiler water, chemical, and fuel levels, and make adjustments to maintain required levels.
- Fire coal furnaces by hand or with stokers and gas- or oil-fed boilers, using automatic gas feeds or oil pumps.
- Monitor and inspect equipment, computer terminals, switches, valves, gauges, alarms, safety devices, and meters to detect leaks or malfunctions and to ensure that equipment is operating efficiently and safely.
- Analyze problems and take appropriate action to ensure continuous and reliable operation of equipment and systems.
- Maintain daily logs of operation, maintenance, and safety activities, including test results, instrument readings, and details of equipment malfunctions and maintenance work.
- Adjust controls and/or valves on equipment to provide power, and to regulate and set operations of system or industrial processes.
- Switch from automatic to manual controls and isolate equipment mechanically and electrically to allow for safe inspection and repair work.
- Clean and lubricate boilers and auxiliary equipment and make minor adjustments as needed, using hand tools.
- Check the air quality of ventilation systems and make adjustments to ensure compliance with mandated safety codes.
- Perform or arrange for repairs, such as complete overhauls, replacement of defective valves, gaskets, or bearings, or fabrication of new parts.
- Weigh, measure, and record fuel used.
- Develop operation, safety, and maintenance procedures or assist in their development.
- Install burners and auxiliary equipment, using hand tools.
- Contact equipment manufacturers or appropriate specialists when necessary to resolve equipment problems.
- Test electrical systems to determine voltages, using voltage meters.
- Provide assistance to plumbers in repairing or replacing water, sewer, or waste lines, and in daily maintenance activities.
- Supervise the work of assistant stationary engineers, turbine operators, boiler tenders, or air conditioning and refrigeration operators and mechanics.
- Receive instructions from steam engineers regarding steam plant and air compressor operations.
- Ignite fuel in burners, using torches or flames.
- Investigate and report on accidents.
- Operate mechanical hoppers and provide assistance in their adjustment and repair.
Qualities of Good Stationary Engineers and Boiler Operator
- Near Vision: The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
- Problem Sensitivity: The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
- Oral Comprehension: The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
- Oral Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
- Deductive Reasoning: The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
- Inductive Reasoning: The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
- Information Ordering: The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
- Perceptual Speed: The ability to quickly and accurately compare similarities and differences among sets of letters, numbers, objects, pictures, or patterns. The things to be compared may be presented at the same time or one after the other. This ability also includes comparing a presented object with a remembered object.
- Category Flexibility: The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
- Arm-Hand Steadiness: The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
- Selective Attention: The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
- Manual Dexterity: The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.
- Finger Dexterity: The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects.
- Control Precision: The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.
- Multilimb Coordination: The ability to coordinate two or more limbs (for example, two arms, two legs, or one leg and one arm) while sitting, standing, or lying down. It does not involve performing the activities while the whole body is in motion.
- Reaction Time: The ability to quickly respond (with the hand, finger, or foot) to a signal (sound, light, picture) when it appears.
- Auditory Attention: The ability to focus on a single source of sound in the presence of other distracting sounds.
- Written Comprehension: The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
- Far Vision: The ability to see details at a distance.
- Speech Clarity: The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
- Speech Recognition: The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
- Written Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
- Visualization: The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.
- Hearing Sensitivity: The ability to detect or tell the differences between sounds that vary in pitch and loudness.
- Flexibility of Closure: The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
- Time Sharing: The ability to shift back and forth between two or more activities or sources of information (such as speech, sounds, touch, or other sources).
- Static Strength: The ability to exert maximum muscle force to lift, push, pull, or carry objects.
- Visual Color Discrimination: The ability to match or detect differences between colors, including shades of color and brightness.
- Fluency of Ideas: The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
- Response Orientation: The ability to choose quickly between two or more movements in response to two or more different signals (lights, sounds, pictures). It includes the speed with which the correct response is started with the hand, foot, or other body part.
- Extent Flexibility: The ability to bend, stretch, twist, or reach with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Trunk Strength: The ability to use your abdominal and lower back muscles to support part of the body repeatedly or continuously over time without "giving out" or fatiguing.
- Speed of Closure: The ability to quickly make sense of, combine, and organize information into meaningful patterns.
- Originality: The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
- Depth Perception: The ability to judge which of several objects is closer or farther away from you, or to judge the distance between you and an object.
- Rate Control: The ability to time your movements or the movement of a piece of equipment in anticipation of changes in the speed and/or direction of a moving object or scene.
- Memorization: The ability to remember information such as words, numbers, pictures, and procedures.
- Dynamic Strength: The ability to exert muscle force repeatedly or continuously over time. This involves muscular endurance and resistance to muscle fatigue.
- Wrist-Finger Speed: The ability to make fast, simple, repeated movements of the fingers, hands, and wrists.
- Spatial Orientation: The ability to know your location in relation to the environment or to know where other objects are in relation to you.
- Peripheral Vision: The ability to see objects or movement of objects to one's side when the eyes are looking ahead.
- Mathematical Reasoning: The ability to choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem.
- Number Facility: The ability to add, subtract, multiply, or divide quickly and correctly.
- Gross Body Coordination: The ability to coordinate the movement of your arms, legs, and torso together when the whole body is in motion.
- Stamina: The ability to exert yourself physically over long periods of time without getting winded or out of breath.
- Glare Sensitivity: The ability to see objects in the presence of a glare or bright lighting.
- Gross Body Equilibrium: The ability to keep or regain your body balance or stay upright when in an unstable position.
- Sound Localization: The ability to tell the direction from which a sound originated.
- Explosive Strength: The ability to use short bursts of muscle force to propel oneself (as in jumping or sprinting), or to throw an object.
- Speed of Limb Movement: The ability to quickly move the arms and legs.
- Night Vision: The ability to see under low-light conditions.
- Dynamic Flexibility: The ability to quickly and repeatedly bend, stretch, twist, or reach out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Tools Used by Stationary Engineers and Boiler Operator
- Adjustable wrenches
- Amp meters
- Bench lathes
- Bourdon tubes
- Claw hammers
- Colorimeters
- Combustion analyzers
- Conductivity meters
- Descalers
- Dial calipers
- Dial indicators
- Digital multimeters
- Drill presses
- Dropping pipettes
- Electric drain augers
- Electronic remote reading thermometers
- Electronic temperature sensors
- Equipment cleaning scrapers
- Filter masks
- Forklifts
- Gas brazing equipment
- Graduated glass cylinders
- Grapple cranes
- Grease guns
- Hand pipe threaders
- Hydraulic boom trucks
- Hydraulic press frames
- Hydrometers
- Industrial platform scales
- Infrared guns
- Ladders
- Layout squares
- Locking pliers
- Manifold test gauges
- Metal cutting dies
- Metal cutting taps
- Micrometers
- Ohmmeters
- Oil guns
- Opacity meters
- Oxyacetylene welding equipment
- Personal computers
- pH indicators
- Phillips head screwdrivers
- Pipe cutters
- Pipe wrenches
- Pneumatic pumps
- Power drills
- Power meters
- Power saws
- Precision levels
- Pressure gauges
- Pressure transmitters
- Programmable logic controllers PLC
- Protective ear plugs
- Ratchets
- Rotary hammers
- Safety glasses
- Safety gloves
- Sandblasters
- Scaffolding
- Self-contained breathing apparatus
- Shielded arc welding tools
- Sling psychrometers
- Socket wrench sets
- Steam cleaning equipment
- Straight screwdrivers
- Tapping machines
- Thermocouples
- Turbidimeters
- Two way radios
- Voltmeters
- Water column gauges
Technology Skills required for Stationary Engineers and Boiler Operator
- Building management system software
- Computerized maintenance management system CMMS
- Database software
- Email software
- Graphics software
- Microsoft Active Server Pages ASP
- Microsoft Excel
- Microsoft Office software
- Microsoft Outlook
- Microsoft PowerPoint
- Microsoft Word
- Operating system software
- Operational Data Store ODS software
- SAP software
- Spreadsheet software
- Statistical software
- Web browser software
- Word processing software