When most people think of an oil refinery, they probably picture guys in hard hats getting immensely filthy while working in places with lots of piping, fire and nasty smells. But the reality is a touch different, says Richard Ortloff, training and development coordinator at Cooperative Refining. Refineries serve as the bartenders of the oil industry. Just as bartenders take a rainbow of alcoholic beverages and turn them into cocktails, refineries take crude oil and mix it into gases after cutting, burning and combining it.
Operators then mix it into gasoline, diesel and liquid petroleum gas such as propane.
The intricate and somewhat dangerous process involves heating, gasifying, liquefying and re-liquefying crude oil, Ortloff says. Like most plants, refineries have incorporated more and more technology into their manufacturing processes. That means they're dependent on operators who understand computers and mathematics and can perform several tasks at once. Understanding all that data, as well as schematics and other graphical representations of the process, requires sophisticated technology and operators who know how to use it. The average new operator at the refinery has a high school education and several years of work experience.