Program Info
Program Description
Prepares students who are successful to understand, operate, shut down, analyze, and troubleshoot industrial processes in fields such as refining, petrochemical, power generation, oil and gas production, food, metals, minerals, and others. Course work offers the opportunity to increase technical knowledge and skills in areas such as operating equipment, instrumentation and process systems, troubleshooting, and computer applications.
Fuel, energy, water, and chemical companies throughout Michigan are interested in process industry technicians. Technicians check and manage the processes that make a product, working with engineers, chemists, and other professionals as a team member. Work may be conducted in a lab setting or in all types of weather and places in scheduled shift work.
In this career, you will:
- Maintain a safe work place.
- Install, operate, and troubleshoot industrial machines and equipment.
- Develop, analyze, and implement procedures.
- Work with vendors and raw material suppliers.
- Prepare manuals and flow charts.
Upon successful completion of this program, students should be able to:
- Demonstrate a working knowledge of Process Industry-based manufacturing systems with a focus on process technology operations using a systems perspective and process safety management.
- Demonstrate standard principles and practices of the commonly utilized equipment in the Process Industry. This includes their purpose, component types, operation, and the Process Technician’s role in terms of operating and troubleshooting.
- Identify and describe process equipment related to basic systems, describe the purpose and function of specific process systems, explain how factors affecting process systems are controlled under normal conditions, and recognize abnormal process conditions.
- Identify and apply the common terms and symbols used in algebra as they relate to the Process Industry and solve practical application problems requiring the use of industrial formulas and equations.
- Define and apply the concepts of mass, force, motion, work, energy, and power and identify their practical applications in the workplace, identify the practical applications of reactions involving oxidation and reduction, and have a working knowledge of the chemistry of the environment, including air pollution, the chemistry of trace metals, hazardous waste in the ground and water, and radioactive wastes as they relate to the Process Industry.
- Demonstrate a working knowledge of the basic refinery and process plant operations, basic operating and maintenance procedures, basic equipment, systems, and instrumentation found in the process technology environment.
- Demonstrate standard principles and practices associated with the fundamental principles and laws governing general chemistry, recognize the symbols of elements and differentiate between elements, compounds and mixtures; demonstrate proficiency in using the periodic table as a tool to make predictions; recognizing patterns and locating information about atoms, and apply principles of safety rules and demonstrate knowledge of the use of common laboratory and safety equipment.
- Demonstrate standard principles and practices associated with the fundamental principles and laws governing general physics and the concepts of mass, force, motion, energy, work, and power; be able to identify their practical applications in the workplace; and be able to apply the concepts of mass, force, motion, energy, work, and power to the six basic machines.
- Describe and demonstrate a basic level of proficiency with the manipulation of the commonly used devices and equipment associated with instrumentation: pressure, pressure instruments, temperature and temperature instruments, level and level instruments, flow and flow measurement instruments, and analytical instruments. Be able to describe the major process variables controlled in the Process Industry.
Henry Ford College is working in partnership with the Detroit Regional Chamber and Michigan Works! agencies as part of its mission to provide skilled and qualified workers for Michigan’s manufacturing industries. HFC is a member of the Southeast Michigan Community College Consortium, nine community colleges sharing resources and developing mutual educational solutions to support the region’s economic development.
Program Requirements
| Course name | Credit Hours |
|---|---|
| CHEM-131: Principles of Chemistry | 4.00 |
| ENG-131: Introduction to College Writing | 3.00 |
| TAFD-117: Industrial Computer Applications | 3.00 |