Also called: Kiln Burner, Kiln Control Room Operator
Controls the huge, red-hot rotating kiln at the heart of a cement plant from a control room full of screens.
Your kiln is a steel tube taller than a building lying on its side, slowly turning, with flames inside hotter than lava. Old-timers called this job the "burner." You watch a live camera of the flame and adjust fuel, air and feed to keep the clinker just right for hours on end.
Estimated; cement plant operators earn well above the BLS furnace and kiln operator average (about $50k).
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
High school diploma, about 0 years after high school. High school; years of plant experience before moving into the control room.
Ways in: On-the-job training. Training cost: Get paid while you train.
Majors to look at: Process Technology (2-year).
Growing about average. Steady; cement demand follows construction.
Medium risk in 5 years, high in 10. AI kiln optimization software already makes many control moves; fewer operators are needed per plant.
Classes: Chemistry, Physics, Algebra II.
Official data: O*NET occupation 51-9051.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.