Description
Operate and monitor industrial refrigeration systems—compressors, condensers, evaporators, chillers, and blast/spiral freezers—to maintain specified temperatures and pressures for cooling and freezing products and process materials in industrial facilities; perform adjustments, routine maintenance, sanitation, and documentation to ensure safe, efficient operation.
- • Adjust compressor capacity, evaporator fan speed, and dampers to meet temperature and humidity targets.
- • Monitor suction and discharge pressures, temperatures, amperage, flows, and superheat; tune controls to maintain setpoints.
- • Start and stop compressors, condensers, pumps, evaporators, and auxiliary equipment per demand.
- • Open and close manual and automatic valves to route refrigerant, brine, or glycol as required.
- • Perform defrost cycles and remove ice buildup from coils, doors, and floors to maintain airflow and safety.
- • Record operating data, temperatures, pressures, alarms, and work performed in logs and reports.
- • Read control panels, HMIs, and gauges; adjust setpoints, expansion valves, and VFDs as needed.
- • Troubleshoot trips and abnormal conditions; reset safeties when authorized and notify supervisors of issues.
- • Inspect systems for leaks, vibration, oil levels, and unusual noise; escalate maintenance needs.
- • Charge or recover refrigerant to specified levels using calibrated scales; document usage.
- • Drain, add, and manage compressor oil; maintain oil separators and return systems.
- • Test brine or glycol concentration and pH with refractometers or meters; adjust mixtures to specification.
- • Flush and sanitize evaporators, drip pans, and lines with approved solutions or steam per SOPs.
- • Configure and monitor recipes or profiles for blast freezers, spiral freezers, and chill tunnels.
- • Verify chamber loading patterns, door seals, and airflow to ensure even cooling and product quality.
- • Isolate equipment with valves and perform lockout/tagout to support maintenance and repairs.
- • Respond to alarms and emergencies, including refrigerant leak events; use required PPE and procedures.
- • Coordinate with production to schedule downtime, defrosts, and setpoint changes to meet demand.
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Related Pathways
Advanced Manufacturing
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Source
Tasks & skills:
O*NET occupational data (work activities, skills, knowledge).
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Sources & Standards:
This site includes information from O*NET by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. Career Clutch has modified some of this information for student readability. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
Last reviewed: Jan 2026
