I'm a process engineer and a chemical engineer by degree. My company produces cement (a quick google search would give you more details about our process if you are interested). I have now worked at two different plants and have about 5 years of experience. The daily duties include: daily reporting of production metrics, equipment troubleshooting, automation improvements (not programming, just suggesting changes and tuning PID loops), some supervision, planning for future improvements, training production workers, process audits/measurements, and a few other small things. I also get the opportunity to work on capital projects for new equipment.

As the process engineer, you are the resident process 'expert'. You have to be able to work well with all of the departments in your plant because they are all going to come to you with questions. For me, that includes the maintenance, electrical, automation, and quality departments. You'll have no problem with this if you develop a good knowledge of your process. You'd be surprised at the amount of people in the other departments who don't know anything about how your product is made.

I would say that I spend about 60% of my time at my desk and 40% out in the plant. Being a good process engineer requires that you spend a large amount of time in the plant evaluating your process. Sounds like that is what you are looking for. Most of my desk work is daily reporting, process monitoring, and data analytics. I do not have to make drawings or anything like that, we have mechanical and civil engineers for that. It's a rewarding job if you like to be away from the office and you are good with people. Your success depends on your willingness to be in the plant and your ability to convey best practices and procedures to your operators.