FE discipline
FE Chemical
The chemical specification spreads across more of the handbook than any other. Material and energy balances, thermodynamics, heat transfer and safety are all served by the general sections at the front of the book, while reactor design, separations and cost estimation come from the chemical engineering section.
The trap
The single most common wasted search is looking for mass and energy balance material inside the chemical engineering section. It is not there - that work is done from thermodynamics.
Sections you will be working in
Ordered by how central they are to this exam. Page ranges come from the handbook version this build is calibrated to.
- Chemical Engineering
Reaction engineering, mass transfer, transport analogies, and solids
- Thermodynamics
Properties, laws, cycles, mixtures, and the steam tables
- Heat Transfer
Conduction, convection, and radiation
- Chemistry and Biology
Definitions, pH, nomenclature, and cellular biology
- Safety
Hazard assessment, toxicology, exposure limits, and noise
- Fluid Mechanics
Statics of fluids, flow principles, losses, machinery, and measurement
Knowledge areas on this exam
The knowledge-area names and question counts published by NCEES in the FE exam specifications for this discipline. 17 areas in total.
| # | Knowledge area | Questions |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mathematics | 6-9 |
| 2 | Probability and Statistics | 4-6 |
| 3 | Engineering Sciences | 4-6 |
| 4 | Materials Science | 4-6 |
| 5 | Chemistry and Biology | 7-11 |
| 6 | Fluid Mechanics/Dynamics | 8-12 |
| 7 | Thermodynamics | 8-12 |
| 8 | Material/Energy Balances | 10-15 |
| 9 | Heat Transfer | 8-12 |
| 10 | Mass Transfer and Separation | 8-12 |
| 11 | Solids Handling | 3-5 |
| 12 | Chemical Reaction Engineering | 7-11 |
| 13 | Economics | 4-6 |
| 14 | Process Design | 7-11 |
| 15 | Process Control | 4-6 |
| 16 | Safety, Health, and Environment | 5-8 |
| 17 | Ethics and Professional Practice | 3-5 |
Page numbers here are read from handbook version 10.5 (seventh printing, April 2025), which runs to 502 pages. NCEES revises the handbook and page numbers move with it, which is why the drill asks which section a topic lives in rather than which page. Check the version of your own copy, downloaded free from NCEES.