Design real distillation columns, heat exchanger networks, batch reactors, and process safety studies โ fluid mechanics, heat/mass transfer, reaction engineering, P&IDs, HAZOP, and process control. 17 core modules, 5 complete real-project case studies (distillation column design, heat exchanger network design, batch reactor process design, process safety/HAZOP study, pump & piping system design), a 12-template documentation kit, and a certificate of completion. One-time purchase, no account required.
Explore the Full Curriculum โNot usually for day-to-day work โ much chemical engineering happens inside companies rather than as life-safety designs that require a stamp. But the FE and PE Chemical credentials are valued for consulting, public-safety, and senior process-responsibility roles, and licensure is required to call yourself a "Professional Engineer" and offer engineering services to the public in most states.
The FE Chemical is a 110-question, six-hour, computer-based exam covering mathematics and statistics, engineering economics, material and energy balances, chemical engineering thermodynamics, fluid mechanics and transport, heat transfer, mass transfer and separations, chemical reaction engineering, process control, process design and safety, and ethics. It is open-reference using only the NCEES FE Reference Handbook.
The PE Chemical is an 80-question, roughly eight-hour computer-based exam administered by NCEES. It is open-book โ you bring your own references and handbooks. Topics span mass and energy balances, thermodynamics and phase equilibria, fluid mechanics, heat and mass transfer, separations, reaction engineering, process control, process design and economics, and process safety. You qualify by passing the FE, gaining about four years of experience, and applying through your state board.
Chemical plants handle large inventories of flammable, toxic, or reactive materials under pressure, so a loss of containment can be catastrophic โ disasters like Flixborough and Bhopal reshaped the profession. Employers expect fluency in OSHA Process Safety Management (29 CFR 1910.119), process hazard analysis (HAZOP, LOPA), relief sizing, and CCPS risk-based process safety. It is woven through both the PE Chemical exam and everyday process engineering.
Both are open-reference, but differently. The FE Chemical allows only the on-screen, searchable NCEES FE Reference Handbook โ no personal materials. The PE Chemical is open-book in the traditional sense: you bring your own references and handbooks. Practicing how to find formulas quickly in the allowed materials is a major part of preparing for either exam.
NCEES publishes annual first-time pass rates for the PE Chemical exam, which typically run in roughly the 60-70% range for first-time takers and are noticeably lower for repeat takers. The PE Chemical is one of the lower-volume NCEES discipline exams, so year-to-year rates can move more than for higher-volume disciplines โ check the current NCEES pass-rate report for the exact figure.
The FE Chemical exam has a first-time pass rate generally in the 70-75% range according to NCEES data, similar to or slightly above most other FE discipline exams. It is taken close to graduation while core coursework (mass/energy balances, thermodynamics, transport) is still fresh, which is the main reason first-attempt pass rates run higher than the PE.
Two very different kinds of "nothing is changing." Equilibrium means zero net flow anywhere. Steady state means constant readings despite continuous, matched flow and ongoing reaction โ a distinction most industrial reactors depend on.
Diffusion is only one way mass actually moves โ and usually the minor one. Illustrated look at why convection dominates real absorption and distillation equipment, with diffusion mattering only in a thin film at the interface.
Why PV = nRT quietly stops working at high pressure and low temperature. Illustrated look at the compressibility factor Z, why real molecules have volume and forces the ideal gas law assumes away, and why equations of state like Van der Waals and Peng-Robinson exist.
Dalton's Law splits pressure by mole fraction โ but that's only an accurate stand-in for real chemical potential in the ideal-gas limit. Illustrated look at why high-pressure gas mixtures need fugacity, a corrected escaping-tendency pressure, to get phase equilibrium right.
"How fast" and "how far" are answered by completely different things. Illustrated look at why a reaction can have a hugely favorable equilibrium constant and still be too kinetically slow to ever observe โ and why a catalyst changes rate without changing where equilibrium sits.
Why some chemical plants never stop and others never run non-stop. Illustrated look at the discrete load-react-discharge batch cycle vs. uninterrupted continuous flow, and the real production-volume, product-variety, and traceability tradeoffs behind the choice.
One letter apart, completely different physical mechanisms. Illustrated look at why absorption is bulk-phase dissolution governed by solubility, while adsorption is surface-only adhesion governed by surface area and pore structure โ and why the mix-up causes real bed-sizing errors.
Two reactors can share the exact same average residence time and still convert completely differently. Illustrated look at why an ideal PFR has essentially zero residence time distribution while a CSTR's is genuinely wide โ and why that distribution, not just its average, governs conversion.
Same gas, same compression ratio, wildly different final temperature. Illustrated P-V diagram showing why the isothermal path stays cool while the adiabatic path โ the one real, fast compressors actually run โ produces the largest temperature swing of all, and why that isn't what 'adiabatic' sounds like it should mean.
An excellent hot-side film coefficient can't save a heat exchanger if the cold side or a fouling layer is the dominant resistance. Illustrated resistances-in-series diagram showing why the smallest h, not the largest, typically controls U โ and why improving the wrong side barely moves overall performance.
One number belongs to the piping and the tank; the other belongs to the pump. Illustrated suction-side head budget and flow-range comparison showing exactly where cavitation begins โ and why NPSH-A just being positive isn't a real safety margin.
Flammability is a window, not a threshold โ too lean below the LEL, too rich above the UEL. Illustrated concentration diagram showing why 'too rich to ignite' is not the same as safe, since dilution always walks the mixture back through the flammable range.
One reseats after venting; the other bursts once and must be replaced. Illustrated cross-section comparing a spring-loaded relief valve against a one-time rupture disk, and why the two are often paired instead of substituted for each other.
A 20-section interactive handbook covering material and energy balances, fluid mechanics, heat transfer and LMTD exchanger design, distillation and separations, reaction kinetics and reactor design, process control, P&ID reading, process safety (HAZOP/PSM), and pinch analysis. First 3 free to preview.
Explore what happened, what the investigations found and how to apply the lessons.