What books for ChE PE exam?

Any ChE PE's around that can offer advice on what books they took in? Ive heard the only things we need are:

Perry's Chemical Engineers Handbook

Chemical Engineering Review Manual

*Insert Book on Kinetics Here

Just wondering if this is it? I would probably take in some of my text books like McCabe and Smith, Unit Operations which is a great reference. Can anyone recommend a good Kinetics book? The text book I had for kinetics and reactor design was terrible. Ive heard theres one by Das which is pretty good.

Also what did you think of the test? One thing which usually takes me a really long time is complex process flow diagrams. I noticed in the FE that several problems had rather large diagrams with multiple columns, heat exchangers etc and then you were asked questions about it. Is there stuff like that on the PE?

FW --

Have you thought about taking the Environmental Eng PE Exam (not Civil w/ Env Depth) ??

I have two co-workers that are ChEs that work in the environmental remediation area. They had difficulty with the ChE PE exam, but easily passed the Env PE Exam.

I throw the thought out there for your consideration since it sounds like you are working in an 'environmental' area

Regards,

JR

Hey don't make our exam sound like the easy one! I get enough of that already.

FW --
Have you thought about taking the Environmental Eng PE Exam (not Civil w/ Env Depth) ??

I have two co-workers that are ChEs that work in the environmental remediation area. They had difficulty with the ChE PE exam, but easily passed the Env PE Exam.

I throw the thought out there for your consideration since it sounds like you are working in an 'environmental' area

Regards,

JR

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Ive thought about that but am going to stick with the ChE exam because Im going back for my masters. I figure taking masters classes will assist in the studying process. If I was just going to wing it on my own I would have considered it.

And no I dont consider environmental to be easy at all VTE

VTE --

LMAO ... I can see how my post could come across that way.

I was suggesting the environmental exam because:

1. FW indicated he was 'doing' environmental work;

2. ChE PE problems can be tough if you aren't working in that area; and

3. EnvE and ChE problems are predicated on process design, hence they utilize similar principles for solution.

I had a choice between Civil and Env exams - I ended up choosing civil because of my MS work in Civil (Geotech). The really funny (ironic) thing is that I passed the exam by taking WR depth. Go figure. :rotfl:

FW --

I have been pursuing a few ChE courses with the thought of parlaying that into a PhD program. That may be less of a dream at this point now that I have passed the PE exam. My area of interest has been immiscible fluids in porous media - the ChE classes seemed like a natural extension of the groundwater fate and transport work I have accomplished academically and professionally. I guess time will tell.

Best of luck in your preparation and grad school.

Regards,

JR

Yeah my biggest concern is not working in the chemical industry that the "Principle and Practices" would be hard. Is it possible to learn everything for the PE strictly from book knowledge? I would LOVE to work in a chemical plant but the plants in my area are stingy on hiring. I figured a PE would give me a leg up on the competition but if you need experience to pass the PE then I end up in that circular logic loop again.

Any ChE PE's around that can offer advice on what books they took in? Ive heard the only things we need are:
Perry's Chemical Engineers Handbook

Chemical Engineering Review Manual

*Insert Book on Kinetics Here

Just wondering if this is it? I would probably take in some of my text books like M, Unit Operations which is a great reference. Can anyone recommend a good Kinetics book? The text book I had for kinetics and reactor design was terrible. Ive heard theres one by Das which is pretty good.

Also what did you think of the test? One thing which usually takes me a really long time is complex process flow diagrams. I noticed in the FE that several problems had rather large diagrams with multiple columns, heat exchangers etc and then you were asked questions about it. Is there stuff like that on the PE?

Click to expand...

I brought Perry's to the exam, but it was no help.

A good comprehensive design reference would have been helpful...reference manual sucks here too!

I have Mccabe and smith as well, but I don't remember if I took it in with me though.

Find a thermocouple selection reference...I don't know if there is such a thing, but it would have helped.

As far as the ChE test itself...I hadn't touched anything ChE related since I graduated, I work for the state as regulator.

There were problems that had the process diagram, but they were not nearly as complex as the ones on the FE...those really kicked my butt when I took my FE too.

There were quite a few problems that boiled down to proper unit conversions...felt like trick questions. Always check to see what units they want the answer in, as the information given is not what the answer is. I also noticed that they almost always gave eveything you needed to solve the problem...But i stress the almost.

There were also several questions that I had absolutely no idea, more of experience related.

I would recomend a quick review(but not a bring to exam) of the info sections of NIOSH and Emergency response guidebooks. It was a surprise that my hazwoper refresher courses actually helped on a few questions.

Yeah my biggest concern is not working in the chemical industry that the "Principle and Practices" would be hard. Is it possible to learn everything for the PE strictly from book knowledge? I would LOVE to work in a chemical plant but the plants in my area are stingy on hiring. I figured a PE would give me a leg up on the competition but if you need experience to pass the PE then I end up in that circular logic loop again.

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I was in the same situation and had the same worries. But I just passed it on the first try...so it is possible.

Hey snickerd - don't forget that brand-new ChERM you'll be needing.

There might be a good deal on one in the yard sale forum....

Oh, and just to defend the honor of the field of Environmental Engineering -

October 2006 passing rates:

Environmental PE: 69%

Chemical PE: 76%

Just wondering if this is it? I would probably take in some of my text books like McCabe and Smith, Unit Operations which is a great reference. Can anyone recommend a good Kinetics book? The text book I had for kinetics and reactor design was terrible. Ive heard theres one by Das which is pretty good.
Also what did you think of the test? One thing which usually takes me a really long time is complex process flow diagrams. I noticed in the FE that several problems had rather large diagrams with multiple columns, heat exchangers etc and then you were asked questions about it. Is there stuff like that on the PE?

Click to expand...

I'm out of school 11 years and passed first time. If I can do it, anyone who works hard enough can. I have done very little work in my career that would apply to the PE, if anything, only a small amount of fluids.

When I first started studying, I started with the MATH section of the CHERM. Don't do that. You won't need to do any complex math. It took me three weeks of studying to get back into the groove of Diff Eq., and that is unnecessary.

I don't recall tough PFDs, but there will be material balance stuff on there and possible heat balance. But I think you'll find it pretty straightforward.

Levinspiel is the recommended Kinetics book. I had it, didn't use it, but probably could have if I hadn't been so rushed for time. The BEST reference for Kinetics is the 5th Edition CHERM from Robinson (by "the other board"). Try like heck to find it. Very nice to break down rate equations with easy to use tables.

I didn't get a chance to finish my last post....

You'll find that McCabe and Smith could be useful, but for those unit ops I was able to use either the 5th or 6th ed. of the CHERM, and it was more straightforward and to the point. Time is of the essence during the exam...you need to be able to go right to an equation or move on and you don't want to rifle through more than a few books if you can help it.

That being said, I think you'll also find the majority of the problems are of the type that if you know what formula to apply, they are basically plug-and-chug. Very little is tricky, most are just plain application of formulas and not screwing up units.

Now, this does not apply to the design section. These are the most difficult, in my opinion. You will either know it, or must have a decent idea where to look up the answer. Perry's is helpful, but you have to know where to go. You'll kill way too much time hunting and pecking. Review Perry's and tab out the design sections so you can go right where you think the answer may be. Levenspiel will be helpful as well. And the Das CHERM is also very good for kinetics and design. Maybe other areas, but I mainly used the "the other board" books. (There are some Das books for sale in the Yard Sale Forum..hint hint.)

If anyone has more specific questions, feel free to PM me and I'll help where I can.

mcole can you clarify a bit on what to expect from the design portion. I had two semesters of plant design, heat exchanger design and my mass transfer class covered distillation column design. Is that what the test covers or do I need to be studying up on other design areas?

I found Treybal to have a VERY good section on distillation design. I used to so much in school I could probably still find just about anything I need to know about distillation columns.

FusionWhite said:

mcole can you clarify a bit on what to expect from the design portion. I had two semesters of plant design, heat exchanger design and my mass transfer class covered distillation column design. Is that what the test covers or do I need to be studying up on other design areas?
I found Treybal to have a VERY good section on distillation design. I used to so much in school I could probably still find just about anything I need to know about distillation columns.

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Don't forget Kinetics and Process control. A lot on HXers so you should have a good basis. Same for strippers and evaporators. Spend some time on Thermo and Reactions and you'll be ok.

Dleg said:

Oh, and just to defend the honor of the field of Environmental Engineering -
October 2006 passing rates:

Environmental PE: 69%

Chemical PE: 76%

:brickwall:

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I would interpret this to mean Environmental Engineers were less prepared, or perhaps lack the capacity of understanding required to pass. :true:

Rhumbline said:

Don't forget Kinetics and Process control. A lot on HXers so you should have a good basis. Same for strippers and evaporators. Spend some time on Thermo and Reactions and you'll be ok.

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Im taking Advanced Reactor Design right now and Im amazed at how much of my kinetics knowledge is still tucked away in my brain. I figured I would have forgotten it all after 3 years but I can still whip up those rate and design equations with the best of them.

FusionWhite said:

mcole can you clarify a bit on what to expect from the design portion. I had two semesters of plant design, heat exchanger design and my mass transfer class covered distillation column design. Is that what the test covers or do I need to be studying up on other design areas?
I found Treybal to have a VERY good section on distillation design. I used to so much in school I could probably still find just about anything I need to know about distillation columns.

Click to expand...

Saying "design" is really a misnomer. Its more "principles and practice" or applied concepts or something. Very few require a calculator. That's why I say, you either know it, or not. Like how to safely contain a reaction, safety monitoring (hygiene questions), fire protection, safety valves, etc. There might be some hardcore design question on a column or Heat X, but it would be something where you'd look up the answer (like different packing types, or temperature ranges, or proper elastomers). Like I said, generally, you either know it, know exactly where to find it, or you guess. I checked on a few of the ones I guessed at after the exam, and got lucky in my guessing. Oh, and there could be Process Control or Econ., but the percentage (2% of the exam) means you MIGHT get 1 of each, so don't spend time studying that stuff. If you know your references, then that gives you the best shot to answer these. If you try to learn all Process Control, 99.9% of your studying will NOT apply to the test.

As I've said before, look at the subject outline given by the NCEES for the ChE PE exam. Stick to that...the exam sticks very close to what they say. Study the biggest %-ages and don't sweat it if it ain't on there.

I have Treybal and used it in grad school. I did not take it to the exam b/c I found the CHERM (5th and 6thed) to have what I need for mass transfer. I might have used Das for 1 or 2 mass transfer questions as well.

I hope this helps. The more advice you solicit, the more likely you are to get confused!!!! Find someone who took the exam that you can sit and talk to, and hopefully they can help you set your expectations. I listened to these boards WAY too much in the beginning. Finally I talked to someone who took it in April, I got my head straight on the NCEES subjects, buckled down, and passed. Good luck.

I took everything, but I only used a few during the exam (no time). I used the CERM, crane & GPSA. Didn't use Perry's or the CRC. NCEES practice exam was most helpful.

Studied 260 hrs for exam, passed 1st time!

Good Luck!

I passed on my first try after having been out of school for 11+ years. Like everyone else, I took every book I had in my possession.

The books I really used during the exam were:

Chemical Engineering Reference Manual for the PE Exam, 6th Ed. (Lindeburg)

Quick Reference for the Chemical Engineering PE Exam, 2nd Ed. (Lindeburg) - Boiled down version of the ChERM; great time saver

Chemical Engineering PE License Review, 3rd Ed. (Das & Prabhudesai) - Much better text for kinetics, mass transfer, process safety & design than Lindeburg

Elements of Chemical Reaction Engineering, 2nd Ed. (Fogler) - My go to source on Kinetics

Flow of Fluids through Valves, Fittings, and Pipe: Technical Paper No. 410 (Crane)

Cameron Hydraulic Data, 19th Ed. (Flowserve Corp.)

Plant Design and Economics for Chemical Engineers, 4th Ed. (Peters & Timmerhaus)

Perry's Chemical Engineer's Handbook, 7th Ed. (Perry & Green)

Principles and Practice of Engineering: Chemical Engineering Sample Questions and Solutions, 2004 Ed. (NCEES)

Personal 3-ring binder full of notes, formulas, graphs, etc.

Books I used sparingly during the exam were:

Mass Transfer Operations, 3rd Ed. (Treybal)

Elementary Principles of Chemical Processes, 2nd Ed. (Felder & Rousseau)

Unit Operations of Chemical Engineering, 5th Ed. (McCabe, Smith, & Harriott)

I had a cache of other books with me for fluids, thermo, heat transfer, process control, etc., but didn't use them.

I used several other problems books for studying for the exam, but the list above it what got the job done on test day.

I passed on the first try also, having been out of school for 28 years. Getting my head back around kinetics was the hardest part of the perparation. The books I took and used during the exam were:

Chemical Engineering Reference Manual for the PE Exam, 6th Ed. (Lindeburg)

Chemical Engineering Reference Manual for the PE Exam, 5th Ed. (Robinson)

Flow of Fluids through Valves, Fittings, and Pipe: Technical Paper No. 410 (Crane)

Perry's Chemical Engineer's Handbook, 7th Ed. (Perry & Green)

Perry's Chemical Engineer's Handbook, 5th Ed. (Perry & ?)

Process Heat Transfer (Kern)

Chemical Reaction Engineering (Levenspiel)

Personal 3-ring binder full of notes from the review course, formulas, graphs.

Elementary Principles of Chemical Processes, (Felder & Rousseau) If only for the Claperon Eq.

Unit Operations of Chemical Engineering, 7th Ed. (McCabe, Smith & Harriot)

Rules of Thumb for Chemical Engineers (Branan)

I also took all of the practice problems books with me but they were dead weight, by then I had studied them enough that looking anything up wasn't needed. You will likely see at least one question on pressure protection that a working knowledge of API 520/521/2000 is good for.

BTW, most of my ChERM and problems books are available in the yard sale forum.