PE Mechanical: Thermal & Fluid Systems: Practice Questions, Units, and Exam Format
Thermal and fluid principles, pumps and piping, power cycles and components, and heating and cooling systems. See exactly what is on the exam, unit by unit, and practise it with a tutor that adapts to you.
Exam format
| Section | Questions | Time | Share of score |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE Mechanical: Thermal & Fluid Systems | 80 | 8 hr | 100% |
Units and exam weights
| Unit | Exam weight | Topics covered |
|---|---|---|
| Thermal/Fluid Principles | 23.75 to 36.25% | 1.A Heat Transfer Principles (e.g., convection, conduction, radiation), 1.B Thermodynamic Principles (e.g., graphical processes, steam tables, Mollier diagrams, psychrometric charts, First and Second Laws), 1.C Fluid Principles (e.g., conservation of energy, conservation of mass, mixing, statics, Moody diagram, Mach number, shock properties, Bernoulli's principle) |
| Fluid Equipment and Distribution Systems | 21.25 to 32.5% | 2.A Piping Components and Connections (e.g., valves, fittings, joints, pressure vessels), 2.B Fluid Distribution Systems (e.g., pipe flow, ductwork, friction factor, effective length, pressure drop, controls), 2.C Pumps and Fans (e.g., cavitation, curves, hydraulic power, series, parallel, efficiency, NPSH, potential energy storage), 2.D Compressors, Nozzles, and Diffusers (e.g., efficiency, bleed air, isentropic flow) |
| Power Systems and Components | 21.25 to 32.5% | 3.A Turbines (e.g., steam turbine, gas turbine, hydraulic turbine, wind turbine, efficiency, power output), 3.B Boilers, Steam Generators, and Waste Heat Recovery (e.g., heat rate, efficiency, performance), 3.C Condensers (e.g., surface area, materials, duty, performance), 3.D Power Cycles (e.g., Rankine, Brayton, combined cycle, combined heat and power, combustion, internal combustion engines, performance, efficiency) |
| Cooling/Heating Systems and Components | 15 to 22.5% | 4.A Heat Exchangers (e.g., shell and tube, feed water heaters), 4.B Cooling Towers (e.g., approach, drift, blowdown, makeup-water), 4.C Refrigeration Cycles and Heat Pumps (e.g., vapor compression, absorption, efficiency, cycle components, thermal storage) |
| Supportive Knowledge (Thermal and Fluid Systems) | 6.25 to 10% | 5.A Economic Analysis (e.g., time value of money, return on investment, break-even point, environmental impact), 5.B Project Planning and Scheduling (e.g., Gantt chart, critical path, resources), 5.C Electrical Concepts (e.g., consumption, motors, current, resistance, voltage), 5.D Material and Stress Analysis (e.g., safety factors, elastic analysis, failure analysis, materials choice, pressure vessels), 5.E Interpretation and Application of Codes and Standards |
How Kalyta teaches PE Mechanical: Thermal & Fluid Systems
Practice that adapts to you, an explanation for every answer, and a full rehearsal before the real thing. You spend your time on the units that move your score instead of the ones you have already got.
- Adaptive practice. Questions are picked around your current level, so you are always working just past what you can already do.
- Every answer explained. See why the right answer is right and why each other choice is wrong, with figures and step by step reasoning.
- An AI tutor you can steer. Ask why something works, ask for another example, or tell it to slow down and teach the idea from the start.
- Full exam rehearsals. Sit the real format under real timing and see exactly how many questions you got right, unit by unit, so test day feels like something you have already done.
- Progress you can see. Watch your readiness climb unit by unit, and know what is solid before you walk in.
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