NCEES PE Agricultural and Biological Engineering · USA · NCEES (ASABE is the content partner)
Original practice questions written to the published syllabus · not past papersNCEES PE Agricultural and Biological Engineering is a licensing and registration exam run by NCEES (ASABE is the content partner), for candidates in USA. Computer-based, 85 questions, 9.5-hour appointment (8.5 hours of exam). Once a year (next: 28 Oct 2026). Closed book with the electronic NCEES handbook and supplied searchable ASABE standards; SI and US customary units.
Source: ncees.org.
Checked against the exam body's published information. Formats and fees change; confirm the current edition there before you book.
Facilities & Structures (structural analysis of bins and silos, using the supplied ASABE standards on grain loads on bins and on shallow storage), Processing Systems (bulk solids, psychrometrics) and Common System Applications (fans, materials handling and storage). Expect applied problems: wall pressures and hoop loads, floor and foundation loads, aeration fan selection, conveyor sizing.
Storing grain and produce safely, the loads it puts on bins and silos, and the conveyors and packages that move and protect it.
Our 30 NCEES PE Agricultural and Biological Engineering questions in this subject: 3 easy, 16 medium, 11 hard, across 7 units.
Choose an answer, then open the working. Each explanation says why the right answer is right and why the others are not.
These 10 were written to NCEES PE Agricultural and Biological Engineering and are not shown on any other exam's page.
In funnel (core) flow from a bin,
C. only a central channel moves, so discharge is first-in, last-out and stagnant zones remain at the walls
Funnel flow draws grain down a central channel while grain at the walls stays still, so old grain remains and cohesive materials can rathole. Mass flow, not funnel flow, moves everything together and gives FIFO.
At a certain depth the lateral grain pressure on a 6 m diameter circular steel bin wall is 20 kPa. What is the hoop tension per metre height of wall?
C. 60 kN/m
For a thin cylinder, hoop tension per unit height T = pD/2 = 20 × 6/2 = 60 kN/m. pD = 120 forgets that two wall sections share the load; multiplying by the circumference (377) is not a force per unit height; 30 uses the radius in pD/2.
Why do corrugated steel grain bins have vertical stiffeners?
B. Wall friction carries part of the grain weight down the wall as compression, which would buckle thin sheet
Janssen's analysis shows that wall friction carries a large part of the grain weight in a deep bin; this vertical compressive load can buckle thin corrugated sheet, so stiffeners are added. Hoop tension is carried by the sheet itself.
The wall friction coefficient for grain on steel sheet is measured as the tangent of the wall friction angle. If the angle is 22°, μ′ is
B. 0.404
μ′ = tan22° = 0.404. sin22° = 0.375 and cos22° = 0.927 are not friction coefficients; 22 is the angle itself in degrees.
A bin holds 500 t of wheat aerated at 0.1 m³ min⁻¹ t⁻¹. The total static pressure is 400 Pa and the fan efficiency is 50%. What shaft power does the fan need?
C. 0.667 kW
Q = 500 × 0.1 = 50 m³/min = 0.8333 m³/s. Air power = QΔp = 0.8333 × 400 = 333.3 W. Shaft power = 333.3/0.5 = 666.7 W = 0.667 kW. 0.333 kW is air power (efficiency ignored); 40.0 kW forgets to convert m³/min to m³/s; multiplying by η gives 0.167 kW.
In the airflow-resistance relation used in the ASABE data for grains, ΔP/L = aQ²/ln(1 + bQ), what does Q represent?
A. Superficial airflow rate per unit cross-sectional area of the bed
Shedd's data and the ASABE relation express pressure drop per unit depth against superficial airflow (m³ s⁻¹ m⁻²), i.e. air velocity through the empty cross-section. The fan total or per-tonne rate must first be converted.
In a pressure-decay test of a sealed silo, the internal overpressure falls from 500 Pa to 300 Pa in 3 minutes. Assuming exponential decay, what is the pressure half-life?
A. 4.07 min
p = p0 e^(−λt): λ = ln(500/300)/3 = 0.1703 per min. Half-life = ln2/λ = 4.07 min. Assuming linear decay gives 3.75 min; halving the test time (1.50 min) has no basis; 5.87 min is the time constant 1/λ, not the half-life. The half-life is compared with the minimum required by the storage authority to decide if the silo is gas-tight enough to fumigate.
A bucket elevator lifts 10 kg/s of grain through 20 m. The drive efficiency is 80%. Ignoring boot scooping losses, what motor power is required?
D. 2.45 kW
Lifting power = ṁgH = 10 × 9.81 × 20 = 1,962 W. Motor power = 1,962/0.8 = 2,452 W = 2.45 kW. Ignoring efficiency gives 1.96 kW; omitting g gives 0.250 kW; multiplying by η gives 1.57 kW.
In dilute-phase pneumatic conveying of grain, the air velocity must be
A. Above the saltation velocity so particles stay suspended in horizontal pipes
If air velocity falls below the saltation velocity, particles settle and block horizontal pipes. Dilute phase runs faster than dense phase; dense phase moves material slowly as plugs with less damage.
Which is part of dust-explosion prevention in a bucket elevator?
D. Belt-alignment and bearing-temperature monitoring, earthing, dust control and explosion venting
Ignition sources include hot bearings, belt rub and static; suspended dust fuels the explosion. Monitoring, earthing, dust control and venting address both. Slack belts slip and heat; open lamps ignite dust.
This plan follows where our questions actually fall, so the time goes where the marks are likely to be. It is our reading of the syllabus, not the exam body's weighting.
Read the manual chapters for these first and do every worked question you can find on them.
Aim for one sitting per unit, then mixed questions across them.
Learn the definitions, classifications and standard numbers; these units are more often recalled than worked.
Come back to these after a first pass, untimed, and read every explanation, including for the options you rejected.
Do these early in revision so they are fast on the day.
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