PIEAS MS Program Written Test Structure

The duration of the written test shall be 3 hours (180 minutes). The test consists of two sections:

General Section
Subject-Specific Section

1. General Section

The General Section is compulsory for all candidates. It contains 50 questions with a time allocation of 90 minutes.

Basic Physics – 20 questions
General Mathematics – 20 questions
English Language – 10 questions

2. Subject-Specific Section

The Subject-Specific Section is designed to meet the manpower requirements of PAEC. It contains 50 specialized questions in each entry-level discipline relevant to PIEAS postgraduate studies.

All questions are multiple-choice (MCQ) with four options: A, B, C, D.
No negative marking will be applied.

3. Chemical Engineering – Related Topics

3.1 Material/Energy Balances and Thermodynamics

Material and energy balances
Humidity and equation of state
Thermodynamic properties
Laws of thermodynamics
Power and refrigeration cycles
Phase and reaction equilibria

3.2 Fluid Mechanics

Momentum transfer
Differential and integral analysis
Dimensional analysis and similarity
Pressure drop calculations
Flow measurements
Pumps and compressors
Compressible flows
Boundary layer flows

3.3 Heat Transfer

Modes of heat transfer: conduction, convection, radiation
Steady-state and transient heat transfer
One-, two-, and three-dimensional conduction
Conduction in series and parallel
Energy equation
Extended surface heat transfer
Internal and external convection
Heat transfer analogies and correlations
Radiation heat transfer
Heat transfer equipment

3.4 Mass Transfer

Molecular diffusion
Mass transfer coefficient and concept of stages
Distillation, absorption, and stripping
Liquid-liquid extraction, adsorption, and ion exchange
Humidification and dehumidification
Selection and design of mass transfer equipment

3.5 Process Dynamics, Instrumentation, and Control

Dynamic models and transfer functions
Linear low-order systems and open-loop stability
Characteristics and calibration of instruments
Control valves and classical feedback controllers
Closed-loop transfer functions and stability
Controller tuning
Feedforward, cascade, ratio, override, and selective control

3.6 Reaction Engineering

Rate of reaction, rate law, and stoichiometry
Equilibrium conversion
Types of reactors and reactor design
Collection and analysis of reaction data
Reaction mechanisms and multiple reactions
Catalysis