ARID ZONE JOURNAL OF ENGINEERING, TECHNOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENT

Analysis and Evaluation of Energy Efficiency of 5G Networks in Wireless Communication.

2023-07-03T22:56:35+00:00

This paper focused on the analysis and evaluation of energy efficiency of 5G networks in wireless communication. The projected rise in wireless communication traffic has necessitated high operating costs of conventional wireless cellular networks and scarcity of energy resources in low power applications. This paper examined different ways of deploying energy efficient hardware at the base stations in order to make the base station non-polluting energy. The method employed involves the measurement of power consumption at the macro cell and micro cell base stations. The results of the power consumption obtained from the macro cell base stations were used in three models, namely the Gex model, the modified Gex model and Ismail model for the periods of 0am – 1am, 12pm – 1pm and 11pm – 0am were 11228.63W, 11561.15W, 11231.06W, 12821.65W, 12983.29W, 12981.64W, 13020.56W, 15342.30W, 11323.83W, 11634.23W, 11374.37W and 13196.66W. Again, the results of the power consumption obtained from the micro cell base stations for the periods of 0am – 1am, 12pm – 1pm and 11pm – 0am were 717.09W, 754.83W, 729.65W, 748W, 723.67W, 743.34W, 717.6W, 741W, 643.5W, 667.74W, 642.9W and 718W, respectively. Therefore, it is concluded that the modified model produced energy consumption that are in consonance with the measured energy. Therefore, it is concluded that the modified Gex model produced energy consumption values which are in closed range with the measured energy values.

Evaluation of Groundwater Quality for Drinking Purposes using Water Quality Index, in Keffi Central Town of Nasarawa State

2023-07-20T13:10:39+00:00

In Nigeria, access to fresh drinking water has become serious challenges to both rural and urban areas.The aim of this study was to evaluate groundwater quality in Keffi central town of Nasarawa State for drinking purposes using the water quality index technique. Eight groundwater samples (four from both boreholes and dug wells) were collected from the study areaduring the wet season in October 2019. The water quality index is a mathematical method used to facilitate water quality explanation. The pH, Electric Conductivity, Total Dissolved Solids, Total Hardness, Calcium, Magnesium, Sodium, Chloride, Sulphate and Bicarbonate were determined according to standard methods. pH ranged from 5.7 to 7.1(mg/l), Electric conductivity ranged from 256 to 1591(µs/cm), Magnesium ranged from 2.6 to 29(mg/l), Calcium ranged from 3.7 to 34(mg/l), Sodium ranged from 22 to 56(mg/l), Chloride ranged from 8.4 to 63(mg/l), Bicarbonate ranged from 54.3 to 219.6(mg/l), Sulphate ranged from 0.1 to 32.4(mg/l), Total Dissolved Solids ranged from 95.2 to 302.94(mg/l) and Total Hardness ranged from 23.8 to 204.23(mg/l). The water quality index obtained from different locations was found to vary from 44.32 to 61.60 for boreholes and 72.55 to 97.77 for dug wells. The results for the water quality index indicated that borehole locations 2, 4, and 8were safe for human consumption, while dug well locations 3,5,6 and 7were not suitable for drinking purposes, compared with Nigerian industrial standard drinking water. The reasons for the high water quality index values of some study areas were attributed to the lithological variation and anthropogenic activities in the region. Therefore, some of the well water required treatment such as demineralization.

Improved Gearless Transmission System

2023-09-21T08:27:42+00:00

Gearless transmission is an elbow mechanism that transmits power with little losses. The system is mainly used to reduce the usage of complex gears likewise the wearing conditions of the gears that requires high cost of repairs and or maintenance. Therefore, exploration into this study lead to rejuvenate ideas through which power was transmitted using different mechanism by replacing a bevel gear with an elbow mechanism for transmitting the power between the two shafts at 90°. The mechanism hubs were fixed at both ends of the shafts through which power was transferred. The sizes of the pins and links were measured, likewise the holes were drilled precisely. In this study, three elbows were connected radially at an angle of 120° to the center of the axis. The transmission was made cost-effective and efficient with the average efficiency of 94.8% and a complete freedom of interchangeability whereby the total cost of production was #76,000. Of this arrangement, the mechanism has effective and minimum amount of power (10.18Nm) at the handle needed for a complete revolution. It’s a simple working principle, smooth with an effective and lesser power needed to propel it.

Department of Agricultural and Environmental Resource Engineering, University of Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria

2023-07-20T13:30:51+00:00

Austempering heat treatment is a proven way of obtaining the desired microstructure for improved mechanical properties. It is an isothermal heat treatment process in which an attractive combination of mechanical properties of austempered ductile iron (ADI) may be produced. In this paper, a statistical model for the determination of some mechanical properties was developed. The ductile cast iron was annealed after which it was austennitized at 850 and 950 °C. After the austenitizing process, it was then austempered in hot jatropha seed oil. The developed prediction model was then utilized to assess the tensile strength and hardness of the ADI. The result of the austempering process showed appreciable improvement in tensile and hardness values measured. Optimum values of tensile and hardness were 962 kN/mm² and 405 BHN respectively. Values of 961.4N/mm² and 340.1BHN were obtained using the developed model. It can therefore be concluded that, the closeness in the values obtained from the experimental measurement and the prediction model is an indication of the effectiveness of the developed model.

Effect of Drying Conditions on the Drying Kinetics and Colour Changes of Plantain (Musa X Paradisiaca) Slices using Combined Heated Air and Infrared Dryers

2023-07-20T13:46:55+00:00

Most agricultural crops with high moisture content are difficult to preserve. The most common method of preservation is drying. Thus, drying operation where a combination of two or more modes is used, could speed-up drying process. However, the scalability of combined heated air and infrared drying (CHAID) for rural consumers have not been investigated. This study was conducted to examine the effect of drying conditions (temperature and infrared intensity) on the drying kinetics and total colour changes (∆E) of plantain slices using a CHAID dryer. Matured unripe plantain samples were sourced from a market, peeled, washed in running water and then sliced into 4 × 20 × 20 mm dimension. Initial moisture content (MC_i) determined using oven drying method. 2.0 g of the sliced sample were weighed and dried in a combined heated air and infrared dryer (IR) operated at 800 W/m² alone till the mass (bone dry mass) did not vary after repeated weighing. Also, samples ∆E was monitored using colorimeter within the drying period. The same procedure was repeated using heated air-drying mode (HAD) operated at 65 ± 2 °C; IR-800 W/m² plus HAD at 65 ± 2 °C, and IR-1000 W/m² plus HAD at 65 ± 2 °C. The moisture content (MC) and drying rate were computed from duplicate data using Microsoft Excel programme. The variation of % MC with drying time, drying rate against MC and ∆E versus drying time were made and ∆E compared using Tukey Honest Significant Difference. Results showed that the samples’ MC_i by oven dried method was 55.84%wb whereas those dried using IR-800 W/m² alone, HAD (65 ± 2 °C) alone, IR-800 W/m² plus HAD (65 ± 2 °C) and IR-1000 W/m² plus HAD (65 ± 2 °C) modes were 57.43, 52.13, 57.41 and 57.03% wb, respectively, and their corresponding critical or equilibrium moisture content were 5.62, 5.03, 12.45 and 5.95%wb, respectively. Similarly, a shortest drying time (30 mins) and minimal total colour changes (ΔE = 12.42) were found when IR (1000 W/m²) plus HAD (65 ± 2 °C) was used. It also observed that, plantain slices dried using HAD (65 ± 2 °C) mode showed statistically significant mean difference in ΔE when compared with other three drying modes within 10 to 30 minutes drying time. Since, IR (1000 W/m²) plus HAD (65 ± 2 °C) mode gave shortest drying time and minimal ΔE, it is recommended for use in drying plantain slices by restaurant, hotels operators and food processors.

Inductance Calculation of Concentrated and Distributed Winding Synchronous Reluctance Motor Using Modified Winding Function Theory

2023-07-20T14:23:30+00:00

This study evaluates the inductance characteristics of synchronous reluctance motors (SynRMs) with concentrated and distributed windings. Two methods based on Winding Function Theory (WFT) are used: the sinusoidal method and the actual winding function method. The actual winding function method, which considers spatial harmonics and actual geometry, is found to be more accurate. The study reveals that the distributed winding SynRM has a higher saliency ratio (2.10) compared to the concentrated winding SynRM (1.58), indicating better performance. These findings contribute to our understanding of SynRM inductance and can guide improvements in motor design and performance. The study also suggests avenues for developing more precise inductance calculation methods for SynRMs, enabling optimized motor performance.

Evaluation of the Impacts of Boko Haram Activities on the Patronage of Yankari Game Reserve, Bauchi State, Nigeria

2023-07-21T18:01:05+00:00

This study examined the temporal pattern of tourists’ patronage at Yankari Game Reserve before and after the emergence of Boko Haram between 2000 and 2019. Data for this study were obtained from both primary and secondary sources. The primary data were gotten through the administration of structured questionnaire. The result indicated that 90.0% of the tourists alleged that bombings and suicide attack carried out respectively by the Boko Haram sect made them not to visit the reserve in about five years. In addition, 72.5.0% affirmed that stories and news feeds of massacre orchestrated by Boko Haram have reduced their rate of patronage of the tourist site. T-test was employed to test the hypothesis. Findings revealed that there is a significant difference (t = 6.010, p<0.05) in the temporal pattern of tourist patronage before and after the emergence of Boko Haram insurgency. The study has shown that Boko Haram activities have affected tourist patronage of Yankari Game Reserve. It is recommended that the Nigerian government should strategize on how to put an end to the Boko Haram crisis in the northeastern part of the country which could lead to increases in tourist patronage of Yankari Game Reserve.

Development of a Manually Operated Sleeve Puller Kit for Reciprocating Type Engine

2023-07-21T18:23:21+00:00

This work describes design and construction of manually operated sleeve puller kit for removal of piston liners. Piston cylinder sleeves which are firmly fixed in the engine block of many reciprocating engines are normally removed for the purpose of repairs, maintenance and replacement, and is difficult to remove by hammering; hence the need for a puller. To demonstrate the workability of the design, a cylinder sleeve of 100KvA generator was constructed. The components for the device were: frame, screw and base, constructed from grey cast iron, unalloyed free cutting steel and copper alloy materials respectively. The components were constructed using cutting, drilling, rolling and arc welding machine operations. The sleeve puller was tested on a 100KvA parkins generator. The cost of producing the device was N9, 150:00, which was effective compared to similar devices in the market that cost within the range of N15, 000 to N20, 000. From the performance test results obtained, the maximum torque to raise the required load was determined to be 452.898 × 103 N-mm and shear stress of the screw as 23.697MPa which was less than the strength of free cutting steel (56MPa). Buckling criterion was 371.09KN>75KN, transverse shear at the root and body area of the screw are 8.768<19MPa and 10.484MPa<56MPa. A piston sleeve puller was successfully developed. A hydraulic or electrically operated can further be investigate.

Arc Flash Study of IEEE 8 Bus Test System using Digital Simulation and Electrical Network Analysis Platform

2023-07-21T18:38:03+00:00

Nowadays, electricity plays an important role in our life and in our industries. However, when an arc fault occurs, it creates an incident that can cause a serious damage to the equipment and can cause serious injury to the workers. Arc fault is generated when electric current passes through air from one uncovered live conductor to another or to ground in electrical system. Analyzing the level of arc flash and providing a good protection to the workers is paramount. In this work DigSILENT software was used to study the Arc Flash of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 8 Bus Test System. Firstly, a model of system was created in the DigSILENT environment and then arc flash study of all the buses in the system was carried out. Based on the simulation results obtained, Personnel protective equipment and labels were generated to inform the workers about the level of danger they are exposed to in the course of doing their work. The risk category for buses numbers 3 and 7 are cat 2 and 3 respectively while for buses 1and 5 and for buses 2,4,6 and 8 are cat 4 and 5 respectively. The results showed that there is a need for the personnel to equip themselves with the appropriate Personnel Protective Equipment (PPE) as suggested before access. Because, arc flash faults have significant effect on personnel and equipment. It’s really important for stability, energy continuity, human life and economy.

Development and Performance Evaluation of a Motorized Tigernut Oil Extraction Machine

2023-07-21T18:52:29+00:00

Tiger nut is a common nut in Africa which contains 24.5% oil. The extraction of this oil has been a major challenge to developing countries as most oil is locally extracted because of high cost of importation of oil expellers. A motorized tiger nut oil extracting machine was designed and fabricated consisting of four sections namely feeding, extraction, heating and power sections using available local materials, and was evaluated and optimized. The oil yield (OY), operational rate (OR), extraction efficiency (EE), throughput capacity (TC) and extraction loss (EL) of the machine were determined as affected by barrel temperatures (BT) of 30°C, 45°C, 60°C range, screw speeds (SS) of 60 rpm, 75 rpm, 90 rpm range., 0.5 mm, 1 mm, 1.5 mm range of choke clearance (CC) of the machine and yellow/brown varieties of tiger nut. The optimum ER, EE, OY, EL and TC values of 9.93 kg/hr., 89.02%, 23.78%, 1 kg/hr. and 50.06 kg/hr. were achieved at 60°C barrel temperature, 60 rpm and 0.5 mm choke clearance while the lowest values gotten at 30°C barrel temperature, 90 rpm and 1.5 mm choke clearance were 6.33 kg/hr., 52.40%, 13.90%, 0.33 kg/hr. and 33.96 kg/hr. respectively. Analysis of variance revealed that barrel temperature, screw speed, choke clearance and variety have significant effects on all the machine parameters evaluated at p<0.05 except for the EL. The evaluation results revealed that the brown tiger nut has more oil than the yellow tiger nut and that the developed machine is deemed efficient for small scale tiger nut oil production.

Impacts of Climate Change on the Yeild of some Selected Root Crops in Enugu State, South Eastern Nigeria

2023-09-06T02:59:50+00:00

Climate change variability has posed a huge threat on the yield of root crops in South-Eastern Nigeria. Studies were carried out to assess the effect of climate change on some selected root crops in Enugu State. Climatic and root crop yield data were collected for Twenty years (20years) each from Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET), Abuja, and Agricultural Development Programme (ADP) under the Ministry of Agriculture, Enugu State respectively. Data collected were statistically analyzed using ANOVA. The ANOVA result shows that significant difference (p<0.05) were observed in annual temperature and mean values of annual rainfall and minimum temperature. Crop yields of cocoyam, yam and cassava were also significantly different at p<0.05. The highest mean annual rainfall was observed in 2006, annual temperature was also significant at p<0.05 in 2015. Most significant values (P<0.05) for Cocoyam yield was recorded in 2016. The regression of combined climatic factors and crop yields from 2001 to 2020 showed that coefficient of determination (R2) recorded for cocoyam and yam yield as 0.59 and 0.34 respectively, cassava recorded a very poor correlation of 0.09. The multiple correlation coefficient (R) shows that there was high correlation (R = 0.769) between cocoyam yield and climatic factors, and a moderate correlation (R=0.584) for yam yield and climatic factors. Single correlation between climatic factors and crop yield showed that moderate correlations were recorded for cocoyam yield and mean annual sunshine hour (R = 0.441) and cocoyam yield with annual temperature (0.450). it is recommended to use up to 30 years crop yield data for future studies.

Effect of Wild-Vine Powder (WVP) as Admixture in Compressed Lateritic Earth Blocks (CLEB)

2023-09-06T03:33:06+00:00

In this paper, the effect of wild-vine powder on strength and durability properties of compressed lateritic earth blocks was evaluated through series of laboratory experiments. The wild-vine powder (WVP) used was obtained by crushing roots of wild-vine into smaller particles and then grinding into powder. It was thereafter subjected to chemical composition analysis using standard procedure. The WVP was added to the mixes of the laterite soils at varying percentages of 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10% respectively by weight of the laterite required for the compressed lateritic earth blocks. The mixes were cast in steel fabricated mould of dimension (230mm x 120mm x 100mm) compressed using UTM machine and demoulded using a locally fabricated mould. The samples were thereafter air-dried and subjected to uniaxial compression tests to establish their compressive strength, alongside durability tests to determine their resistance to abrasion and water absorption. The results showed that WVP predominantly contain calcium oxide (44.6%) and potassium oxide (36.1%). The addition of WVP up to 6% in compressed lateritic earth blocks (CLEB) improves the compressive strength, resistance to abrasion, and water absorption for stabilized CLEB-block. The addition of WVP in laterite up to 10% is adequate as it gives compressive strength of 2.21N/mm² greater than 2N/mm² specified by NBRRI, 2016, and thus recommended for use in building of low-cost earthen buildings.

Development of an NCAM Tuber-Shaped Vegetable Slicing Machine

2023-09-06T03:39:31+00:00

Generally, most agricultural products are not stable immediately when freshly harvested, while their preservative nature varies accordingly especially, vegetables and fruit crops. The need to process and preserve them in a stable form is very important. In processing of some tuber -shaped vegetable crops such as carrot, plantain, cucumber, eggplant, etc., slicing/chipping is usually done traditionally with the aid of knives and other manual methods which are time consuming, thereby exposing processors to dangers of injury, increases drudgery and overall reduces productivity. In respect of these, an NCAM tuber - shaped vegetable slicer was designed, fabricated and evaluated. The performance parameters used for the evaluation are slicing efficiency, slice thickness and percentage damage. IBM SPSS 2.0 was used to analyse the result obtained from the performance evaluation of the tuber – shaped slicer. It was observed that blade thickness had a significant effect on percentage damage and slice thickness, and no effect on slicing efficiency at p≤0.05. 94.74% and 90.99% efficiency was observed at 1.5 mm and 1 mm blade thickness for plantain and cucumber respectively. Furthermore, the highest mean value for percentage damage for plantain was 44.08% at 1.0mm blade thickness, while the highest mean value of percentage damage for cucumber was 24.88% at blade thickness of 1.0mm. This shows that the tuber – shaped vegetable slicing machine performed efficiently. Therefore, tuber-shaped slicing machine is recommended for use by processor of tuber – shaped crops into other stable form.

Development of an NCAM Tuber-Shaped Vegetable Slicing Machine

2023-09-06T03:41:30+00:00

Engine performance and emission characteristics of biodiesel produced from yellow oleander, soyabeans residual cooking oil and fossil diesel was carried out in a compression ignition engine. The engine was operated at constant speed of 2160rpm and variable torque (4, 7.5 and 10.6Nm). The oil extracted from yellow oleander by mechanical press had a yield of 60%. Physicochemical properties of the oil were determined. The chemical composition of the biodiesels was analyzed and the result revealed that yellow oleander and soyabeans residual cooking oils contain 86.2% and 85.3% methyl esters respectively. The engine performance tests of the yellow oleander, soyabeans residual cooking oil and fossil diesel at a constant speed 2160rpm and variable torque (4, 7.5 and 10.6Nm)., were found to be 2.40kw, 1.70kw and 0.91kw for brake power and 51412.57 MN/m², 36376.87 MN/m² and 19401.02 MN/m² for brake mean effective pressure respectively. Similarly, at constant speed of 2160 rpm and variable torque (4, 7.5 and 10.6Nm), it was also found that in comparison to fossil diesel fuel, the emission reduction for soyabean residual cooking oil biodiesel at engine torque of 4Nm was 67% for CO, 47% for CO², 100% for HC and 40% increase for NOx. However, there was no remarkable change in emission reduction when the engine torque was increased from 4 to 10.6Nm at constant engine speed of 2160 rpm. Biodiesel from yellow oleander and residual cooking can be used as part of substitutes for compression ignition engines to reduce the effects of greenhouse gases emissions caused by fossil diesel fuel combustion from heavy duty equipments.

Prediction of Infant Size at Birth Using Principal Components based Artificial Neural Network

2023-08-01T06:07:38+00:00

Birth size plays a major role in child’s mental development, future physical growth, and survival. The average length of full-term babies at birth is 20 in. (51 cm), although the normal range is 46 cm (18 in.) to 56 cm (22 in.). In the first month, babies typically grow 4 cm (1.5 in.) to 5 cm (2 in.). Principal Component Analysis (PCA) is a dimension-reduction tool that can be used to reduce a large set of variables to a small set that still contains most of the information in the large set. In neural networks multicollinearity may increase difficulties in data processing; too much feature inputs will also cause the time-consuming training process, prevent the constringency of the training work, and may eventually affect the network performance. This research investigates the effect of some parents’ socioeconomic status on the sizes of infants at birth in Zamfara State. Several factors have been identified to have effect on the sizes of infant at birth which is part of major public health challenges in developing countries like Nigeria. Previous studies considered only some maternal factors responsible for the infant sizes at birth. This current study explored the parents’ socioeconomic Status and environmental factors that contributes to the status of the infant sizes at birth using factor and neural network analysis. The analysis was carried out using data collected from Federal Medical Centre, Gusau and Ahmad Sani Yariman Bakura Specialist Hospital Gusau, Zamfara State to explore the association between the afore mentioned factors. Multicollinearity results indicated that there is significant correlations among independent variables, factor analysis through principal extraction methods reduced the original 14 correlated variables in to five uncorrelated factors. However, artificial neural network performs better in the presence of multicollinearity as it produces lower mean square error (MSE). It also had a better classification accuracy of 83.5% as compared to 65.9% for Gender of the baby.

Probabilistic Assessment of a Typical Reinforced Concrete Girder Under Critical Loading

2023-08-01T06:28:23+00:00

Reinforced concrete bridges are continuously subjected to increased traffic load and exposed to harsh environments causing bridge members to deteriorate, thus, affecting their durability, safety and performance. This work aims at a probabilistic assessment of a reinforced concrete bridge girder under critical loading considering the flexural and shear failure modes of the bridge. A limit state function for the failure modes was generated and, the stochastic variables and statistical parameters were determined. Additionally, the safety indices for each failure mode were determined using First Order Reliability Method (FORM) procedure. Mathematical models were developed and the uncertainties in structural resistance, applied loading as well as structural components were included using the probabilistic method. A computer program in FORTRAN language was developed and deployed for the reliability analysis of the bridge girder to ascertain the level of safety using First-Order Reliability Method. The results revealed that the safety index for shear and flexural failure mode decreases as the span is increased. For concrete strength of 30 N/mm² and a depth of 1000 mm, the safety index for shear and flexural failure reduced from 4.5 to 2.0 and 10.7 to 3.37 respectively as the span increases from 10 m to 19 m. This indicates that the shear and flexural failure modes are sensitive to increase in span. In order to obtain a minimum safety target of 3.8, it is recommended that the depth of the beam should not be less than 1200 mm while the span should not exceed 16 m, and concrete grade should not be less than 35 N/mm³.

Chemical Constituents of Solvent Extracted Bitter Kola Nut Oil and its Benefcial Health Properties

2023-09-06T03:49:26+00:00

This study investigated chemical composition and biological activity of bitter kola oil. Solvent extraction was done using Soxhlet extraction method and the chemical composition of the oil was investigated using standard procedures. The oil yield of bitter kola nut oil was 2.480%. The color was deep brown. The chemical composition of the oil showed 58 different chemical compounds of which 40 are reported to have biological activity. 23.1% of the chemical composition of bitter kola oil obtained was made up of fatty acids. The fatty acid compositions of the oil showed saturated and unsaturated components that ranged from 0.59 – 10.10% and 0.72 – 4.13%, respectively. Some of the saturated components of bitter kola nut oil include Palmitic; Lauric; Myristic; Pentadecanoic and Stearic fatty acids while the unsaturated components were Oleic; Linoleic and Hydnocarpic fatty acids. In conclusion, this study showed that bitter kola oil comprises of many biologically active compounds which could be used could beuse in food formulation, pharmaceutical and chemical industries.

Performance Evaluation of Hot Mix Asphalt Using Cow Dung Ash as Filler

2023-08-01T06:16:14+00:00

This study evaluates the performance of Cow Dung Ash (CDA) in hot-mix asphalt. This was achieved by determining the Marshall and volumetric properties of Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA). In the HMA, cow dung ash partially replaced granite dust at varying percentages using varying bitumen content. The results obtained from the laboratory experiments indicate an increase in stability with an increase in CDA and bitumen content. Maximum stability of 11.8 kN was obtained at 40% CDA and 6% bitumen content. The flow was observed to increase with increasing CDA and bitumen content. A minimum flow of 2.7 mm was observed at 5% bitumen and 10% CDA content. The unit weight increases with an increase in bitumen and CDA content while an increase in CDA considerably decreases the void in the mineral aggregate of the mix. Additionally, the increase in bitumen and CDA content showed a decrease in air voids of modified mix. Results obtained showed that an increase in the percentage of void filled with bitumen is directly proportional to bitumen and CDA content. The Marshal properties such as stability and flow and the volumetric properties such as unit weight, Void in Mineral Aggregate (VMA), air voids and voids filled with bitumen were within the range specified by Nigerian General Specification for Road and Bridges. It can be concluded that the Marshall and volumetric properties of hot mix asphalt performed well with CDA as filler and hence, can be recommended for use in hot mix asphalt.

Design, Construction and Testing of a Weighing Equipment for Powdered Food Products

2023-09-06T03:58:22+00:00

In local markets in third world countries, no standards are followed in terms of selling and buying powdered food products. This leads to variation in the amount of products sold or received by retailers or customers respectively. Ensuring a standard for such products are vital in maximizing profit for business owners and optimizing quantity of products received by customers. To solve this problem, a weighing equipment was designed, constructed, and tested. All materials used in the construction were locally sourced and assembled. After completion of the weighing equipment, it was tested with a powder product for about 300 s (at 60 s interval) and the corresponding mass (kg) was compared to a readily available digital scale. The results from the analysis showed that the developed weighing equipment have an approximate accuracy of about 95%. This meant that the average mass (kg) difference from the analysis was 5.06%. In addition, there was an average savings of about 0.150 kg of the powder product. Therefore, the developed weighing equipment will be vital to small scale businesses in third world countries.

Assessment of PAHs in Borehole Water from the Vicinity of the Delta Steel Company, Warri, Delta State, Nigeria

2023-08-17T20:51:13+00:00

Water contamination due to industrialization is a major problem affecting the environment and all life. This work evaluates the existence of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in borehole water from Delta Steel Company in Warri, Delta State. The water sample was analysed in accordance with the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) using a gas chromatography-mass spectrometer (GC-MS). The concentration of Σ16 PAH in water from the sampling site shows that the concentration was in the range of 23.78 – 125.9 mg/L. The study further shows that groundwater in the area was polluted with both light and heavy PAH concentrations. The light PAH concentrations were about 43.8%, ranging from 26.4 mg/L and 50.04 mg/L. Whereas the heavy PAH concentrations were about 56.2%, ranging from 23.78 mg/L and 125.9 mg/L, with Benzo (a) pyrene at 0.0001 mg/L and 0.002 mg/L for all other PAHs that exceed the World Health Organization permissible limit of 0.002 mg/L. Heavy PAHs were dominant, with benzo(a)fluoranthene accounting for the highest concentration in the samples. The four- five- ring PAHs were the dominant group of PAHs in the study. This observation was attributed to the prolonged industrial practices in the area. Therefore, this study recommends that, for health and safety, the water be subjected to major treatment before consumption.

Comparative Study of two Stator Designs for the International Electrotechnical Commission 100 Motor Frame for 2.2kw Squirrel Cage Induction Motor

2023-08-17T21:26:11+00:00

The International Electrotechnical Commission totally enclosed, fan cooled 100 Motor frame for 2.2 kilowatts squirrel cage induction motor have been manufactured with both 24-slot stator and 36-slot stator. This study compared the two solutions along the lines of rated performance, material consumption, and robustness of design. Since the difference between the two motors is basically the number of slots in the stator, similar machine data were adopted for them. The unknown data were calculated from standard machine equations carefully suited for the motors. The data so obtained were used as input to the RMxprt model where the motors were simulated. The results show marginal difference in all the parameters considered such as efficiency (0.09% in favour of the 36-slot Stator), power factor (0.0014 in favour of the 24-slot Stator), annual cost of operation (N687.88 saved by the36-slot stator), and overload capacity. The inference of this study is that the two stator designs are adequate solutions for the 3hp motor having International Electrotechnical Commission totally enclosed, fan cooled 100 Motor frame, and that while the 24-slot stator design would be easier and cheaper to manufacture, the 36-slot stator design is however more robust and cheaper to operate.