EFFECT OF MOISTURE CONTENT ON SOME PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF COWPEA (Vigna unguiculata)

The effect of moisture content on the physical properties of three of the most popular Nigerian cowpea varieties namely Ife 98-12, IT90K-277-2 and Ife Brown was determined with a view to obtain data useful for the design of handling and processing equipment for the crop. Physical properties such as linear dimensions, geometric mean diameter, sphericity, aspect ratio, bulk density, true density, projected area, porosity and 1000 grain mass were studied in the moisture range of 8 to 18% w.b. which covers the moisture range from harvesting to storage. The length of the grains ranged from 9.36 to 9.74mm, 7.70 to 8.49mm and 8.01 to 8.49mm for the three varieties respectively. The width ranged from 6.34 to 6.53mm, 6.08 to 6.45mm and 6.01 to 6.46mm while the thickness ranged from 5.24 to 5.33mm, 5.00 to 5.24mm and 4.42 to 4.75mm respectively for the three varieties. The results show that variety and moisture content had significant effects (p≤ 0.05) on all the physical properties studied except aspect ratio on which the effect of moisture content was not significant. Regression equations that could be used to express the relationships existing between the physical properties and grain moisture content were established

EFFECT OF VARIETY AND MOISTURE CONTENT ON AERODYNAMIC PROPERTIES OF FOUR NIGERIAN COWPEA (Vigna unguiculata) VARIETIES

Knowledge of aerodynamic properties of a crop is important in developing handling, cleaning and processing equipment for the crop. Terminal velocity, drag coefficient and Reynolds number of four Nigerian cowpea varieties namely Ife 98-12, IT90K-277-2, Ife Brown and Drum were studied at moisture levels of 8.2, 12.2, 14.2 and 18.2% wet basis (w.b.), which are levels useful in the design of processing and handling equipment. The terminal velocities of the four varieties ranged from 13.35 to 14.47 m/s, the drag coefficient ranged from 0.446 to 0.454 and Reynolds number ranged from 4768 to 6447. The results showed that both variety moisture content and have significant effect (P≤ 0.05) on both terminal velocity and Reynolds number.Â

DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF A MOTORISED JUICE EXTRACTOR

A motorized jul/nice extractor was designed, fabricated and evaluated with orange, pineapple and golden melon fruits. The major components of the extractor included the hopper, slicing chamber, extracting chamber, frame and outlets for juice and pulp. The machine was powered by a 2 h.p. electric motor. The results of the evaluation showed a fruit yield of 38.00, 51.43 and 39.67% for orange, pineapple and golden melon respectively and extraction efficiency of 65.47, 83.94 and 53.17% for the three fruits respectively while the juice extraction loss was 6, 9 and 28% respectively for the three fruits. The cost of producing the machine is N 58,130 (USD 161.47) which makes it affordable to small scale fruit juice producer

Geotechnical Properties of Lateritic Soil Stabilized with Periwinkle Shell Ash in Road Construction

This paper investigated the geotechnical properties of lateritic soil stabilized with periwinkle shell ash in road construction. The natural lateritic soil sample was gotten from Federal University of Technology, Akure and stabilized with 0, 2,4, 6, 8 and 10% of the periwinkle shell ash and were subjected to tests such as natural moisture content, specific gravity, atterberg's limit, compaction, california bearing ratio and unconfined compressive strength. The result of the classification tests shows that the natural lateritic soil is poor for road construction. The engineering value of the soil sample was enhanced by the addition of periwinkle shell ash. The optimum percentage by weight of soil of periwinkle shell ash for improvement of the strength of the lateritic soil is 6%. The periwinkle shell ash enhanced the suitability of the soil sample for its use as subgrade and subbase

MOISTURE DEPENDENCE OF SOME AERODYNAMIC PROPERTIES OF BENISEED

Some aerodynamic properties of two varieties of beniseed (Yandev 55 and E8) were determined at        moisture content levels of 5.3, 10.6, 16.1 22.4, 28.3 per cent (wet basis). The determined properties        were particle diameter, frontal area, terminal velocity and drag coefficients. A - 2 x 5 factorial experi-        ment in Completely Randomized Design with a total of 30 observations was used for each of the pa-        rameters. The particle diameter and frontal area increased from 1.52 to 1.78mm and 1.77 to 2.49 mm2        for Yandev 55; 1.74 to 2.18 mm and 2.38 to 3.73 mm2    for E8 respectively as the moisture content        increased from 5.3 to 28.3%.  The respective terminal velocities decreased from 3.05 to 2.74m/s and        2.80 to 2.48m/s for Yandev 55 and E8 within the studied moisture content levels. Increasing the mois-        ture content from 5.3 to 16.10% increased the drag coefficient from 2.67 to 2.70 and 2.74 to 2.78 for        the two accessions respectively. A further increase to 22.4% decreased the respective values to 2.64        and 2.61. The effect of moisture content on beniseed was highly significant on the terminal velocity.&nbsp

EVALUATION OF EARTHWORM AS BIOFILTRATION AGENT IN ORGANICALLY POLUTED WATER

This research work evaluated the potentials of earthworms in the treatment of organically polluted water. Physiochemical parameters tested based on APHA standards to evaluate the qualities of water were Biolgical Oxygen Demand(BOD), Chemical Oxygen Demand(COD), Total Soluble Solids(TSS), Total Dissolved Solid (TDS), Electrical conductivity, pH, and temperature. The experiment was carried out in three batches in a vermi-filter where mass and time was varied to evaluate the removal efficiencies of organic matter from waste water samples using the physiochemical parameters. The results of the experiment showed that the removalpercentages of BOD, COD, TSS, TDS was between 65.5 - 80%, 68.2-85.8%, 59.1-92.7% and 60.6-91.5% respectively depending on the hydraulic retention time of the waste water in the vermifilter and masses of the earthworm in each vermin-filter. Earthworm successfully treated organically polluted water.&nbsp

EFFECT OF MOISTURE CONTENT ON SOME PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF COWPEA (Vigna unguiculata)

The effect of moisture content on the physical properties of three of the most popular Nigerian cowpea varieties namely Ife 98-12, IT90K-277-2 and Ife Brown was determined with a view to obtain data useful for the design of handling and processing equipment for the crop. Physical properties such as linear dimensions, geometric mean diameter, sphericity, aspect ratio, bulk density, true density, projected area, porosity and 1000 grain mass were studied in the moisture range of 8 to 18% w.b. which covers the moisture range from harvesting to storage. The length of the grains ranged from 9.36 to 9.74mm, 7.70 to 8.49mm and 8.01 to 8.49mm for the three varieties respectively. The width ranged from 6.34 to 6.53mm, 6.08 to 6.45mm and 6.01 to 6.46mm while the thickness ranged from 5.24 to 5.33mm, 5.00 to 5.24mm and 4.42 to 4.75mm respectively for the three varieties. The results show that variety and moisture content had significant effects (p≤ 0.05) on all the physical properties studied except aspect ratio on which the effect of moisture content was not significant. Regression equations that could be used to express the relationships existing between the physical properties and grain moisture content were established

EFFECT OF VARIETY AND MOISTURE CONTENT ON AERODYNAMIC PROPERTIES OF FOUR NIGERIAN COWPEA (Vigna unguiculata) VARIETIES

Knowledge of aerodynamic properties of a crop is important in developing handling, cleaning and processing equipment for the crop. Terminal velocity, drag coefficient and Reynolds number of four Nigerian cowpea varieties namely Ife 98-12, IT90K-277-2, Ife Brown and Drum were studied at moisture levels of 8.2, 12.2, 14.2 and 18.2% wet basis (w.b.), which are levels useful in the design of processing and handling equipment. The terminal velocities of the four varieties ranged from 13.35 to 14.47 m/s, the drag coefficient ranged from 0.446 to 0.454 and Reynolds number ranged from 4768 to 6447. The results showed that both variety moisture content and have significant effect (P≤ 0.05) on both terminal velocity and Reynolds number

Evaluation of the Performance of a Rotary screen Cowpea Cleaner-A Response Surface Approach

The performance of a rotary screen cowpea cleaner was evaluated at angles of inclination of 5, 10, 15 and 20o, screen speed of 115, 145 , 200 , 280  and 300 rpm with corresponding air velocity of 0.3, 1.3, 2.2, and 2.7 m/s using two varieties of cowpea namely Ife brown and IT90K-277-2.  The results show that for Ife brown the highest cleaning efficiency of 71.12% was obtained at angle   of inclination of 5o, screen speed of 315 rpm and air velocity of 3.5 m/s. The highest cleaning efficiency for IT90K-277-2 of 68.89% was also obtained at the same angle of inclination, screen speed and air velocity. Response surface plots for both varieties showed that increase in air velocity produced more increase in the cleaning efficiency than increase in screen speed. Mathematical equations for predicting the cleaning efficiency for both varieties were also determined. Keywords— Rotary screen, cowpea, cleaning efficienc

MODELING THE AIR FLOW RESISTANCE OF BULK SPONGE GOURD (LUFFA CYLINDRICA) SEEDS

The knowledge of airflow resistant of agricultural materials is important to the design of drying and aeration systems and enhances proper fan selection for these systems. This study investigated the pressure drop across a bed of sponge gourd (Luffa cylindrica) seeds at moisture contents in the range of 9.98 to 16.5% (w.b), airflow rate of 0.11 to 0.32 m3s-1m-2, material bed depth (0.2 to 0.8 m) and bulk density (loose, medium, and high). Pressure drop data was fitted to three common airflow resistance models (Shedd’s, Hukill and Ives’s, and Ergun’s models). An empirical equation comprised bulk density, moisture content, and airflow rate was also developed to predict the pressure drop of sponge gourd seeds. Results obtained indicated that the airflow resistance of sponge gourd seeds increased with increase in airflow rate, bed depth but decreased with moisture content. Increased bulk density resulting from loose to densely filled resulted in an increase in resistance to airflow. Shedd model was selected to be the best for predicting pressure drop across bulk sponge gourd seeds for all the condition studied due to its high value for Coefficient of Determination (R2) of 0.996 and a low root mean square error value (0.0279) compared to other models. The empirical equation developed predicted well the pressure drop with R2 and RMSE values of 0.950 and 0.264 respectively