Economic Appraisal Of Industrial Solar Drying (Part I)

Major goals of industrialization include but not limited to provision of employment, establishing a platform for overall national development and improving the monetary income of whoever is involved which invariably improves the standard of living. A better pre-visibility study must encompass a well analysed economic appraisal of the plan. Computer programme was generated to analyse the economic aspect of industrial solar drying. The appraisal was carried out with the software using the Life Cycle Savings (LCS) technique. Three locations in Nigeria (i.e. Ibadan, Kano and Port Harcourt) were selected and their respective economic appraisal simulated. Sample simulations reveal that at a realistic initial moisture content of 30% (% wet basis) of the agricultural produce, economic analysis of over 20 years reveal that recommended solar collector area of 85.46m2, 80.71m2 and 75.96m2 supplied about 67%, 88% and 55.8% of the annual energy needed for Ibadan, Kano and Port-harcourt respectively which are the specific sizes at which life cycle solar savings are optima

Effect of sintering parameters on the densification and hardness of NiAl-CNTs composite

Abstract : Nickel aluminides have attracted considerable interest in the past few decades owing to its unique properties. In this work, nickel aluminide (NiAl) was formed in-situ during spark plasma sintering of admixed powders of nickel, aluminium and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) after ball milling. 1 wt % CNTs was incorporated into the intermetallic matrix and the effect of varying sintering parameters investigated, particularly the sintering temperature and pressure. Results showed that a combination of higher sintering temperature with lower pressure yielded better results than lower sintering temperature and higher pressure. Thus the former parameters yielded better densification and subsequently higher micro hardness values of the NiAl-CNTs composites as compared to the latter

EFFECTS OF SUPPLEMENTAL NEEM (Azadirachta indica) AND GARLIC (Allium sativum) ON GROWTH AND CARCASS YIELD OF FINISHING BROILER

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of feeding diets containing Neem Leaf Meal (NLM), Garlic Meal (GM) and their combinations (NLM + GM) on growth performance and carcass yield of finishing broiler. A total of 180 day-old Cobb broiler chickens were divided into twelve groups of fifteen chicks with three replicate of five chicks each. The diet contained NLM, GM and NLM + GM at four levels of inclusion (0mg/kg, 500mg/kg, 1000mg/kg and 1500mg/kg). The experiment was arranged in a 3 × 4 factorial layout in a completely randomized design. Additives and levels of inclusion had no significant (P>0.05) influence on performance parameters except feed intake which was influenced (p<0.05) by NLM + GM and 1000mg/kg levels of inclusion. Final live weight (2516.67g/bird), weight gain (1742.00g/bird), daily weight gain (62.2g/bird/day) and feed conversion ratio (2.32) were improved (p<0.05) at 1500mg/kg levels of inclusion of NLM + GM. Thigh (11.68%), wings (8.44), neck (4.23%) and gizzard (2.13%) of birds fed GM were improved (P<0.05) than those of NLM. Carcass weight was influenced (p<0.05) by additives at various inclusion levels with wings (9.01%), head (3.39%), neck (4.52%), shanks (4.49%) and gizzard (2.42%) highest (p<0.05) in birds fed GM at 1500mg/kg levels of inclusion than those of 0mg/kg levels of inclusion. It was concluded that the use of NLM + GM as additives yielded commendable result on performance and carcass weight of finishing broiler birds   This study was conducted to investigate the effects of feeding diets containing Neem Leaf Meal (NLM), Garlic Meal (GM) and their combinations (NLM + GM) on growth performance and carcass yield of finishing broiler. A total of 180 day-old Cobb broiler chickens were divided into twelve groups of fifteen chicks with three replicate of five chicks each. The diet contained NLM, GM and NLM + GM at four levels of inclusion (0mg/kg, 500mg/kg, 1000mg/kg and 1500mg/kg). The experiment was arranged in a 3 × 4 factorial layout in a completely randomized design. Additives and levels of inclusion had no significant (P>0.05) influence on performance parameters except feed intake which was influenced (p<0.05) by NLM + GM and 1000mg/kg levels of inclusion. Final live weight (2516.67g/bird), weight gain (1742.00g/bird), daily weight gain (62.2g/bird/day) and feed conversion ratio (2.32) were improved (p<0.05) at 1500mg/kg levels of inclusion of NLM + GM. Thigh (11.68%), wings (8.44), neck (4.23%) and gizzard (2.13%) of birds fed GM were improved (P<0.05) than those of NLM. Carcass weight was influenced (p<0.05) by additives at various inclusion levels with wings (9.01%), head (3.39%), neck (4.52%), shanks (4.49%) and gizzard (2.42%) highest (p<0.05) in birds fed GM at 1500mg/kg levels of inclusion than those of 0mg/kg levels of inclusion. It was concluded that the useof NLM + GM as additives yielded commendable result on performance and carcass weight of finishing broiler birds Keywords: Neem, garlic, broilers, performance, carcass characteristics.

Interfacial Reaction During High Energy Ball Milling Dispersion of Carbon Nanotubes into Ti6Al4V

The unique thermal and mechanical properties of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have made them choice reinforcements for metal matrix composites (MMCs). However, there still remains a critical challenge in achieving homogeneous dispersion of CNTs in metallic matrices. Although high energy ball milling (HEBM) has been reported as an effective method of dispersing CNTs into metal matrices, a careful selection of the milling parameters is important not to compromise the structural integrity of CNTs which may cause interfacial reactions with the matrix. In this study, multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were purified by annealing in argon and vacuum atmospheres at 1000 and 1800 °C, respectively, for 5 h to remove possible metallic catalyst impurities. Subsequently, 1, 2 and 3 wt.% MWCNTs were dispersed by adapted HEBM into Ti6Al4V alloy metal matrix. Raman spectroscopy (RS), x-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive x-ray spectrometry and transmission electron microscopy techniques were used to characterize the as-received and annealed MWCNTs, as well as the admixed MWCNT/Ti6Al4V nanocomposite powders. The experimental results showed that vacuum annealing successfully eliminated retained nickel (Ni) catalysts from MWCNTs, while the adapted HEBM method achieved a relative homogeneous dispersion of MWCNTs into the Ti6Al4V matrix and helped to control interfacial reactions between defective MWCNTs and the metal matrix