Biomass Conversion Technologies for Bioenergy Generation: An Introduction

Over the last century, there has been increasing debate concerning the use of biomass for different purposes such as foods, feeds, energy fuels, heating, cooling and most importantly biorefinery feedstock. The biorefinery products were aimed to replace fossil fuels and chemicals as they are renewable form of energy. Biomass is a biodegradable product from agricultural wastes and residues, forestry and aquaculture. Biomass could be sourced from a variety of raw materials such as wood and wood processing by-products, manure, fractions of organic waste products and agricultural crops. As a form of renewable energy, they have the advantages of easy storage, transportation, flexible load utilization and versatile applications. The aim of this study is to provide an overview for thermochemical and biochemical biomass conversion technologies that were employed currently. Attention was also paid to manufacture of biofuels because of their potentials as key market for large-scale green sustainable biomass product

Modified rice husk and activated carbon filters for the removal of organics and heavy metals in water

Discharge of untreated industrial effluents containing heavy metals and organics is hazardous to the environment because of their toxicity and persistent nature. At the same time, agricultural waste poses disposal challenges, which can be converted into value added products like adsorbents that could serve as tools for contaminants abatement. Previous findings proved that, adsorption was a sustainable, economical and lucrative separation technique for the removal of such contaminants. This thesis presents the fabrication of a filter for the removal of organics and heavy metals in water which was prepared from treated rice husk and modified activated carbon (AC). The analysis of AC via Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area and scanning electron microscopy evidenced porosity of 707 m2/g as surface and a pore volume of 0.31 cm3/g. The elemental and thermogravimetric analysis proved that AC contain 48. 7% carbon, while the Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy shows that the surface contains functional groups such as O-H, C=C, C-O, C-O-C and C-H. The experimental results were fitted with fixed-bed adsorption models to understand the adsorbate-adsorbent relationship. Fixed-bed adsorption studies show that, the highest adsorption capacity of 248.2 mg/g and 234.12 mg/g for BPA and phenol respectively was obtained at 250 mg/L concentration and 9 mL/min flow rate. The results also revealed 73 % and 87 % as the highest removal capacity for heavy metal Pb and Cd respectively at 20 mg/L concentration and 9 mL/min flow rate. For sustainability, regeneration of the spent AC was carried out in a microwave which showed 75% yield after five cycles, while the rice husk was eluted with 0.lM hydrogen chloride and 37.8% efficiency was achieved after three successive cycles. The UV lamp incorporated in the filter shows total inactivation of E. coli after 7 minutes

Adsorption of Methylene Blue using Activated Carbon Made from Watermelon Rinds

This work reports the possibility of using sustainable waste from watermelon rinds as a potential candidate for the removal of methylene blue (MB) from aqueous solution in batch mode. The adsorbent was characterized by FTIR and SEM where the FTIR analysis shows peaks at 3370 cm-1 that corresponds to –OH stretching vibration for lignin, pectin and cellulose, at 1728 cm-1 corresponds to –C=O stretching of esters, carboxylic acids, and as well peak in the range of 1350 – 1000 cm-1 which indicates stretching vibration of alcohols and carboxylic acids. The availability of hydroxyl and carboxyl groups enhance high MB uptake at lower pH. The SEM image of raw adsorbent shows no development of pores, but after carbonization the pores were developed due to escape of volatile groups during carbonization and activation process. Adsorption studies using batch mode were performed by varying adsorption parameters such as adsorbent dosage, contact time, pH of the solution and initial dye concentration. The maximum capacity of the adsorbent was found to be 0.4g dosage, pH 4, 20mg/L of initial MB concentration and 60 minutes contact time that removes maximum of 197.5 mg g-1. The results indicated that watermelon rind is a successful agricultural waste that could be utilized for sustainable removal of cationic dyes in aqueous solutions

Modeling of lead (II) adsorption on sodium hydroxide treated rice husk: fixed-bed studies

Sodium hydroxide treated rice husk was explored as an adsorbent for the removal of lead (II) ions from aqueous solutions in a column studies. This paper evaluate the effect of flow rates of 3 mL/min and 9 mL/min; bed depth of 0.9 cm, 1.8 cm and 2.8 cm and influent lead concentration of 5 mg/L and 20 mg/L on the adsorption capacity of the sample in fixed-bed mode were investigated. The highest adsorption capacity of 78 % using 20 mg/L initial lead (II) ions solution was achieved at flow rate of 9 mL/min and bed depth of 2.8 cm. The experimental results obtained from the adsorption studies were correlated with the Thomas, Adams– Bohart and Yoon–Nelson models. The results of the adsorption parameters showed that, Adams–Bohart model fitted the adsorption studies well over all the other models

Digital and Home Healthcare Survey among Nigerians: Assessing Awareness, Preferences, and Willingness to Pay for an Integrated Healthcare Ecosystem to achieve Universal Health Coverage

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for evolving an integrated healthcare ecosystem that will connect patients to digital and home healthcare to achieve universal health coverage. The survey aims to assess perceptions and preferences about digital and home healthcare services and develop an integrated healthcare ecosystem. Methods: A survey of 254 Nigerians was conducted to assess their awareness, preferences, and willingness to pay for digital and home healthcare services using electronic questionnaires, and the data were analysed using SPSS 16.0. Results: Males constituted 70.9%, and 61.4% were aged ≤35 years. Two-third were clients, and a third were healthcare providers. Although about 71% patronized public hospitals, there was poor satisfaction (31.7%) than those attending private hospitals that were more satisfied. The male gender, private hospital utilization, and age of ≤35 years were associated with the satisfaction with OR 1.19 (95% CI 0.69-2.05), OR 1.22 (95% CI 0.73-2.04), and OR 2.41 (95% CI 1.38-4.20) respectively. Thirty minutes was the acceptable delay in receiving care by most respondents.  Only 39.4% were aware of digital health, and 52.8% were aware of home healthcare.  Male gender was associated with DH awareness, while being a healthcare provider was associated with both DH and home healthcare awareness. The respondents' median amount was willing to pay for DH and HH respondents is $1.64 -$6.56 and $3.28 –$6.56, respectively. Conclusion: In response to the survey result, we designed an integrated hospital, digital, and home healthcare project named eDokta, to leapfrog the attainment of universal health coverage in Nigeria

Digital and Home Healthcare Survey among Nigerians: Assessing Awareness, Preferences, and Willingness to Pay for an Integrated Healthcare Ecosystem to achieve Universal Health Coverage

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for evolving an integrated healthcare ecosystem that will connect patients to digital and home healthcare to achieve universal health coverage. The survey aims to assess perceptions and preferences about digital and home healthcare services and develop an integrated healthcare ecosystem. Methods: A survey of 254 Nigerians was conducted to assess their awareness, preferences, and willingness to pay for digital and home healthcare services using electronic questionnaires, and the data were analysed using SPSS 16.0. Results: Males constituted 70.9%, and 61.4% were aged ≤35 years. Two-third were clients, and a third were healthcare providers. Although about 71% patronized public hospitals, there was poor satisfaction (31.7%) than those attending private hospitals that were more satisfied. The male gender, private hospital utilization, and age of ≤35 years were associated with the satisfaction with OR 1.19 (95% CI 0.69-2.05), OR 1.22 (95% CI 0.73-2.04), and OR 2.41 (95% CI 1.38-4.20) respectively. Thirty minutes was the acceptable delay in receiving care by most respondents.  Only 39.4% were aware of digital health, and 52.8% were aware of home healthcare.  Male gender was associated with DH awareness, while being a healthcare provider was associated with both DH and home healthcare awareness. The respondents' median amount was willing to pay for DH and HH respondents is $1.64 -$6.56 and $3.28 –$6.56, respectively. Conclusion: In response to the survey result, we designed an integrated hospital, digital, and home healthcare project named eDokta, to leapfrog the attainment of universal health coverage in Nigeria

Digital and Home Healthcare Survey among Nigerians: Assessing Awareness, Preferences, and Willingness to Pay for an Integrated Healthcare Ecosystem to achieve Universal Health Coverage

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for evolving an integrated healthcare ecosystem that will connect patients to digital and home healthcare to achieve universal health coverage. The survey aims to assess perceptions and preferences about digital and home healthcare services and develop an integrated healthcare ecosystem. Methods: A survey of 254 Nigerians was conducted to assess their awareness, preferences, and willingness to pay for digital and home healthcare services using electronic questionnaires, and the data were analysed using SPSS 16.0. Results: Males constituted 70.9%, and 61.4% were aged ≤35 years. Two-third were clients, and a third were healthcare providers. Although about 71% patronized public hospitals, there was poor satisfaction (31.7%) than those attending private hospitals that were more satisfied. The male gender, private hospital utilization, and age of ≤35 years were associated with the satisfaction with OR 1.19 (95% CI 0.69-2.05), OR 1.22 (95% CI 0.73-2.04), and OR 2.41 (95% CI 1.38-4.20) respectively. Thirty minutes was the acceptable delay in receiving care by most respondents.  Only 39.4% were aware of digital health, and 52.8% were aware of home healthcare.  Male gender was associated with DH awareness, while being a healthcare provider was associated with both DH and home healthcare awareness. The respondents' median amount was willing to pay for DH and HH respondents is $1.64 -$6.56 and $3.28 –$6.56, respectively. Conclusion: In response to the survey result, we designed an integrated hospital, digital, and home healthcare project named eDokta, to leapfrog the attainment of universal health coverage in Nigeria

PREVALENCE OF MALARIA INFECTION IN CHILDREN ATTENDING EMERGENCY PAEDIATRICS UNIT AT USMANU DANFODIYO UNIVERSITY TEACHING HOSPITAL, SOKOTO - NIGERIA

Prevalence of malaria infection in children has been a cause of concern in this part of the world, the sub-Saharan Africa. This study aims at determining the prevalence of this deadly infection in children attending Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital (UDUTH) Sokoto. One hundred and twenty four (124) capillary blood samples were collected from patients attending the Emergency Paediatrics Unit side laboratory. The 'gold standard' method was applied using Giemsa stain to carry out the investigation. Both thick and thin blood films were investigated for malaria parasite concentration and specie identification respectively. Out of the 124 samples collected, 82 (66.13%) were positive and 42 (33.87%) were negative for malaria infection. 49 (39.52%) were males positive for the infection and 33 (26.61%) were females also positive for it. Of all the positive samples children within the age range of 0 – 5 years took the highest figure of 72 (58.06%) while the other age group of 6 – 10 years had a relatively lower figure of 10 (8.07%). However, using Chi-square test of independence, statistical analyses suggest that there is no statistically significant association between the distribution of malaria infection and age or gender. It was determined from this study that P. falciparum is incriminated with about 84.15% of the cases of malaria infection in this study area

Synthesis and characterization of porous carbon from biomass using KOH and K2CO3 chemical activation

Synthesis of activated carbon (AC) from agricultural waste is a research area that has gained high interest recently because of its double-faced potential in dealing with disposal challenges and also in converting such waste to useful products. Activated carbons were prepared from oil palm shell by chemical activation using both KOH and K2CO3 as chemical activants. The precursor was first carbonized at a temperature of 800°C under a nitrogen flow of 150cm3/min for 2 hours at 10°C/min.It was then impregnated with KOH or K2CO3 in the ratio 1:2. The mixture of both KOH or K2CO3 impregnated material were then loaded at different times into the reactor for subsequent heating. It was then pre-heated to a temperature of 800°C for 1 hour in the presence of nitrogen gas. The carbonized sample was then activated by heat treatment under the CO2 flow of 150cm3/min at 800°C for 1hr. Nitrogen adsorption analysis from BET surface area and pore volume were studied. The BET surface area and pore volume of the potassium hydroxide treated (PHAC) and potassium carbonate treated (PCAC) carbons were (305 m2/g and 0.16 cm3/g) and (708 m2/g and 0.31 cm3/g), respectively. The proximate analysis shows a high percentage of fixed carbon and low ash content which is an indication of good precursor for AC production. The FTIR spectra of both carbons showed hydroxyls, alkenes, alkynes, carbonyls and aromatics functional groups. The SEM micrographs showed that both carbons developed pores that are good enough for adsorption of contaminants. However, the results indicate that choice of chemical activant and other activation parameters enable tailoring the porosity of the carbons for a particular environment application

Montmorillonite for Adsorption and Catalytic Elimination of Pollutants from Wastewater: A State-of-the-Arts Review

Clay minerals have been recognized as one of the cheap and effective materials for wastewater remediation. Among the various clay minerals, montmorillonite (MMT) has received much attention due to its wide availability, low-cost and promising properties such as high porosity, mechanical strength, and cation exchange capacity. Additionally, MMT has high swelling properties. These features make it an ideal material for wastewater remediation applications. In addition, it possessed good cationic exchange capacity, making it easier to interact with various molecules. MMT and its composites exhibited good selectivity and catalytic activity for contaminants elimination from wastewater. Surface modification and functionalization have been identified as a way to improve the MMT’s adsorptive performance and endow it with light and light-harnessing properties. Thus, MMT composites, especially metal and metal-oxide nanoparticles, have shown good adsorption and photocatalytic activity toward the elimination/mineralization of various contaminants such as dyes, pharmaceuticals, heavy metals, and other organic and inorganic species. As such, MMT and its composites can be adopted as potential materials for wastewater remediation