Development and Performance Evaluation of an Improved Thermal Performance Wood Stove using Skirt

The importance of heat energy source from wood to humanity cannot be over emphasised since many depend on it for their heating needs. In this work, a wood stove was designed, constructed and tested without a skirt and with a detachable skirt of height 120 mm (same height as the pot used for the experiment) to ascertain the influence of the skirt on the stove in terms of thermal performance in a water boiling test. Thermal efficiency and specific fuel consumption were evaluated. It was found that the stove tested without a skirt gave an average thermal efficiency of 31.33% and an average specific fuel consumption of 0.14 kg/l. When tested with a skirt, however, the stove gave an average thermal efficiency of 38.65% and an average specific fuel consumption of 0.09 kg/l. This signifies an improvement in thermal performance by the use of skirt on the stove designed. Keywords: Humanity, Globally, Detachable-skirt, Thermal performance, Wood stove

Investigating the Effects of Pentanol and Biodiesel Blends on the Performance and Emission Characteristic of Compression Ignition Engine

Emissions from use of fossil fuels have consistently posed significant threat to the environment and wellbeing of man. This has prompted several studies aimed at finding solution to the emissions and their effects. The aim of this research is to investigate the effect of adding pentanol and biodiesel from Moringa Oleifera seed to pure diesel content of 70% by volume. pentanol and biodiesel make up the remaining 30 percent by volume and were also varied, with pentanol percentage being increased from 2 percent to 8 percent so as to carefully monitored the effects of adding pentanol while the Moringa oleifera biodiesel made up the balance for the 30%. These blends were labelled according to the percentage composition of biodiesel and pentanol (B28P2, B26P4, B24P6, B24P6, and B22P8). The physicochemical properties of all blends such as viscosity, density, pour point, acid value and iodine value determined. From the result of the engine performance and emission tests, B24P6 blend has been noted to have the best engine performance parameters, haven shown the best engine brake power of 19.787 kW, and with the highest engine brake thermal efficiency of 19.78%.While in term of engine emission, B22P8 blend, have the lowest Nitrogen oxide (NOx) emission, with a value of 82.4994 ppm which is about 3% lower than that of pure diesel, while B26P4 have the lowest carbon monoxide (CO) emission among all the samples tested with value of 6.1556 ppm which is about 58% lower than that of Petro diesel. However, blends appeared to have good brake mean effective pressure except for B22P8 which have the lowest BMEP, that’s about 2.8% lower than that of Petro diesels. Conclusively, the addition of Moringa oleifera biodiesel with pentanol improved the diesel quality, yielding good improvement in engine  performance and emission. Keywords: Diesel, biodiesel, pentanol, biofuel blends, Moringa oleifera seed, engine emission

Performance Improvement of an Indirect Solar Dryer with Single Axis Manual Tracking System and Angular Simulation of the Flat Plate Collector Reflectors

The need of food preservation cannot be over-emphasised. Crops need to be processed and preserved in times of their abundance to ensure for life and specie sustainability in times of scarcity. Flat plate collectors (FPCs) are often made fixed and the positions of reflectors used on them are not normally specified; in this paper, a report of an experimental test of an indirect solar dryer whose FPC is operated manually in a single axis to track the sun is presented. To avoid incurring extra cost on the existing design, the FPC was rather made to be operated manually instead of the automation process. Using the Engineering Equation Solver (EES) and the TRNSYS 16 softwares, the angular positions of reflectors placed east and west on the FPC were simulated for the first quarter months of the year of the experiment – this included the month of the test. This is to ascertain the best positions for the reflectors in other to achieve maximum insolation. For the month of the test, March, the angular positions of the reflectors placed east and west of the FPC were found to be 40° and 80° respectively relative to the horizontal plane. The performance of the solar dryer in terms of the percentage moisture loss, drying rate, collector efficiency and drying efficiency was evaluated when the FPC was fixed and when it was made to track the sun and the results obtained there from were compared. In comparison, it was found that the dryer tested by manually tracking the sun increased the total percentage moisture loss by 5.11%; the total drying rate by 2.10×10-5 kg/s; the average collector efficiency by 3.92% and the overall drying efficiency by 2.0% as compare to when the FPC was fixed, i.e. not tracking the sun. The indirect solar dryer with the ability to manually track the sun in a single axis using the meteorological conditions of Zaria, Nigeria was therefore found to have increased the performance of the system dryer as compare to when tracking of the sun was not done

Bacteriological Assessment of Spoilt Pharmaceutical Products Sold in Yola Metropolis Adamawa State, Nigeria

Abstract Forty samples of spoilt pharmaceutical products (oral and ophthalmic) were collected from three different patent medicine stores and screened for potential bacteria contaminants using standard laboratory techniques. Of the 40 samples screened, 36 (90%) were seen to be contaminated by 5 different types of bacteria namely Bacillus species, Staphylococcus aureus, Corynebacterium species, Micrococcus species and Pseudomonas aeruginosa while 4 (10%) were free of contamination. The range of bacteria count for the oral and ophthalmic products ranges from 1.6 x 10 2 CFU/ml-9.9 x 10 2 CFU/ml and 2.7 x 10 2 CFU/ml-9.7 x 10 2 CFU/ml respectively. The presence of these pathogenic organisms may contribute to the spoilage of these products and also may be source of infection to the consumers. Therefore, good manufacturing practices, packaging, storage and distribution should be enforced

Smart cities as panopticon: Highlighting blockchain’s potential for smart cities through competing narratives

This chapter argues that the narratives of smart cities demonstrate the potential value of blockchain technologies. Drawing upon competing narratives within the cultural imaginary, both the ‘dream’ of a better city, and the ‘fear’ of an oppressive structure will highlight the need to consider both Bentham and Foucault’s Panopticon. The term ‘panopticon’ is defined and explored within the context of blockchain technology. In doing so three concepts are identified: the enabling nature of a panopticon; the use of a blockchain-enabled-panopticon to encourage human flourishing; and the ability for technology such as this to enhance standards above a basic minimum of the law. This chapter suggests that understanding smart cities, panopticon and blockchain, may allow for a better account for competing narratives of fear that can lead to a deeper understanding of how this technology can be deployed.</p