Short-Term Lime Pretreatment and Enzymatic Conversion of Sawdust into Ethanol

The utilization of lignocellulosic biomass as feedstock for the production of fuel ethanol has attracted considerable interests in the last few decades. The emergence of new technologies has provided hope for fuel ethanol potential uses. Lignocellulose is a valuable alternative energy source. The enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass is constrained due to its complex structural features, so pretreatment is important to enhance its enzymatic digestibility. In this study, the influence of process parameters – temperature, air addition, hydrogen peroxide addition, and time – on the pretreatment of sawdust (a wood residue) was investigated. The optimization of the pretreatment step was performed by using the full factorial and central composite designs of experiments. The study assessed the compositional changes by applying short-term oxidative pretreatments such as alkaline wet air oxidation, alkaline peroxide oxidation, and alkaline peroxide assisted wet air oxidation methodologies, and their effects on the yields of reducing sugar. The best pretreatment condition based on the yield of the reducing sugar was the alkaline peroxide-assisted wet air oxidation at 150 oC, 1%H2O2, 10 bar air pressure, 45 min. The optimal 4-day reducing sugar yield was 335.35 mg equivalent glucose/g dry biomass at 40 g/L substrate concentration, 25 FPU/g dry substrate of cellulase enzyme, and 5 IU/g dry substrate of β-glucosidase. Furthermore, when considering the fermentability of the treated solids, at 2% effective cellulose loading, 9.71 g/L ethanol (23.43% theoretical ethanol yield) was obtained for pretreatment at 150 oC, 1%H2O2, 10 bar air pressure, and 45 min. At the optimum pretreatment condition, 0.1 g Ca(OH)2/g dry biomass was enough to cause appreciable lignin removal. Lignin removal was largely dependent on temperature, and the prevailing oxidative conditions. Cellulose was highly preserved in the solid fraction, while more of the hemicellulose was solubilized/degraded. The high-lignin content of the raw material was a great obstacle to the digestibility of the treated material. The lignin remained largely undissolved in the solid fractio

Optimization of enzymatic digestibility of sodium hydroxide- hydrogen peroxide oxidative pretreated siam weed for reducing sugar production

This study evaluated the enzymatic conversion of alkaline peroxide oxidative pretreatment of an invasive lignocellulosic biomass (siam weed) to reducing sugar, amenable to further microbial effects at the downstream processing. Using a statistical design of experiments approach (response surface methodology), optimum pretreatment conditions of 43.7 oC, 9.3 h, and 0.4% H2O2 , and enzymatic hydrolysis conditions of 25 FPU cellulase/g treated biomass, 50 oC hydrolysis temperature, 2% biomass loading, and 72 h hydrolysis period, 391.3 mg/g reducing sugar yield was achieved and validated. At the optimized pretreatment and enzymatic conditions, the conversion of treated biomass to untreated biomass was about a 6-fold increase

Effective Gravimetric Characterization for Lignocellulosic Biomass: Comparison of NaOH-H2O2 and Ca(OH)2-H2O2 Oxidation Pretreated Sugarcane Bagasse

In this study, alkaline peroxide oxidation pretreatment was evaluated for sugarcane bagasse, a lignocellulosic biomass. By comparing the effects of NaOHH2O2 and Ca(OH)2 on pretreatments at specified reaction time periods (3, 6, 9, and 12 h) and reaction temperatures (60, 70, 80, and 90 h), optimum responses in term of cellulose content, hemicellulose solubilization, and lignin removal were established. Optimum pretreatment conditions of 80 oC reaction temperature, 3 h reaction time, and 30 mL/L of water hydrogen peroxide concentration (1%H2O2) solubilized 69.5%(w/w) hemicellulose for the sodium hydroxide peroxide (SHP) pretreatments, 75.8%(w/w) lignin removal was also achieved with 59.2%(w/w) cellulose retained in the solid fraction. In addition, the responses for the optimum conditions for the calcium hydroxide peroxide (CHP) pretreatments, the cellulose content, hemicellulose solubilization, and lignin removal were 50.3%, 66.6%, and 65.4%(w/w) respectively. Pretreatments showed both NaOHH2O2 and Ca(OH)2-H2O2 to be useful pretreatment agents for the disruption of the polysaccharide complex. The study also revealed that NaOH-H2O2 pretreatment stands as a better choice to Ca(OH)2-H2O2 pretreatment

Performance and egg qualities of old-laying hens fed with diets containing selected phytogenic feed additives

Performance and egg qualities of old-laying hens fed with diets containing ginger, turmeric and garlic were evaluated in a twelve (12) week feeding trial. A total of 135 laying birds of Isa-Brown strain which were sixty-four (64) weeks old were used for the trial and arranged in a completely randomized design. Five diets were formulated for the trial:  Diet 1 (control), Diet 2 (3% inclusion level of turmeric), Diet 3 (3% inclusion level of ginger), Diet 4 (turmeric and garlic at 2.25% and 0.75%, respectively) and Diet 5 (ginger and garlic at 2.25% and 0.75%, respectively). Proximate compositions of the Phytogenic Feed Additives (PFAs) were determined with the moisture content ranging between 5.03-7.50%; ash (3.26-6.11%); ether extract (7.39-14.58%); fibre (10.28-13.79%); protein (3.07-7.23%) and Nitrogen Free Extract (58.88-61.54%). The performance indices, though not significantly (P˃0.05) influenced by the test diets except for Hen Day Production (HDP) had the highest weight gained (0.16kg) recorded for birds fed on a diet containing ginger. The highest (62.92 and 62.04 %) HDP were observed in birds fed diets containing ginger and ginger + garlic; respectively. However, the lowest weight gained (0.04kg) was recorded in birds fed a diet containing turmeric + garlic; this diet also recorded the lowest % HDP and FCR with values of 57.50% and 2.37 respectively. The overall values for the qualities of eggs from laying hens fed the PFAs showed that only the Haugh Unit, yolk colour and albumen height were significantly (P˂0.05) affected; with those on Turmeric + Garlic diets having the highest for these parameters. However, the fatty acid variables were not significantly (P˃0.05) affected by the dietary treatments. It could be concluded that the inclusion of PFAs in the diets of laying hens especially at an older age would help to sustain performance with improved quality

Metropolitan Infrastructure and Property Values: An African Experience

This paper evaluated impact of infrastructure in residential property on its property values in Ibadan, Nigeria. A total number of 450 questionnaires were administered out of which 423 questionnaires were retrieved. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data collected for the study). The study revealed that burglary proof was seen as the strongest index of satisfaction in the study area, this was followed by security guard. Kitchen and fenced round ranked third and fourth respectively, while bathroom/toilet and access road ranked fifth and sixth respectively. Water supply ranked seventh, while drainage channel ranked lowest in the study area. The paper concluded that property developers that want to invest in residential buildings development should endeavor to provide infrastructure that will attractive rental values on their residential property in Ibadan in particular and towns and cities in developing nations

Spatio-temporal variation of the physico-chemical properties of rainwater in Benin City, Nigeria

Urbanized landscapes are known to have relatively high atmospheric pollutants due to high concentration of anthropogenic activities. This paper therefore examines the spatial and temporal variations of the physico-chemical properties of rainwater at the core, intermediate and urban fringe of Benin City. Rainwater samples were collected at 2 locations each at the core (Ring Road and Forestry), intermediate (Airport Road and Upper Mission) and urban fringe (Ikpoba Hill and Ogba) in the months of March and July, 2016. The physico-chemical properties of the rainwater differed significantly at the core, intermediate and urban fringe between the months of March and July with t-statistics of 3.029, 3.737 and 2.764 (p < 0.05) respectively. The difference in rainwater properties among the core,  intermediate and urban fringe zones were insignificant in the months of March and July. With the exceptions of colour, turbidity, P and Fe in the month of March and P and Fe in the month of July, rainwater properties from the three locations, where WHO guidelines for drinking water is applicable, were within permissible limits. Water quality was excellent at the core, intermediate and urban in the month of July while it was excellent at the intermediate and urban fringe and good at the core in the month of March. Findings suggest that besides the role of rainfall amount in atmospheric cleansing, other factors such as wind profile and direction and atmospheric stagnation also play critical influence on rainwater quality.Keywords: Rainwater, water quality index, physico-chemical properties, Benin City, Nigeria On sait que les paysages urbanisés présentent des polluants  atmosphériques relativement élevés en raison de la concentration élevée d’activités anthropiques. Cet article examine donc les variations spatio-temporelles des propriétés physico-chimiques de l’eau de pluie à la périphérie centrale, intermédiaire et urbaine de Benin City. Des échantillons d’eau de pluie ont été collectés à deux endroits situés respectivement aux quartiers centraux (Route Périphérique et Forêt), intermédiaires (Route Aéroportuaire et Upper Mission) et urbains (Ikpoba Hill et Ogba) en mars et juillet 2016. Les propriétés physico-chimiques des eaux pluviales différaient significativement aux franges centrales, intermédiaires et urbaines entre les mois de mars et juillet avec des statistiques t de 3,029, 3,737 et 2,764 (p <0,05) respectivement. La différence de propriétés des eaux de pluie entre les zones centrales, intermédiaires et urbaines était insignifiante aux mois de mars et juillet. À l’exception de la couleur, de la turbidité, du P et du Fe au mois de mars et du P et du Fe au mois de juillet, les propriétés des eaux de pluie des trois sites, où les directives de l’OMS pour l’eau potable sont applicables, étaient dans les limites  permises. La qualité de l’eau était excellente au centre, intermédiaire et urbaine au mois de juillet, tandis qu’elle était excellente à la périphérie intermédiaire et urbaine et bonne au centre au mois de mars. Les résultats suggèrent qu’outre le rôle de la quantité de pluie dans le nettoyage atmosphérique, d’autres facteurs tels que le profil et la direction du vent et la stagnation atmosphérique ont également une influence déterminante sur la qualité de l’eau de pluie.Mots-clés: Eaux de pluie, indice de qualité de l’eau, propriétés physico-chimiques, Benin City, Nigéria

FILE ENCRYPTION AND HASH SYSTEM USING JAVA PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE FOR IMAGE STEGANOGRAPHY

Due to the rapid development and rapid popularization of the information technology, internet and digital media have become an important tool for military, commercial, individuals and many other organizations to obtain and transmit information. However, digital communication via the Internet is vulnerable to eavesdropping, malicious interference and other activities. As a result, data transmission protection and information security issues become a bottleneck than ever before. This paper presents file encryption and Hash system (Image Steganography) via Least Significant Bit (LSB) approachto increase the amount of text file the cover image can conceal. The software used consists of two sections: the Encode section (embedded text file by using an image as cover) and the Decode section (extract the embedded text from the cover image) which is implemented through NetBeans IDE using Java Programming Language.The different results obtained when the proposed device was tested revealed that it worked according to the design specifications

The production of Wara cheese from locally sourced coagulants and its nutritional evaluation

The use of vegetable extracts as milk coagulants has evolved recently in soft cheese processing. In this study, two types of cheeses were produced from locally sourced raw cow milk using two different coagulants, Calotropis procera leaf and CaCl2. Protein, fat, Zn, Mg, and Fe were the nutrients and minerals that were assayed. The protein (18.4%), Fat (7.93%), Mg (4.13%), Zn (4.01%), Fe (2.59%) of Calotropis procera coagulated cheese was significantly higher than CaCl2 coagulant produced cheese with protein content of (9.13%), Fat (5.53%), Mg (2.34%), Zn (2.59%), Fe (1.13%). The higher ash content in the cheese produced with CaCl2 coagulant makes it susceptible to microbial growth, as a result, reducing its shelf-life. The study suggests that cow milk and Calotropis procera produced cheese appears promising in nutritional contents with further quality improvemen

A SMART SYSTEM FOR MONITORING OIL PIPELINE INSTALLATIONS USING FIBER OPTIC SENSORS

Oil Pipeline installations are national infrastructures of high economic value. This makes monitoring and protection of such installations against the threat of economic saboteurs a national issue for any government. In this paper, a system for smart monitoring of oil pipeline using optical fiber cable is presented as a solution to the inadequacy of the traditional human and/or animal physical monitoring. The designed system employs fiber optic as sensor laid along the oil pipeline installation and a software that analyses the optical signal generated to determine the occurrence of threat to the installations. The smart system takes advantage of the effect of environmental phenomenon on optical signal traversing the optical fiber sensor in the automated monitoring of oil pipeline installations. On the basis of the mathematical relationship between light intensity and applied pressure, the system is able to determine (against a pre-set threshold), an attempt or the actual vandalization of oil pipeline installation

Distillery Wastewater Decontamination by the Fenton Advanced Oxidation Method

This study evaluated the effect of Fenton advanced oxidation process on the treatment of an industrial wastewater (distillery). The comparison of the effects of Fe2+ loadings, H2O2 dosages (2%(v/v)and 4%(v/v)), reaction temperature and reaction time, established optimum efficiency in terms of BOD and COD reductions. The best operating conditions for the treatment of the distillery wastewater containing 43.85 mg/L BOD concentration and 274.28 mg/L COD concentration in the raw effluent was 2% H2O2 dosage at constant loadings of Fe2+ (1.5 g), 80 oC pretreatment temperature, and 1 h reaction time. At this optimized condition, the BOD content reduced to about 35 mg/L (about 21% removal) and COD content reduced to about 53 mg/L (about 81% removal). There was a complete removal of the initial colour present in the wastewater after the treatment process. The process proved the ability to effectively reduce the COD content which when high in industrial wastewaters can lead to serious impacts to the environmen