ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORK PREDICTION OF PERFORMANCE CHARACTERISTICS OF BIOFUEL PRODUCED FROM SWEET POTATOE (IPOMOEA BATATA)

Fossil fuel depletion and the harm it causes to the environment has led to the development of alternative fuels. In this research, biofuel (ethanol) was produced and characterized from sweat potatoes. Blends of premium motor spirit with 0% (E0), 2% (E2), 4% (E4), and 10% (E10) of the produced biofuel at various percentages were separately used to power a four-stroke, single-cylinder SI engine on an engine test bed, and data of the engine performance - brake power, brake torque, brake mean effective pressure (BMEP), and the exhaust gas temperature reported in each test. The results of the physicochemical analysis revealed that the physical state of the biofuel is colorless, the viscosity at 300C, density, calorific value, and pH level are 0.9834 mPa.s, 0.85 g/cm3,19 kJ/kg, and 1.82, respectively. It was observed that an increase in ethanol in the blend increases the performance of the engine, although the BMEP at E0 gave the highest value of 0.3 bar compared to other blends.  An artificial neural network (ANN) model for predicting engine performance characteristics was developed, trained, validated, and tested using the reported data. The result of the ANN model revealed that the Levenberg-Marquardt training algorithm (LMTA) with 10 hidden layer neurons offers the best fit for the features for both training, validation, testing, and overall. With the R for training equal 1, validation equal to  0.99468, testing equal to 0.90103, and overall R equal to  0.93842 as compared to the rest in terms of the number of neurons and training algorithms.

Suitable additives for vegetable oil-based automotive shock absorber fluids: an overview

Formulation of a cost-effective, high-performance and eco-friendly lubricant, largely depends on the base oil quality, then the selection of suitable additives and their proportions. Vegetable oils, identified to be eco-friendly, renewable, future-available and cost-effective treasures for lubricant formulation, apart from processing, will rely much on suitable additives to meet the performance requirements for automotive shock absorber (ASA) fluids. Additives that will guarantee performance, longevity and eco-friendliness of formulated vegetable-based functional fluids have to be uncommonly effective, resistant to depletion, non-toxic and highly biodegradable. Their selection in these regards will require skills and experience, which will harness the various arms of synergism as effective tools to succour the known weaknesses of the base oil. This is a review on additives that could be used in formulation of vegetable oil-based (ASA) fluids. The outcome shows that there are customary and novel additives that are suitable for formulating vegetable oil-based ASA fluids

Suitable additives for vegetable oil-based automotive shock absorber fluids: an overview

Formulation of a cost-effective, high-performance and eco-friendly lubricant, largely depends on the base oil quality, then the selection of suitable additives and their proportions. Vegetable oils, identified to be eco-friendly, renewable, future-available and cost-effective treasures for lubricant formulation, apart from processing, will rely much on suitable additives to meet the performance requirements for automotive shock absorber (ASA) fluids. Additives that will guarantee performance, longevity and eco-friendliness of formulated vegetable-based functional fluids have to be uncommonly effective, resistant to depletion, non-toxic and highly biodegradable. Their selection in these regards will require skills and experience, which will harness the various arms of synergism as effective tools to succour the known weaknesses of the base oil. This is a review on additives that could be used in formulation of vegetable oil-based (ASA) fluids. The outcome shows that there are customary and novel additives that are suitable for formulating vegetable oil-based ASA fluids