Fuel properties and rheological behavior of biodiesel from egusi (Colocynthis citrullus L.) seed kernel oil

In this study, egusi (Colocynthis citrullus L.) seed kernel oil has been evaluated as a feedstock for biodiesel production. The transesterification of the crude egusi seed kernel oil (CESKO) via methanol in the presence of sodium methoxide was performed and the resulting egusi oil methyl ester (EOME) was tested for its fatty ester composition, fuel properties and rheological behavior (at 25 °C, 40 °C and 55 °C). The fuel properties of EOME measured met both the ASTM D6751 and EN 14214 biodiesel standards, with the exception of lower oxidative stability. The fatty ester composition and fuel properties of EOME were found comparable to those of conventional biodiesels from soybean, sunflower and safflower oils. The viscosity behavior of EOME and its blends with diesel fuel (at 25 °C, 40 °C and 55 °C) was found to be pseudoplastic and Newtonian in nature and this agrees with those of other biodiesels reported in literature. From this study, the kinematic viscosity of EOME (3.91 mm2/s) was found to be slightly lower than that of most biodiesels (≥ 4.0 mm2/s) reported in literature

Transesterification reaction optimization and evaluation of biodiesel produced from seed oil of Colocynthis citrullus L.

This work presents Colocynthis citrullus L. (egusi) seed oil as a potential feedstock for biodiesel production. The transesterification process was optimized using response surface methodology (RSM) with three-level-three-factors face-centered central composite design employed. Catalyst (NaOH) amount (0.25-1.8％ (w/w), reaction temperature (45-65 °C) and oil-methanol molar ratio (4-10) were studied as important factors influencing the reaction. The optimum values (1:6.54 oil/methanol molar ratio, 1.22％ (w/w) catalyst amount, and 65 ºC reaction temperature) predicted by the mathematical model generated using RSM gave ester yield of 84.46％, under experimental conditions. The fuel properties of egusi oil methyl ester (EOME) measured satisfied both ASTM D6751 and EN 14214 biodiesel standards with a kinematic viscosity of 3.87 mm2/s. Fatty acid profile and fuel properties of EOME were found similar to those of soybean, safflower and sunflower biodiesel

Investigation of Bio-Waste As Alternative Fuel For Cooking

Nigeria has a vast natural resources especially forestland with the majority of its households relying on solid biomass such as charcoal and firewood as their cooking fuels. Combustion of solid biomass is a significant source of particulate and carbon monoxide emissions. However, the increasing demand and use of charcoal and firewood has led to an escalation of deforestation and the emission from the combustion of these fuels have been highly correlated to harmful health effect among other related problems. Bio-waste as an alternative fuel for cooking in Nigeria is still in its infancy and hence the need for this research. The research was carried out using binders (starch and spent oil) and biomass (rice husk and sawdust) to produce Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) often referred to as pellets. Properties such as moisture content (%), ash content (%), tensile strength (N/mm) and higher heating value (kJ/kg) were determined for the RDF. Prior to the production of the RDF, the moisture and ash contents of rice husk and sawdust were 5.72% and 17.14%, and 15% and 10.23%, respectively. After the production of the RDF from rice husk, moisture content, ash content, higher heating value, and tensile strength of 0.908%, 11.5%, 6160.7 kJ/kg and 508.7 N/mm2 of tensile strength, respectively, were obtained. Also, for the RDF produced from sawdust, moisture content of 0.93%, ash content of 16.5%, higher heating of 7808.1 kJ/kg and tensile strength of 576.8 N/mm2 were measured. These results were found to be in agreement with previous studies on RDFs sourced from bio-wastes. Conclusively, the RDF seems to be a good substitute to wood as cooking fuel and would also reduce greenhouse gas emissions and thus save our environment from effects of climate change

An appraisal of air quality, thermal comfort, acoustic, and health risk of household kitchens in a developing country

Please read abstract in the article.http://link.springer.com/journal/11356hj2023Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineerin

Thermal conductivity enhancement of metal oxide nanofluids : a critical review

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT : All data is available in the manuscript.Advancements in technology related to energy systems, such as heat exchangers, electronics, and batteries, are associated with the generation of high heat fluxes which requires appropriate thermal management. Presently, conventional thermal fluids have found limited application owing to low thermal conductivity (TC). The need for more efficient fluids has become apparent leading to the development of nanofluids as advanced thermal fluids. Nanofluid synthesis by suspending nano-size materials into conventional thermal fluids to improve thermal properties has been extensively studied. TC is a pivotal property to the utilization of nanofluids in various applications as it is strongly related to improved efficiency and thermal performance. Numerous studies have been conducted on the TC of nanofluids using diverse nanoparticles and base fluids. Different values of TC enhancement have been recorded which depend on various factors, such as nanoparticles size, shape and type, base fluid and surfactant type, temperature, etc. This paper attempts to conduct a state-of-the-art review of the TC enhancement of metal oxide nanofluids owing to the wide attention, chemical stability, low density, and oxidation resistance associated with this type of nanofluid. TC and TC enhancements of metal oxide nanofluids are presented and discussed herein. The influence of several parameters (temperature, volume/weight concentration, nano-size, sonication, shape, surfactants, base fluids, alignment, TC measurement techniques, and mixing ratio (for hybrid nanofluid)) on the TC of metal oil nanofluids have been reviewed. This paper serves as a frontier in the review of the effect of alignment, electric field, and green nanofluid on TC. In addition, the mechanisms/physics behind TC enhancement and techniques for TC measurement have been discussed. Results show that the TC enhancement of metal oxide nanofluids is affected by the aforementioned parameters with temperature and nanoparticle concentration contributing the most. TC of these nanofluids is observed to be actively enhanced using electric and magnetic fields with the former requiring more intense studies. The formulation of green nanofluids and base fluids as sustainable and future thermal fluids is recommended.The Deputyship for Research and Innovation, Ministry of Education in Saudi Arabia.https://www.mdpi.com/journal/nanomaterialsam2024Mechanical and Aeronautical EngineeringSDG-09: Industry, innovation and infrastructur

Performance Indicators for Sustainable Cement Production in Nigeria

The cement industry is an intensive energy consuming process with attendant economic benefits and environmental caution. Cement processing comes with economic advantages and environmental implications, like dust and pollutants. Host communities and staff of cement factories are bound to experience and endure this barrage of emissions, which leads to serious health and environmental challenges. Using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), three cement manufacturing companies in Ogun State, South-West, Nigeria were investigated to determine how best they conform to industry best practices. Fifteen criteria were identified and used for this analysis. Results show that COMPANY B is operating at acceptable standards while COMPANY A should consider improving on safety, spares, emission levels and staff welfare

Experimental investigation into natural convection of zinc oxide/water nanofluids in a square cavity

http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/uhte20hj2022Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineerin

Modelling of Nicotiana Tabacum L. oil biodiesel production : comparison of ANN and ANFIS

Among the modern computational techniques, Artificial Neural Network (ANN) and Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) are preferred because of their ability to deal with non-linear modelling and complex stochastic dataset. Nondeterministic models involve some computational complexities while solving real-life problems but would always produce better outcomes. For the first time, this study utilized the ANN and ANFIS models for modelling tobacco seed oil methyl ester (TSOME) production from underutilized tobacco seeds in the tropics. The dataset for the models was obtained from an earlier study which focused on design of the experiment on TSOME production. This study is an an exposition of the influence of transesterification parameters such as reaction duration (T), methanol/oil molar ratio (M:O), and catalyst dosage on the TSOME/biodiesel yield. A multi-layer ANN model with ten hidden layers was trained to simulate the methanolysis process. The ANFIS approach was further implemented to model TSOME production. A comparison of the formulated models was completed by statistical criteria such as coefficient of determination (R2), mean average error (MAE), and average absolute deviation (AAD). The R2 of 0.8979, MAE of 4.34468, and AAD of 6.0529 for the ANN model compared to those of the R2 of 0.9786, MAE of 1.5311, and AAD of 1.9124 for the ANFIS model. The ANFIS model appears to be more reliable than the ANN model in predicting TSOME production in the tropics.http://www.frontiersin.org/Energy_Researcham2022Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineerin

Experimental investigation of heat transfer performance of novel bio-extract doped mono and hybrid nanofluids in a radiator

Please read abstract in the article.https://http//www.elsevier.com/locate/csitehb2022Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineerin

Emergence and spread of two SARS-CoV-2 variants of interest in Nigeria.

Identifying the dissemination patterns and impacts of a virus of economic or health importance during a pandemic is crucial, as it informs the public on policies for containment in order to reduce the spread of the virus. In this study, we integrated genomic and travel data to investigate the emergence and spread of the SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.318 and B.1.525 (Eta) variants of interest in Nigeria and the wider Africa region. By integrating travel data and phylogeographic reconstructions, we find that these two variants that arose during the second wave in Nigeria emerged from within Africa, with the B.1.525 from Nigeria, and then spread to other parts of the world. Data from this study show how regional connectivity of Nigeria drove the spread of these variants of interest to surrounding countries and those connected by air-traffic. Our findings demonstrate the power of genomic analysis when combined with mobility and epidemiological data to identify the drivers of transmission, as bidirectional transmission within and between African nations are grossly underestimated as seen in our import risk index estimates