ASSESSING SEVERITY OF POSTURAL LOADING IN FOUR GARI -FRYING METHODS

Posture at work is a source of musculoskeletal load. This is in addition to the external task-induced         load depending on the task, which must be minimized to ease the work. Four working postures com-         mon to gari-frying workers in the southwestern Nigeria namely, sitting beside (SB), sitting in front (SF),        alternating sitting and standing (ASS) and standing (S) were investigated to assess severity of loading         in each posture. Activities of 16 fryers were videotaped and played back for assessment using Rapid         Upper Limb Assessment (RULA) technique. RULA grand score recorded were SB 7.00, S 6.50, SF                                                                                                           0        6.00 and ASS 5.75. Postural angles were also measured giving SB 36, S 50, SF 79, and ASS 50 .         RULA result has been confirmed by postural angle measurement, indicating that ASS has the least        severity   due   to   postural   loading   with the   least   bending/twisting   and   flexion   of the   back   during gari-        frying task. ASS posture, therefore, is recommended for gari frying in southwestern Nigeria

Energy Expenditure in Gari Processing Activities by Nigerian Women

This work was undertaken to study the energy expenditure by women in Nigeria to produce Gari. Data were collected by direct measurement of height, weight and monitoring of heart beat using stethoscope during operations. In producing gari, a mean energy expenditure of 4.17 kJ/min was spent on cassava peeling and 3.17 kJ/min on mash cake sieving. Frying using traditional method,  improved methods I and II of frying expended 9.75, 2.67 and 1.25 kJ/min of energy respectively. The main activities involved in gari production can be considered to be light grade of work in physiological studies with improved method II, the most appropriate in gari frying in terms of increased capacity and greater efficiency.  &nbsp

Design and Fabrication of an Okra Threshing Machine

A simple Okra threshing machine was designed, fabricated and tested to alleviate the problems associated with Okra processing in Nigeria. It is consists mainly of five units namely, the feeding assembly, the threshing unit, separation unit, power transmission unit. The overall mean threshing and cleaning efficiencies obtained were 93.95 and 99.56% respectively. Drum speed 500rpm combine with 55mm concave clearance gave the highest Threshing efficiency of 99.99%. All speeds, concave clearance combinations gave clearing efficiency above 98%. The machine threshing and cleaning efficiencies increased with increase in drum speed and decrease with increase in concave clearance. The machine is simple to operate and maintain without formal training

Development of a Model for optimum saturation efficiency of an evaporative cooling system

The performance efficiency of an evaporative cooling system (fan and pad) under varied levels of parameters (water flow rate, pad thickness and air velocity) was evaluated using a 3-factor statistical design. A response equation was developed and was used to obtain the optimum levels of the parameters required for optimal operation of the evaporative cooling system. Simulation result of the response equation indicated that for optimum operation of the evaporative cooling system, a water flow rate of 4.4L/min, pad thickness of 47mm and air velocity of 1.6m/s was required. Simulated saturation efficiency of 70.4 % was obtained with these values while the measured was 84.6 % at water flow rate of 4.5L/min, pad thickness of 60mm and air velocity of 2.3m/s

Comparison of Water Adsorption Characteristics of Plantain and Cocoyam in a Controlled Storage Condition.

This investigation was conducted to study the behaviour of dehydrated products of cocoyam and plantain in a controlled storage environment at temperature range of 25 and 40oC. Salt solutions were used to achieve water activity that ranged from 0.08 to 0.97. Equilibrium moisture content obtained was used to produce sorption isotherms at these temperatures. Sorption models of Halsey, Chung Pfost, and Henderson were evaluated on the experimental data as well as modified versions of Halsey and Henderson. Co-efficient of determination ranged from 0.80 to 0.97 in all the models. Most equilibrium moisture content obtained during the experiment reflected adsorption except for very low water activity. Chung Pfost equation gave the best fit for the absorption characteristics of these crops having the least residual mean square within 0.03 to 0.11%. Plantain exhibited higher affinity for water than cocoyam in all the relative humidity range. Least moisture content derived for storage stability of these crops varied from 6.5 to 8.2 and 6.3 to 8.2 % in cocoyam and plantain respectively. The region of local isotherm II of relative humidity between 23 and 65 % was identified as the region for optimum storage

NEURAL NETWORK MODELING OF OIL YIELD FROM SHEAKERNELS IN A HYDRAULIC PRESS

An investigation on prediction of oil from shea kernels in a hydraulic press subject to process variables such as moisture content, pressing time, applied pressure, heating time and heating temperature was carried out. Artificial neural network (ANN) technique was applied using experimental data from a previous study. These data were then used for network training and testing. The back propagation technique was then used for establishing the network. The prediction accuracy of the neural network model was significantly improved compared to statistical model. (R=0.96) Key words: Oil expression, yield, neural network, prediction

ENERGY EXPENDITURE IN GARI PROCESSING ACTIVITIES BY NIGERIAN WOMEN

This work was undertaken to study the energy expenditure by women in Nigeria to produce Gari. Data were collected by direct measurement of height, weight and monitoring of heart beat using stethoscope during operations. In producing gari, a mean energy expenditure of 4.17 kJ/min was spent on cassava peeling and 3.17 kJ/min on mash cake sieving. Frying using traditional method, improved methods I and II of frying expended 9.75, 2.67 and 1.25 kJ/min of energy respectively. The main activities involved in gari production can be considered to be light grade of work in physiological studies with improved method II, the most appropriate in gari frying in terms of increased capacity and greater efficienc