Environmental Impact Assessment for a Pilot Project for Integrated Solid Waste Management in Makurdi, Nigeria

Abstract: The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of the Integrated Waste Treatment Facility (IWTF) was conducted through multidisciplinary assessment of the baseline status of the site specific environment using standard methods for EIA in Nigeria. The impact assessment took into consideration the project activities and their interactions with environmental components. In order to influence the layout of facilities and infrastructure and maintain environmental sustainability throughout the project cycle, Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) mapping was carried out to delineate the sensitivity of the IW TF site. The interaction of the environmental aspects of the project and site specific baseline status of the area defined the potential impact of the IWTF project. Residual potential impacts were identified in order to understand the levels of environmental review and performance needed for the entire project. Ameliorative measures were proffered for the significant potential environmental impacts most of which were recommended for incorporation in the design and layout of the entire project. The residual impacts shall be continuously monitored through the use of environmental performance indicators as specified by the regulatory bodies on environment in Nigeria. An Environmental and Social Management Plan (ESM P) was developed for the project to allow for environmentally sustainable operations if those initially established proved inadequate, to cover the residual impacts. Socio-economic and health aspects of the project were defined to guarantee sustainability. Based on the study, the project was found to be economically, commercially, technically, managerially and environmentally sustainable

Some Engineering Properties of Breadfruit Seed Varieties Relevant to Handling

Determination of some engineering properties of two varieties of breadfruit seeds (Var. Africana and Var. Inversa) was carried out.  The initial moisture content was 6.85% and later adjusted by rewetting to 14.85%, 21.85% and 28.85% (wb). The following engineering properties, true density, bulk density, percentage porosity, specific heat capacity, terminal velocity and drag coefficient were determined. Thermal property (specific heat capacity) of the seed was determined using the calorimeter method. The aerodynamic properties (terminal velocity and drag coefficient) were also determined by using an air column made of a vertical wind tunnel in conjunction with a voltage regulator to vary the wind speed and a digital anemometer to determine the air speed. Data obtained were statistically analyzed using Minitab statistical software. The following results were obtained. The true density of Var. Africana decreased from 1033.68 kg/m3 to 842.81 kg/m3 which amounted to 18.5% decrease, while for var. Inversa it decreased from 948.38 kg/m3 to 911.89 kg/m3 amounting to 3.85% decrease as the moisture content increased from 6.85 to 28.85%. The bulk density was observed to increase linearly as the moisture content increased.  It increased from 361.239 to 408.723 kg/m3 for Var. Africana and 317.55 to 387.638 kg/m3 for Var. Inversa.   The porosity of Var. Africana ranges from 65.06% to 51.6% while for Var. Inversa it ranges from 66.5% to 57.2%.  The terminal velocity increased from 5.5 to 8.0 m/s for Var. Africana and 3.89 to 6.8 m/s for Var. Inversa respectively as the moisture content increased from 6.85 to 28.85 %

Mass Transfer Considerations in Osmotic Dehydration of Plantain (Musa Paradisiaca) Chips

The influence of process variables and the kinetics of water loss during osmotic dehydration of plantain (Musa paradisiaca) chips in sugar solutions was determined to provide information necessary for further drying and to enable processors maintain its quality. A 3 x 4 factorial in Complete Randomized Design (CRD) experimental design comprising of three sucrose concentrations 29, 33 and 41oBrix and four temperatures 40, 50, 60 and 80oC were used for the study. For each sucrose concentration, plantain slices each 20 g were immersed in sugar solutions contained in 500ml glass beaker which were maintained at 40, 50, 60 and 80oC respectively in agitated water bath while maintaining the syrup to fruit ratio at 5:1 in order to minimize errors arising from changes in syrup concentrations due to mass transfer. Osmotic dehydration kinetics of plantain slices was analyzed based on the models reported by Azoubel and Murr (AMM), and Zungarramudi and Lupin (ZLM). The analysis of variance shows a highly significant syrup concentration, temperature and interaction effect. As the temperature increased, water loss increased and residual water decreased. At all sucrose concentrations studied, water loss was observed to increase with temperature. Results of evaluation of the mass transfer characteristics during osmotic dehydration indicate that both AMM and ZLM gave high regression coefficients ranging from 0.789 to 0.997 for AMM and 0.821 to 0.996 for ZLM. The values of the mean relative deviation modulus (%E) used to evaluate the goodness of fit of the models for AMM and ZLM were generally low, less than 10% indicating that the two models gave good fit to experimental data with ZLM predicting the experimental data better than AMM. The apparent diffusivity (Da) values generally increased with both temperature and sucrose concentration with the values ranging between 3.489x10-12 to 1.857x10-6 m2/s

Effect of processing methods and storage environment on moisture adsorption characteristics of ginger (Zingiber Officianale)

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of processing methods and storage parameters on moisture adsorption characteristics of dry matured yellow ginger ( Zingiber officianale ) to provide information for the prediction of shelf life and selection of packaging materials. Moisture adsorption was determined gravimetrically. Saturated solutions of sulphuric acid were prepared to provide constant relative humidity environments. The experimental design was split plot comprising six processing methods (peeled-blanched ginger slice, peeled ginger slice, unpeeled-blanched ginger slice, unpeeled ginger slice, peeled ginger flour and unpeeled ginger flour), four storage temperatures (20, 30, 40 and 50ºC) and six levels of relative humidity in the range of 3.71 - 93.9% which represents some of the environmental conditions that ginger products are exposed to in practice. There was a highly significant processing methods, temperature and water activity effects on the equilibrium moisture content (EMC). For all the processing methods and at all temperature levels, EMC increased with increase in water activity at constant temperature. At constant water activity levels, EMC decreased with increase in temperature. The EMCs of the peeled ginger slices and flours were generally lower than those of the unpeeled ginger at the temperatures and water activities studied. The EMCs of peeled ginger flour were generally higher than the peeled ginger slices at all the temperatures and water activities studied. At any given storage temperature and relative humidity, unpeeled ginger samples were more hygroscopic than the peeled. Also at the temperatures and relative humidities studied, ginger powders absorbed more moisture than the slices. The EMCs of blanched ginger were consistently lower than the unblanched. This implies that blanched ginger has decreased tendency to absorb moisture in storage. Therefore on the basis of shelf stability, Peeled-Blanched Ginger Slice (PBS) is recommended followed by Peeled Ginger Slice (PGS) and Unpeeled-Blanched Ginger Slices (UBS) in that order. The Unpeeled Ginger Slice (UGS), Peeled Ginger Flour (PGF) and Unpeeled Ginger Flour (UGF) did poorly and therefore not recommended

Ten Years After: An ‘Austerity Audit’ of Services and Living Conditions for People Living with HIV in the UK, a Decade after the Financial Crisis

Cite as: HIV Psychosocial Network (2018). Ten Years After: An ‘Austerity Audit’ of Services and Living Conditions for People Living with HIV in the UK, a Decade after the Financial Crisis

Effect of the duration of fermentation on the quality of gari

Abstract: The effect of duration of fermentation on some proximate and sensory parameters was studied in bitter cassava grated and fermented traditionally for a period of five days to determine the optimum number of days of fermentation for best quality gari. The statistical design used in studying the effect of duration of fermentation on moisture content, ash content, crude fibre, crude protein, hydrogen cyanide (HCN), swelling index, HCN and crude fat was Complete Randomized Design (CRD) with three replications. Standard procedures were used in the determination of all the parameters studied. A panel of thirty judges were invited for the sensory evaluation of colour, aroma and texture. The results of the study as indicated by analysis of variance show that there is highly significant effect (P#0.01) of the duration of fermentation of gari on moisture content, ash content, crude fibre, crude fat, crude protein, HCN and swelling index. The regression analysis indicates that whereas moisture content, ash content, crude fibre, crude protein, HCN and swelling index generally seems to increase with increase in duration of fermentation, HCN and crude fat decreased with increase in duration of fermentation. The study recommends that for industry application, cassava mash for gari should be fermented for at least three days. Cassava mash fermented for three days has the HCN reduced to a level tolerable for human consumption; there is an advantage of maximum swelling, in addition to desirable colour, aroma and texture

Effect of Packaging Materials and Storage Periods on the Protein Content of Three Soybean Varieties from Makurdi, Benue State, Nigeria

Soybeans are the leguminous vegetable of the pea family that grows in a tropical, subtropical and temperate climate. Protein and oil are soybeans seed components of great economic value. This work was carried out at the Seed Science Laboratory in the Federal University of Agriculture Makurdi, Nigeria. It was aimed at assessing the protein content of soybeans stored under ambient condition. The experimental design was factorial in 3x5x6x factorial completely randomized design (CRD) comprising 3 varieties, 5 storage periods and 5 packaging materials by 3 replicates. The varieties investigated were TGx 932- 3F, TGx1904- 6F and TGx1448- 2E stored in cloth, glass bottle, plastic container, low-density polyethene and laminate paper. The storage periods were 0, 2, 4, 6 and 8months Least significant (LSD) at 5% was used to compare the treatment means. The seeds in storage were sampled periodically (2, 4, 6 and 8 months) to determine the protein content. The protein content of the samples was determined according to the standard method. TGx 1448- 2E (V3) had the highest protein content while TGx 1904- 6F (V2) had the least.  The highest protein content was recorded in soybeans packaged in a plastic container (43.55) while the least was recorded in soybeans that were not packaged in anything (control). The investigation showed that soybeans stored for 8 months had the highest protein content of 44.01 and the lowest was in 0 months (36.47). It was observed that the protein content increased with increase in storage period. Significant differences ((P<0.05) were observed in all the main effects.  The result of the interaction between variety and storage period showed V3 (TGX-1448-2E) had the highest protein content when stored for 8 months and the lowest was V2 (TGX-1904-6F) at 0month (30.8) and the next lowest one was V2 at 2months (36.79). The interaction effect of storage period and packaging material on protein showed that the highest protein content was recorded at 8month and the lowest was recorded at the 0 months (36.467). The interaction effect of variety and packaging material on protein content showed variation. The highest protein content recorded was in V3 (44.795) while the lowest was for V2 (39.847). The highest interaction was between V3 x LDPE (44.795) and the lowest was V2 X laminate paper. However, there were significant differences (P<0.05) in all the interaction effects. The present study revealed that the protein content of stored soybeans varied with storage period, packaging material and variety

SOME ENGINEERING PROPERTIES OF BREADFRUIT SEED VARIETIES RELEVANT TO HANDLING

Determination of some engineering properties of two varieties of breadfruit seeds (Var. Africana and Var. Inversa) was carried out. The initial moisture content was 6.85% and later adjusted by rewetting to 14.85%, 21.85% and 28.85% (wb). The following engineering properties, true density, bulk density, percentage porosity, specific heat capacity, terminal velocity and drag coefficient were determined. Thermal property (specific heat capacity) of the seed was determined using the calorimeter method. The aerodynamic properties (terminal velocity and drag coefficient) were also determined by using an air column made of a vertical wind tunnel in conjunction with a voltage regulator to vary the wind speed and a digital anemometer to determine the air speed. Data obtained were statistically analyzed using Minitab statistical software. The following results were obtained. The true density of Var. Africana decreased from 1033.68 kg/m3 to 842.81 kg/m3 which amounted to 18.5% decrease, while for var. Inversa it decreased from 948.38 kg/m3 to 911.89 kg/m3 amounting to 3.85% decrease as the moisture content increased from 6.85 to 28.85%. The bulk density was observed to increase linearly as the moisture content increased. It increased from 361.239 to 408.723 kg/m3 for Var. Africana and 317.55 to 387.638 kg/m3 for Var. Inversa. The porosity of Var. Africana ranges from 65.06% to 51.6% while for Var. Inversa it ranges from 66.5% to 57.2%. The terminal velocity increased from 5.5 to 8.0 m/s for Var. Africana and 3.89 to 6.8 m/s for Var. Inversa respectively as the moisture content increased from 6.85 to 28.85 %

Some Parametric Factors Influencing Cottage Ethanol Plant

Abstract: A cottage ethanol plant was designed, constructed and tested in major effect to make reasonable contribution in the current drive for renewable energy. The plant consists of a stoker chamber, fermentation vessel, two-stage distillation column, a condenser and the ethanol receptacle. The conditioned feedstock, freshly harvested cassava, was feed into the fermentation vessel, allowed 48 h fermentation with enzymes and yeast added. The ethanol was distilled and allowed to pass through a condenser and finally the ethanol was collected. The ethanol unit prototype was evaluated using tests on three varieties of cassava. The degree of recovery of the distilled sample ranged from 18.28 % ethanol for 3-5 mm Cassava chips to 62.03% ethanol by volume for sieved cassava liquor on one hand, and ranged from 49.37% of ethanol for a packing size of 3-6 mm to 62.81% of ethanol for a packing size of 8-10 mm. Mean values of some tests parameters were also determined. These parameters as quantitatively analysed using ANOVA, showed high significant difference (p<0.01) for the conditioned samples effect on volume of sample, percentage ethanol, density and refractive index, but was just significant (p<0.05) for the effect of variety of feedstock on density and percentage ethanol while having no significant effect on the volume of sample and refractive index. With the change in the design figuration of the condenser, the ANOVA result showed high significant (p<0.01) effect on volume of sample, significant (p<0.05) effect on percentage ethanol, density and refractive index. The varieties however, showed no significant effect on density