PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF HOT AIR THERMOELECTRIC GENERATOR USING BIOMASS ENERGY SOURCE

Thermoelectric generators are solid-state devices that convert heat into electricity using the Seebeck effect, when there is a temperature difference across a thermoelectric material. This research designed an experimentally tested a thermoelectric hot air generator using sixteen SP1848-27145 modules in two parallel strings. The system consists of a biomass combustion chamber, hot air exhauster, hot and cold side heat exchangers. Voltage, current and temperatures in the combustion chamber, hot air heat exhauster, hot side heat exchanger and cold side heat sink were measured. The hot air exhauster, hot side heat sink and cold side maximum temperatures are 178.3°C, 69.2°C and 44.5°C respectively yielding an open circuit voltage of 64 V and current of 1.99 A in the course of the experiment. The thermal performance of the designed hot air exhauster, hot side heat exchanger and cold side heat were simulated using ANSYS Fluent, for pictorial representation of their temperature contours

Towards a Sustainable Electricity Supply in Nigeria: The Role of Decentralized Renewable Energy System

In Nigeria, access to reliable and stable supply of electricity is a major challenge for both the urban and rural dwellers. In this study, comprehensive review of accessibility to clean and modern energy in Nigeria has been carried out. Also, this paper examines the potential of renewable energy (RE) resources in Nigeria that can be harnessed for continuous energy supply and the government’s efforts to ensure RE‘s sustainability. Nigeria is endowed with abundant energy resources but the existing electric energy infrastructures are unable to meet the energy demands of teeming population. There is imbalance in energy supply and demand in the country. Over the period from 2000 to 2014, there was an average of about 2.35 billion kWh of energy gap between energy production and energy consumption. The highest electricity consumption per capita recorded so far was 156 kWh in 2012. This makes Nigeria one of the country with the lowest electricity consumption on per capita basis in the world. In order to improve access to clean energy supply and achieve sustainable development, this paper pin points the significance of decentralized renewable energy systems and needs for the government to review the policies on renewable energy development in the country

Modeling and Simulation of Thermally-Induced Static Stress on A Heat Exchanger

The ultimate purpose of any stress analysis is to allow the comparison of the developed stresses, strains, and deflections with those that are allowed by the design criteria. Heat exchanger is a thermo-fluid machine used to transfer heat between two or more fluids. Depending on the goal for which the designer intends to achieve, heat exchangers, therefore, could be used for both heating and cooling processes.   This work is about Static Stress analysis to determine or estimate the stresses, displacements, strains, including the factor of safety of the Heat Exchanger (HE) and its designed carrying or working capacity. This analysis predict failure by evaluating whether or not the Heat Exchanger will be able to withstand the internal stresses due to its maximum loading and working capacity. The summation of the masses of individual component inside the shell and tube heat exchanger was generated by the material library in the software using the provided model geometry and the resultant data was used to run the simulation. The maximum Stress experienced by the Heat Exchanger according to the simulation result is 1.254e-01 N/mm2 (MPa) which is far less than the yield strength of the material used in building it (1.72369e+08 N/m2). Hence the Heat Exchanger will survive the maximum loading and working capacity according to von Mises Stress analysis and with a significant factor of safety. For the numerical simulation and analysis of heat exchanger, the static stress processes is successfully captured. The simulations suggest that a critical stress level may exist beyond which a minor disturbance can induce a catastrophic damage

Numerical Investigation of Crude Oil Spilled Mangrove Vegetation: A Fire Risk Assessment Modeling of Uvwie Local Government Area of Delta State, Nigeria

Numerical risk assessment of an investigative study on small single-lit fire in a simulated environment is carried out. Crude oil from Ubege oil field, Delta state, Nigeria was spilled onto a set of logs of wood, representing the mangrove vegetation. The risk assessment resultant from this study showed that should there be a fire incident, the havoc to be wrecked on the adjoining communities and the immediate community could be devastating. The simulations were carried out by keeping Elapse time and length-to-width ratio constant at 3 hours and 2.3, respectively. The numerical risk modeling showed that over 200, 000 lives and over 150,000 houses, wildlife, and even aquatic lives and billions of dollars of properties could be destroyed by fire. The numerical risk assessment quantified showed that the following communities could be at risk, should there be a crude spill and a source of ignition: the Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun, Iteregbe, Ogbomro, Okorikpereh, parts of Okuokoko, parts of Agbarho. From the study, and its simulations and investigative study, it is strongly recommended that a fire station is established in this vicinity to mitigate a possible fire outbreak