OPTIMAL ALLOCATION OF PIPE DIAMETERS IN PIPE NETWORKS USING MODIFIED ASSIGNMENT PROBLEM APPROACH

Water supply to areas of need via pipe network has been a problem since the pipes layout involved may be complex and thereby making the determination of pipe diameters for cost minimization difficult. In this paper, attempt was made on the determination of optimal diameters of pipe that minimizes pipe network cost. The work involves the use of linear programming optimization techniques formulated in a modified assignment problem approach. This was applied to a problem previously worked upon with some other techniques to ascertain the strength of this present approach implemented on MATLAB 6.5 version computing environment. The minimum cost unit of 41900 for eight-pipe, one reservoir and two loop distribution system obtained was the same with that of the “best run” in the previous reported works. Also, 12 functions evaluation in 53 seconds on Pentium 233MHZ processor computer produced this optimal condition as against the 1372 evaluations in 7 minutes on Pentium 100MHZ processor computer for the previous “best run”. These indicate the efficiency and the effectiveness of the studied approach

MEASUREMENT OF MEAN VELOCITY PROFILE IN A TURBULENT PIPE FLOW – A NUMERICAL APPROACH

Computational Fluid Dynamics FLUENT codes were employed in the measurement of the mean velocity profile of a fully-developed pipe flow. The codes used the standard two equation eddy-viscosity () model for analysing turbulence in the flow. Deviations of about 2-12%, 1.1-1.7% and 1.02-5.3% obtained between the numerical results and the experimental benchmark for the study in the viscous sub-layer, buffer region and the fully-developed region of the flow show the close agreements between the experimental and the numerical results

EVALUATION OF A PEDAL – OPERATED CASSAVA GRATER

A pedal – operated cassava grating machine was developed and evaluated. The grater is to bridge the gap between the motorized grater and the labour-intensive, traditional cassava grating device, and to ameliorate the tedium of cassava grating at the village level. The grater’s component parts are: the grating unit, power and transmission unit, the housing, the hopper and the discharge chute. The cassava grater output capacity ranged between 28.50kg/h and 45.00kg/h depending on cassava variety. The particle size distribution in the end product representing medium fine, fine and powdery materials is 1:3:6. The grater capacity has a comparative advantage ratio of more than 220% over traditional grating device. One average person of between 25 – 45 years of age can comfortably operate the continuously for about 16 minutes to produce an output of about 4kg

Abstraction and regeneration potential of temperature-enhanced rice husk montmorillonite combo for oil spill

Chemical modification of montmorillonite though popular may be expensive and environmentally noxious and can result in secondary contamination. Therefore, there is a need for eco-friendly and efficient treatment techniques. The use of thermally enhanced rice husk montmorillonite combo (TRMC) for aqueous crude oil pollution was evaluated. The physical characterization of the sorbate revealed a light crude oil. Scanning electron microscopy of TRMC and untreated montmorillonite (UM) showed efficient utilization of the pores for crude oil sequestration. Temperatures, pH, initial oil concentration, dosage of sorbent, and time were found to be significant in the batch sorption investigation. The heterogeneous surface nature of TRMC was elucidated by the Freundlich and Scatchard model analyses. The Langmuir monolayer maximum sorption capacity was 5.8 and 9.7 g/g for UM and TRMC respectively and the latter was found to be higher than most reported sorbents. The pseudo-first-order model gave better fit than pseudo-second-order, the Bangham, and the Elovich models in kinetics based on regression and chi-square analysis. Thermodynamics showed a spontaneous, feasible, endothermic, and physical sorption processes. Regeneration and reusability studies using n-hexane as eluent showed TRMC as suitable, environmental friendly sorbents for oil spill remediation.http://link.springer.com/journal/113562019-12-01hj2018Chemistr

SPARC 2018 Internationalisation and collaboration : Salford postgraduate annual research conference book of abstracts

Welcome to the Book of Abstracts for the 2018 SPARC conference. This year we not only celebrate the work of our PGRs but also the launch of our Doctoral School, which makes this year’s conference extra special. Once again we have received a tremendous contribution from our postgraduate research community; with over 100 presenters, the conference truly showcases a vibrant PGR community at Salford. These abstracts provide a taster of the research strengths of their works, and provide delegates with a reference point for networking and initiating critical debate. With such wide-ranging topics being showcased, we encourage you to take up this great opportunity to engage with researchers working in different subject areas from your own. To meet global challenges, high impact research inevitably requires interdisciplinary collaboration. This is recognised by all major research funders. Therefore engaging with the work of others and forging collaborations across subject areas is an essential skill for the next generation of researchers

BENCHMARKING AND VALIDATION OF HOT ROLLING SIMULATION MODELS

Mathematical models representing the various stages in the hot rolling process of steel production were produced. Simulated models used were validated using the EXCE: package and then subjected to a sensitivity analysis under identical conditions to predict the optimum operating conditions under which the essential process steps can be carried out. The results showed that ferrite grain size is more sensitive to the retained strain than to the cooling rate or the austenite grain size. It was also inferred from the work that a drop in the austenite-ferrite (y – a) transformation temperature leads to an increase in the tensile strength of the steel. This is an agreement with industrial practices

Mixed convective heat transfer in rectangular enclosures driven by a continuously moving horizontal plate.

ABSTRACT The mixed convective heat transfer in a fluid-saturated porous medium has been investigated numerically using the generalized non-Darcy model. The problem governing equations including the continuity, the generalized DarcyBrinkman-Forchheimer extended momentum and the energy transport equations were thereby solved using the finite difference method. The flow governing parameters including the Darcy, Richardson and Péclet numbers, and the length-toheight aspect ratio were varied in the range 10 -3 ≤ Da ≤ 10, 0.1 ≤ Ri ≤ 10, 1 ≤ Pe ≤ 10 3 and 0.5 ≤ AR ≤ 4 respectively while the Reynolds number was held constant at a value of Re = 100 for all computations. The results are presented in the form of the streamlines and isotherms contours, and the profiles for horizontal component of velocity, temperature and the local heat flux. The results show that all the flow governing parameters have strong influence on the flow pattern and heat distribution within the enclosure. Keywords: mixed convection, heat transfer, porous media, buoyancy, stream function, isotherms, finite difference scheme. INTRODUCTION Fluid flow and heat transfer by mixed convection in which the effect of shear-and the buoyancy-driven flow are in comparable magnitude, occurs in many industrial, engineering and scientific practices. The problem involved has been extensively studied in the past few decades due to the numerous areas of applications in the clear and porous media. Some of the few areas of practical applications of the mixed convective heat transfer in clear media include cooling of electronic systems, thermalhydraulics of nuclear reactors, thermal convection in micropolar fluids, chemical processing equipment, and lubricating grooves. Other areas of applications are in crystal growing, materials processing such as float glass production, galvanizing, metal coating, drying and casting technologies, food processing, and industrial processes where a solid ribbon or a solid material is heated as it moves through a furnace, improvement of performance of heat exchangers and so on [1 -7]. The study of heat and mass transfer by natural convection in porous media has gained prominence over the years due to its important applications in such areas as geothermal energy and reservoir engineering, chemical reactors engineering, insulation of buildings, equipment and pipes, and the storage of grains and the heat generating materials such as coal, regenerative heat exchangers containing porous materials, heat extraction from geothermal fields, the disposal of hazardous waste in subsurface salt formations, and the modelling of convection in the underground storage of CO 2 , flushing out of contaminants, oil or heat from various types of porous medium and so on [8 -11]. The understanding of the flow mechanism due to the interactions between the natural and forced convection heat transfer in porous media in many of the practical applications highlighted above is essential for the enhanced design and characterization of these systems

Earth Observation-based Damage Assessment of 2018 Flood in Parts of Hadejia-Jama’ are River Basin, Nigeria

Floods, Landslides, Forest fire, Volcanoes, Hurricanes and Tsunami among others are indeed considered as the most natural hazards that cause loosed of resources which includes human lives. Hadejia-Jama’ are River Valley has a well-known seasonal occurrence of floodings with maximum interval of five years incidents historically. Among these disasters floods especially along the river basin particularly in developing nations like Nigeria became a regular disaster with state of frequent occurrences almost seasonally. This study assessed pre-flood and post-flood nature of floodplain along Hadejia-Jama’ are from Jigawa to Tiga Dam in Kano State. Remotely sensed sentinel 2 satellite data and ALOS Digital Surface Model (DSM) was used for the study. The sentinel images were subjected to image pre-processing activities such as geometric correction and radiometric correction. To focus on the flood plain, a 5 km buffer of the area around Hadejia-Jama’are River Basin from Jigawa to Tiga dam were extracted from the data by using the extract/clip tools in ArcGIS 10.3 software. Findings of the study revealed that dominant land use along the floodplain prior to flood include bare surface, patches of agriculture/vegetation, settlement, water body. The study also revealed that patterns of flood damages vary irrespective of the risk with areas like Dawakin Kudu and Garun mallam were witnessing more flood damages than Miga LGA of Jigawa State. It is, therefore, concluded that Earth observation and its applications are useful tools/methods for flood damages assessment and evaluation as well as a basis for taking proactive steps in mitigating flood hazard along floodplains and another flood prone environment

Therapeutic efficacy of Lofnac Gel via phonophoresis in the management of chronic nonspecific low back pain: A randomised controlled trial

Background: The prevalence of nonspecific low back pain is very high among Nigerians and in Africa. Lofnac Gel is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory gel that has been used to treat musculoskeletal pain, but its efficacy on nonspecific low back pain is inconclusive. Objective: The objective of this study was to examine the therapeutic efficacy of Lofnac Gel in the management of nonspecific low back pain. Methods: Seventy patients diagnosed with mechanical low back pain of 3 months' duration were divided into two groups: experimental group (n = 35) and control group (n = 35). Participants in both groups were placed on supervised strengthening exercises for multifidus muscles of the low back. The experimental group was placed on ultrasound phonophoresis therapy with Lofnac Gel (with diclofenac and methyl salicylate as active ingredients), whereas the control group was placed on ultrasound with water as coupling medium. The treatment was applied twice per week for 6 weeks. Present pain intensity and disability were measured before treatment, and in the 3rd week and 6th week of treatment. Data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics, and post hoc analysis was carried out when necessary. Results: There was a significant difference between the pre- and posttreatment pain intensity and disability index for both the experimental (F = 17.947, p < 0.001; F = 20.712, p < 0.001) and control (F = 14.791, p < 0.001; F = 10.418, p < 0.001) groups. There was also a significant difference between the experimental and control group data in terms of pain intensity (F = 28.76, p < 0.001) and disability index (F = 39.817, p < 0.001) in the 6th week. Conclusion: Exercise combined with Lofnac phonophoresis was more effective in the management of patients with chronic low back pain than exercise and ultrasound alone

Hepatocellular Carcinoma Demonstrates Heterogeneous Growth Patterns in a Multicenter Cohort of Patients With Cirrhosis.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS There are limited data on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) growth patterns, particularly in Western cohorts, despite implications for surveillance, prognosis, and treatment. Our study's aim was to quantify tumor doubling time (TDT) and identify correlates associated with indolent and rapid growth. APPROACH AND RESULTS We performed a retrospective multicenter cohort study of patients with cirrhosis diagnosed with HCC from 2008 to 2017 at six US and European health systems with two or more contrast-enhanced imaging studies performed ≥ 30 days apart prior to HCC treatment. Radiologists independently measured tumors in three dimensions to calculate TDT and specific growth rate (SGR). We used multivariable ordinal logistic regression to identify factors associated with indolent (TDT > 365 days) and rapid (TDT < 90 days) tumor growth. In the primary cohort (n = 242 patients from four centers), median TDT was 229 days (interquartile range [IQR], 89-627) and median SGR was 0.3% per day (IQR, 0.1%-0.8%). Over one-third (38%) of HCCs had indolent growth, 36.8% intermediate growth, and 25.2% rapid growth. In multivariable analysis, indolent growth was associated with larger tumor diameter (odds ratio [OR], 1.15, 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.03-1.30) and alpha-fetoprotein < 20 ng/mL (OR, 1.90; 95% CI, 1.12-3.21). Indolent growth was more common in nonviral than viral cirrhosis (50.9% versus 32.1%), particularly in patients with T1 HCC (OR, 3.41; 95% CI, 1.08-10.80). Median TDT (169 days; IQR 74-408 days) and SGR (0.4% per day) were similar in an independent cohort (n = 176 patients from two centers). CONCLUSIONS In a large Western cohort of patients with HCC, we found heterogeneous tumor growth patterns, with one-fourth exhibiting rapid growth and over one-third having indolent growth. Better understanding different tumor growth patterns may facilitate a precision approach to prognostication and treatment