Development and evaluation of honey extracting machine.

Traditional method of extracting honey leads to reduction in nutritional value and quality thus, a honey extractor; a mechanical device that extracts honey from its comb was designed and constructed using easily available materials. The main objective of this study is the development and performance evaluation of a honey extractor. The main functional parts of the machine are net frame, wire mesh (perforation size 5mm, constructed using 1.5mm thick stainless steel of dimension 180 x 225mm), driving shaft (20 x 50mm), driving gear (diameter 21 x 17mm), control lever or operating handle (made of iron rod coated with rubber material at the point of handling to facilitate the winding process) and basket (designed to hold and spin two honeycomb frames, constructed using 1.5mm thick stainless steel, dimension 180 x 255mm placed vertically into the extractor). The honey extractor is cylindrical in shape and operated by manually turning the control lever. The time taken for honey extraction had significant effect on the performance of the honey extractor; the machine capacity, efficiency and weight of honey extracted decreases as the time taken for extraction increases, optimum values of 91.2%, 8.68 kg/hr and 456g was obtained at 32 seconds of honey extraction for machine efficiency, capacity and weight of honey extracted respectively. The average values of weight of honey extracted, weight of honeycomb remaining after honey extraction, time taken, machine efficiency and capacity of the honey extractor after a set of five experimental runs were 416.2g (+ 32), 83.8g (+ 31.8), 44s (+ 8.5), 83.3% (+ 6.4) and 6.52 kg/hr (+ 1.4) respectively. The machine is portable and can be operated without any special training or technical-know-how, the machine also has the ability to reserve and leave the honeycomb undamaged after honey extraction

Growth Performance Characteristics of Okra (Hibiscus esculentus) using Improvised Drip Irrigation System

Okra is a common and popular vegetable crop used in Nigeria.  Irrigation method has very significant influence on okra (Hibiscus esculentus) production. A careful effect of marginal water quality on IDI and control system which were subjected to the same conditions was investigated. An experimental field area of 13.5 m2 by 6.0 m2 was properly cleared, stumped, ploughed, harrowed and leveled.  High yielding and disease resistant okra variety seeds were carefully selected and planted at a regular interval of 0.6 m. The results of statistical analysis obtained using Completely Randomized Blocked Design (CRBD) (P˂0.05) revealed that there were significant differences on water application which reflected an increase in some agronomic parameters such as growth, weight, yield and vegetative development of the okra. These selected okra agronomic parameters showed that the okra performed in IDI. Maximum fruit yield of 71.71% and water utilization efficiency of 55.49% was obtained by using IDI system

Issues and challenges of decaying urban water infrastructure in Nigeria

A reconnaissance survey of some public water utilities (PWUs) in Nigeria reveals with dismay their increasingly poor working conditions due to frequent breakdowns; ageing and poor asset management of these urban water infrastructure (UWI). Several attempts made in the past to rehabilitate these UWI have not positively changed their level of deteriorations. Presently, their overall assessment grade is best described as fairly poor as most of these assets have only 10 -35% of their expected useful life remaining, low capacity utilization and assets require a significant level of maintenance. Consequently, their service delivery and coverage has been so poor across the country resulting in various environmental and socio-economical problems which have been of great concern. Hence this paper is focused at highlighting and discussing the issues and challenges of these decaying water assets in PWUs in Nigeria

Supermassive Binaries and Extragalactic Jets

Some quasars show Doppler shifted broad emission line peaks. I give new statistics of the occurrence of these peaks and show that, while the most spectacular cases are in quasars with strong radio jets inclined to the line of sight, they are also almost as common in radio-quiet quasars. Theories of the origin of the peaks are reviewed and it is argued that the displaced peaks are most likely produced by the supermassive binary model. The separations of the peaks in the 3C 390.3-type objects are consistent with orientation-dependent "unified models" of quasar activity. If the supermassive binary model is correct, all members of "the jet set" (astrophysical objects showing jets) could be binaries.Comment: 31 pages, PostScript, missing figure is in ApJ 464, L105 (see http://www.aas.org/ApJ/v464n2/5736/5736.html

Construction and comparative evaluation of a fired briquette and mold oven.

Biomass; the plant matter for generating heat or electricity via direct combustion or gasification was used in the construction of a briquette and mold oven, this was done locally to substitute fuel scarcity and reduce the threat of global warming in Nigeria. The performance evaluation was carried out using water boiling test (WBT). The results obtained from the tests carried out on the biomass briquette oven (BBO) were compared with the mold oven. The result of the test indicates that the briquette oven (BBO) used an average of 69g of wood to boil 1 liter of water in about 8 min (5 liters in 38 min) as against 326g of wood to boil the same 1 liter of water in about 25 min(5 liters in 126 min) using the mold oven. The thermal efficiency of the BBO (67%) was better than the mold oven (16%). The firepower of the mold oven (3422 kW) was higher than the BBO(2192 kW) which is in agreement with the burning rate as the mold oven fire consumed more wood per unit time for the same task. In most aspects of oven performance, the BBO was better than the mold and thus, it is recommended for use

Effect of combination of bio-pesticide and fertilizer treatment in the management of tomato wilt in an endemic soil

Tomato wilt pathogen is a major constraint to tomato production in Nigeria and to increase production wilt problem must be effectively controlled. An experiment with 5 varieties, 4 fertilizer types and 3 bio-pesticides (in a 5 varieties x 4 fertilizer types x 3 bio-pesticide types) was conducted in split-split plot design in a wilt endemic soil at National Horticultural Research Institute (NIHORT) Ibadan. The parameters measured were plant height (cm), number of branches, stem girth (cm), number of wilted plants and yield (t/ha). The results showed that while varietal factor effect was very significant for number of branches, plant height and number of wilted plant, the bio-pesticide effect was very significant for plant height and number of wilted plant and fertilizer effect was significant with reference to wilted plant. The interaction effects (bio-pesticide *fertilizer, bio-pesticide *variety and bio-pesticide *fertilizer *variety) caused significant variation in the values of the growth parameters measured. In the third order interaction where bio-insecticide and bio-fertilizer were applied Castle bar variety and Peto variety recorded better fruit yield with 5.27ton/ha and 5.15ton/ha respectively than where fungicide and any of the fertilizers were applied