Effect of initial catalyst amount on production of bio-diesel from Jatropha Curcas seed using in-situ technique

The effectof initial catalyst amount(0.3 -1.5%) on the in-situproduction of biodiesel from raw Jatropha Curcas seed was studied at a reaction temperature of 600C and reaction time of between 120min. Central composite experimental design was applied to evaluate effect catalyst amount (0.3 –1.5%). Initial catalyst amount was found to have significant (P<0.05) positive influence effects on the yield up to a value of between 0.9 and 1.20 g/g after which there was a significant reduction in the yield of biodiesel produced. Due to formation of by-products (soaps) caused by excessive amount of catalyst there was a general reduction in Jatropha Curcas ethyl-ester as levels of catalyst amount increased. A cubic quadratic model was obtained to predict the yield as a function of catalyst amount. The model predicted well the observed data with a R2 value of 0.939 and a non-significant Lack-of-Fit (P<0.05). The optimal value for initial catalyst amount was obtained as 1.01g/g. The biodiesel obtained at optimal catalyst amount compared favorably with the ASTM D6751-02 standard for biodiesel

Data on optimization of bioconversion of fruit rind of Telfairia occidentalis (Fluted pumpkin) and poultry manure for biogas generation

The data described in this article was obtained in an experiment designed for genera- tion of biogas from the anaerobic co-digestion of Fluted pumpkin fruit rind and poultry manure in three phases namely A, B and C. This paper is directly related to a published article “Dahunsi SO, Oranusi S, Efeovbokhan VE, Zahedi S, Ojediran JO, Olayanju A, Oluyori AP, Adekanye TA, Izebere JO, Enyinnaya M (2018). Biochemical conversion of fruit rind of Telfairia occidentalis (Fluted pumpkin) and Poultry manure. Energy Sources (Part A) Utiliza- tion and Environmental Effects , 40(23): 2799–2811”. This paper presents the data on op- timization of important process parameters (temperature, pH, retention time, total solids and volatile solids) for standardization during the production of biogas. The response sur-face methodology (RSM) and artificial neural networks (ANNs) were both used for the modeling and optimization in this study and the optimal conditions for this process were statistically predicted as temperature of 30.02 °C, pH of 7.90, retention time of 20.03 days, total solids of 5.94 g/kg and volatile solids of 4.01 g/kg. The predicted biogas yield under the above set conditions was 2614.1, 2289.9 and 1003.3 10 −3 m 3 /kg VS for digestions ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’ respectively

EFFECT OF MOISTURE CONTENT ON SOME PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF COWPEA (Vigna unguiculata)

The effect of moisture content on the physical properties of three of the most popular Nigerian cowpea varieties namely Ife 98-12, IT90K-277-2 and Ife Brown was determined with a view to obtain data useful for the design of handling and processing equipment for the crop. Physical properties such as linear dimensions, geometric mean diameter, sphericity, aspect ratio, bulk density, true density, projected area, porosity and 1000 grain mass were studied in the moisture range of 8 to 18% w.b. which covers the moisture range from harvesting to storage. The length of the grains ranged from 9.36 to 9.74mm, 7.70 to 8.49mm and 8.01 to 8.49mm for the three varieties respectively. The width ranged from 6.34 to 6.53mm, 6.08 to 6.45mm and 6.01 to 6.46mm while the thickness ranged from 5.24 to 5.33mm, 5.00 to 5.24mm and 4.42 to 4.75mm respectively for the three varieties. The results show that variety and moisture content had significant effects (p≤ 0.05) on all the physical properties studied except aspect ratio on which the effect of moisture content was not significant. Regression equations that could be used to express the relationships existing between the physical properties and grain moisture content were established

EFFECT OF VARIETY AND MOISTURE CONTENT ON AERODYNAMIC PROPERTIES OF FOUR NIGERIAN COWPEA (Vigna unguiculata) VARIETIES

Knowledge of aerodynamic properties of a crop is important in developing handling, cleaning and processing equipment for the crop. Terminal velocity, drag coefficient and Reynolds number of four Nigerian cowpea varieties namely Ife 98-12, IT90K-277-2, Ife Brown and Drum were studied at moisture levels of 8.2, 12.2, 14.2 and 18.2% wet basis (w.b.), which are levels useful in the design of processing and handling equipment. The terminal velocities of the four varieties ranged from 13.35 to 14.47 m/s, the drag coefficient ranged from 0.446 to 0.454 and Reynolds number ranged from 4768 to 6447. The results showed that both variety moisture content and have significant effect (P≤ 0.05) on both terminal velocity and Reynolds number

Performance evaluation and optimization of a Moringa Oleifera depodding machine: A response surface approach

Depodding of moringa which is still being carried out manually by removing with hand or by hitting a bagcontaining the pods is time-consuming, labour intensive and not economical. The demand for quality oil-bearingmoringa seeds that have a wide area of industrial applications necessitates innovative deppoding techniques thatwill improve its market value. To ameliorate these problems, moringa depoddding machine has been developedbut studies on performance evaluation and optimal parameter setting are sparsely reported. This study therefore,evaluated the effects of the processing factors (moisture content (MC) and speed of rotation (SR)) levels on theperformance (throughput capacity (TP), effective throughput capacity (ETP), labour requirement (LR), depoddingcoefficient (DC), coefficient of wholeness (CW), depodding efficiency (DE), depodded kernel (DK), undepoddedkernel (UK), small broken kernel (SBK), and big broken kernel (BBK)) of the designed and fabricated moringadepodding machine using the response surface methodology and test between subjects-effects. The experimentaldesign used was a two factor, three levels i-optimal randomized design. Mathematical models relating the processfactors to performance were developed. The predicted optimum results obtained were validated using theobserved values of the experiment. MC and SR were found to have a significant effect on the performance of themachine. The predicted optimum performance of the machine were 113.73 kg/hr, 109.45 kg/hr, 0.85 man-hourrequired/Kg, 96.15 %, 0.96, 93.93 %, 0.98, 0.02, 10.64 %, and 1.24 % for TP, ETP, LR, DC, CW, DE, DK, UK, SBK,and BBK respectively at MC and SR of 10.10 % wet basis and 564 rpm. The experimental values at these pro-cessing conditions were close to the predicted optimum results obtained with little deviations which were sta-tistically insignificant. The selected models sufficiently predicted the performance of the developed machine

CONSTRUCTIONOF INVERTER POWEREDLAWN MOWER

The need for the maintenance of lawns through cutting and trimming cannot be overlooked in sporting fields, residential houses, hotel, hospital and others.Furthermore; some lawns are specially bred for the sake of aesthetic.However, in some places like hospitals, special health care and rehabilitationcenters, the natural beauty of the environment is believedto contribute to a great deal in aiding the recovery and healing the mentally and physically challenged patients. This contributory effect onthe lawn has made lawn care to be involved with a great admiration. An inverter powered lawnmower was designed and constructed using the locally available materials such as a 2KVA inverter, prime mover (electric motor) of a rating of 370W, a 60Amphour battery and a 12 Voltbattery. It is of advantage over the existing ones because it uses no fuel consumption, it emits no smoke which causes air pollution, and it has no internal combustion engine to drive the motor of the machine. This lawnmower was designed to mow for a period of two (2) hours and the discharged battery can be recharged with theaid of the inverter when connected to an A.C supply.Thisstudy showed that this type of machineis most suitable in Nigeriabecause no fuel is needed to power this machine. The unit is simple, light and easy to maneuver

Co-digestion of Theobroma cacao(Cocoa)pod husk and poultry manure for energy generation: Effects of pretreatment methods

In this study, biogas was produced from the anaerobic co-digestion of Cocoa pod husk (CPH) and poultry manure. Pretreatment of the CPH was carried out using sulfuric acid and hydrogen peroxide. The physicochemical, elemental and structural analyses were carried out on the CPH before and after pretreatment. The microbial composition of the fermenting materials were also determined using standard method while the Fourier Transform Infra-red (FTIR) spectroscopy was used to identify the structural changes that took place after pretreatments. Use of alkaline hydrogen peroxide caused high solubilization of the lignin component of the CPH and reduced up to 81% of lignin i.e. initial value of 21.7% m.m−1 to final value of 4.2% m.m−1. Similarly, the alkali reduced the hemicellulose content of the CPH from 27.0% m.m−1 to 8.5% m.m−1. Overall, there was 68% increase in biogas volume from the alkaline pretreated CPH

IMPACT OF BANK CREDIT ON AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY:EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE FROM NIGERIA(1981-2015)

We examined the effect of bank credit on agricultural productivity in Nigeria so as to ascertain the existence of causal relationship between the dual. To achieve this objective, the time frame secondary data used in the study includes: written materials such as books and journals and also the use of time series data such as Agricultural Gross Domestic Product (AGDP), commercial bank credit to agricultural sectors (CBCA), Interest rate charges (INT), Government spending on agriculture (GSA), and Agricultural Credit Guarantee scheme (ACGSF).THE DATA collected were all sourced from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Statistical Bulletin. The statistical tool of analysis is the Toda and Yamamoto granger non causality techniques. Conversely the variables were exposed to the Unit Root Test to ensure stationarity both with and without structural break, the Johansen Co-Integration Test which showed that a long term relationship does not exist among variables and also the Vector Autoregression Estimates Decompositions Test was also computed to shows the contribution of each endogenous variable to the forecast of other variables before the application of the Toda and Yamamoto non granger causality test to determine if a causal relationship exist among variable of which the result attained was that there is a unidirectional causality running from ACGSF to AGDP thereby buttressing the estimate of the VAR model with respect to the role of ACGSF in explaining changes to AGDP. No other causality is found to run from AGDP to any other variable and vice versa

PROMOTING ECO-FRIENDLY CORROSION INHIBITOR USING BITTER KOLA LEAVES IN CARBON MILD STEEL USING HCLACIDIC MEDIA

Corrosion of mild steel in HCl was investigated using the weight loss method. The mild steel used was cut into 16 coupons with 5.0 cm x 5.0 cm x 0.2 cm dimensions which weredegreased with ethanol and washed with distilled water and finally weighed. The mild steel coupons were exposed to HCl with varied concentrations (0, 10, 25 and 40%) of Garcinia kola extracts used as corrosion inhibitors for 4 hours at 400C and 600C respectively. The result showed that at 400C; the inhibition efficiency of 65.5% was observed at 25 % HCl concentration and 62.9% at 40% HCl concentration while at 600C; inhibition efficiency of 87.7% was at 25% HCl concentration and 88.1% at 40% concentration respectively. It can be concluded that increase in concentration increases the inhibition efficiency. The presence of flavonoid and alkanoids in bitter kola stem is a good inhibito