Assessment of household energy utilized for cooking in Ikeja, Lagos state, Nigeria

Household cooking energy accounts for a major part of the total energy consumed in Nigeria. Factors affecting the choice of Household energy utilized for cooking and the type preferred in Ikeja area of Lagos state were investigated in this study. Data were obtained through oral interview and administration of structured questionnaire on 250 randomly sampled households in the study area. MATLAB was used to conduct descriptive statistics, inferential statistics and percentage difference between used energy and preference energy. The study revealed that kerosene and Gas (LPG) were mostly used for daily cooking (48.60%) and (36.30%) respectively. Only a small proportion use Charcoal, firewood and electricity for their daily cooking, the percentage being 7.10%, 5.7% and 2.4% for charcoal, firewood and electricity respectively. However preference rating of household energy was highest in Gas followed by electricity, kerosene, charcoal and firewood respectively. Chi-test, linear-by-linear relationship test, likelihood ratio test revealed that level of income, level of education and type of employment affects the choice of fuel used for cooking and the type preferred. http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/njt.v35i4.1

ANALYSIS OF COCONUT ETHYL ESTER (BIODIESEL) AND FOSSIL DIESEL BLENDING: PROPERTIES AND CORROSION CHARACTERISTICS

The effect of biodiesel and its blends synthesized from coconut oil (CNO) via alkali catalyzed transeterification on the key fuel properties and corrosion characteristics of copper were investigated. The transesterification of the CNO via ethanol in the presence of potassium hydroxide was performed and the resulting coconut oil ethyl ester (COEE) was blended with fossil diesel (B0).  The fuel properties such as density, kinematic viscosity (KV), pour and cloud points (PP and CP, respectively) and American Petroleum Institute of Gravity (API) of B0, COEE-diesel blend (B50) and COEE (B100) were characterized and compared with that of ASTM D6751 and EN14214 standards. Static immersion tests were conducted by exposing copper coupons toB0, B50 and B100 at different temperatures (50, 65 and 80 oC) for 5 days.  Corrosion rates of copper in these fuels were determined by weight loss method. Also, during the period of investigation, these fuels were analyzed by measuring total acid number (TAN). The results showed that the density, KV, PP and CPincreased while the API gravity decreased as the percentage of the biodiesel in the blend increased. The highest corrosion rates for copper at the end of the investigation were 0.054, 0.0954 and 0.139 mpy in B0, B50 and B100, respectively. The minimum TAN (0.17 mg KOH/g) and maximum TAN (0.62 mg KOH/g) were observed in B0 and B100 containing copper, respectively. http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/njt.v35i1.1