Comparison of the Elemental Structure and Emission Characteristics of Selected PVC and Non PVC Ceiling Materials Available in Nigerian Markets

The recurring fire outbreak in buildings in Nigeria is quite alarming, just as the shift to the use of PVC as a choice for ceiling material due to its aesthetic appearance is on the increase. Hence this study determined the emission characteristics PVC and non-PVC samples. This was done with a view to establishing their suitability as ceiling materials in building designs for tropical countries and providing thermal and combustion data for building stakeholders that could help to checkmate man made fire disasters. This experiment involves the burning of a consistent mass, 50g of 6 samples of 3 PVC and 3 non-PVC in an open furnace where the combustion is carefully controlled. It investigates the flue gasses concentration emitted in the cause of fire outbreak and its effect on occupants. It responds to the question in mind that not only visible flame kills but also toxicity from flue gas can be detrimental to health of victims. The results showed that PVC samples are unwelcome in terms of their emission characteristics which were due to their elemental makeup of their composites such as PVC recorded highest Carbon composition of 77.9% and lowest oxygen composition of 18.0 %. VOCs are cancerous, cause dizziness, rapid heartbeat, vomiting and eventual death. Benzene, a known VOC, is used in making PVC which is a human carcinogen compound. Ceiling materials that will achieve low noxious emission and as well fire retardant should be investigated and employed for use. These materials can be improved upon to achieve environmental friendly building materials

Effects of Emission Characteristics on Elemental Composition of Selected PVC Ceiling Materials

This research work determined the emission characteristics and elemental composition of selected PVC ceiling materials common in Nigerian markets especially during service. This research work determined the emission characteristics and elemental composition of selected PVC ceiling materials common in Nigerian markets. The emission data and elemental structure gave insight to appraise their suitability as ceiling materials. Three PVC ceiling materials were used for this analysis: Nigerian made PVC, layered Composite PVC and white PVC. Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry (RBS) was performed to obtain the elemental structure of the ceiling materials using Ion Beam Analysis facility. 0.05 kg of the samples were combusted in a controlled fire chamber and the gasses emitted; CO, SO2, NO, and volatile organic compounds (VOC) were identified using four gas analyzers. Elements were detected in total and data collected from the experiment were analyzed. Results showed that Nigerian made PVC has the highest total noxious gas among the three samples with value of 3732.5 ppm while layered composite PVC has the lowest among the PVCs with the value of 1477.5 ppm. The elemental make-ups of the samples influence their emission characteristics. The study established that PVC samples were noxious in terms of their emission characteristics due to the effects of their elemental basis

Comparison of the Elemental Structure and Emission Characteristics of Selected PVC and Non PVC Ceiling Materials Available in Nigerian Markets

The recurring fire outbreak in buildings in Nigeria is quite alarming, just as the shift to the use of PVC as a choice for ceiling material due to its aesthetic appearance is on the increase. Hence this study determined the emission characteristics PVC and non-PVC samples. This was done with a view to establishing their suitability as ceiling materials in building designs for tropical countries and providing thermal and combustion data for building stakeholders that could help to checkmate man made fire disasters. This experiment involves the burning of a consistent mass, 50g of 6 samples of 3 PVC and 3 non-PVC in an open furnace where the combustion is carefully controlled. It investigates the flue gasses concentration emitted in the cause of fire outbreak and its effect on occupants. It responds to the question in mind that not only visible flame kills but also toxicity from flue gas can be detrimental to health of victims. The results showed that PVC samples are unwelcome in terms of their emission characteristics which were due to their elemental makeup of their composites such as PVC recorded highest Carbon composition of 77.9% and lowest oxygen composition of 18.0 %. VOCs are cancerous, cause dizziness, rapid heartbeat, vomiting and eventual death. Benzene, a known VOC, is used in making PVC which is a human carcinogen compound. Ceiling materials that will achieve low noxious emission and as well fire retardant should be investigated and employed for use. These materials can be improved upon to achieve environmental friendly building materials

Effects of Emission Characteristics on Elemental Composition of Selected PVC Ceiling Materials

This research work determined the emission characteristics and elemental composition of selected PVC ceiling materials common in Nigerian markets especially during service. This research work determined the emission characteristics and elemental composition of selected PVC ceiling materials common in Nigerian markets. The emission data and elemental structure gave insight to appraise their suitability as ceiling materials. Three PVC ceiling materials were used for this analysis: Nigerian made PVC, layered Composite PVC and white PVC. Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry (RBS) was performed to obtain the elemental structure of the ceiling materials using Ion Beam Analysis facility. 0.05 kg of the samples were combusted in a controlled fire chamber and the gasses emitted; CO, SO2, NO, and volatile organic compounds (VOC) were identified using four gas analyzers. Elements were detected in total and data collected from the experiment were analyzed. Results showed that Nigerian made PVC has the highest total noxious gas among the three samples with value of 3732.5 ppm while layered composite PVC has the lowest among the PVCs with the value of 1477.5 ppm. The elemental make-ups of the samples influence their emission characteristics. The study established that PVC samples were noxious in terms of their emission characteristics due to the effects of their elemental basis

Soret and Dufour effects on heat and mass transfer in chemically reacting MHD flow through a wavy channel

The problem of coupled heat and mass transfer by free convection of a chemically reacting viscous incompressible and electrically conducting fluid confined in a vertical channel bounded by wavy wall and flat wall in the presence of diffusion-thermo (Dufour), thermal-diffusion (Soret) and internal heat source or sink is studied. The walls are maintained at constant but different temperatures and species concentrations. A uniform magnetic field β0 is acting transversely to the walls which are assumed to be electrically non-conducting. The dimensionless governing equations are perturbed into mean part (zeroth-order) and perturbed part (first-order), using amplitude as a perturbation parameter. The first-order quantities are obtained by long wave approximation. The resulting set of coupled ordinary differential equations are solved numerically using the Adomian decomposition method. Some of the results indicating the influence of various parameters on the zeroth-order and first-order fluid flow, heat and mass transfer characteristics are presented graphically

Morinda lucida aqueous stem bark extract ameliorates hepato-renal dysfunctions in experimental diabetes model

Summary: Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is a leading pan-systemic endocrine disorder with attendant high morbidity and mortality owing to its deleterious effects on vital body organs caused by untreated chronic hyperglycemia, attendant oxidative stress and glycation processes. The present study is designed to investigate possible protective role and mechanism(s) of action of 125-500 mg/kg/day of Morinda lucida aqueous stem bark extract (MLASE) on renal and hepatic functions in alloxan-induced hyperglycemic rats for 8 days. Forty-two alloxan-induced hyperglycemiic male Wistar rats were randomly allotted to Groups II-VI and orally treated with 10 ml/kg/day distilled water, 5 mg/kg/day glibenclamide, 125 mg/kg MLASE, 250 mg/kg MLASE, and 500 mg/kg/day MLASE, respectively. Group I normal rats served as untreated control and were orally treated with 10 ml/kg of distilled water, all under same sham-handling. Blood samples were taken for measurement of fasting blood glucose, renal and hepatic function profile. Liver and kidney tissue samples were taken for determination of the activities of oxidative stress markers such as malondialdehyde (MDA), reduced glutathione (GSH), and glutathione peroxidase (GPx), catalase (CAT) and superoxidase dismutase (SOD). Results showed that intraperitoneal injection with 120 mg/kg of alloxan in cold 0.9% normal saline reliably and significantly induced a steadily sustained hyperglycemia which were ameliorated by short-term oral treatment with 125-500 mg/kg/day of MLASE, dose dependently, similar to that ameliorated by the standard antihyperglycemic drug, glibenclamide. Similarly, MLASE significantly mitigated against derangements in the measured renal and hepatic function parameters as well as oxidative stress induced by alloxan-induced hyperglycemia. In conclusion, results of this study showed the protective role of 125-500 mg/kg/day of MLASE in chronic hyperglycemia-associated renal and hepatic dysfunctions which was mediated via antioxidant and free radical scavenging activities of MLASE.Keywords: Induced hyperglycemia, hepatic and renal function profile, oxidative stress markers, Morinda lucid

West African gas pipeline (WAGP) project: Associated problems and possible remedies

Global focus is gradually turning away from crude oil as a major source of energy to natural gas due to its abundant availability, environmental friendliness and cost effectiveness, this has effectively increased the transboundary pipeline networks with minimal consideration to the impact at which the offshore segment of such projects could have on the environment. This paper considers Nigeria's present engagement in transboundary transportation of 11.3 billion cubic meters per day (11.3 BCMPD) of natural gas to Benin, Togo and Ghana for thermal and industrial uses through a 1,033 km pipeline network out of which 617 km is a submerged offshore pipeline network. The study is necessitated by the alarming frequency at which hydrocarbon pipeline failure occurs in Nigeria with the resulting economy, environmental and human consequences. It was discovered that any failure along the offshore segment of the pipelength poses high risk of hydrate formation and dissolution of some constituents which could result to problems ranging from behavioral nature (e.g. fish excitement, increased activities and scattering in the waterbody) to chronic poisoning, fire outbreak, loss of human lives and livestock and climate change. Development of pragmatic management scheme, robust leak detection model and predictive model on natural gas flow pattern in waterbody are recommended. © 2009 Springer Netherlands