Poor development control as flood vulnerability factor in Suleja, Nigeria

Like many developing countries over the decade, Nigeria has experienced rapid urbanization associated with numerous problems such as, among others, improper waste management practices, building development regulations and standards contraventions, environmental pollution, overcrowding, and flooding. In light of the foregoing, this article examines the use and effectiveness of development control measures in addressing flood vulnerability in Suleja, Nigeria. In carrying out this study, buildings vulnerable to flooding were identified and factors influencing their vulnerability as well as the implications of non-adherence to development control measures were also determined. As part of this study, a total of 278 questionnaires were administered to adult residents of the study area, using multi-stage sampling techniques. A quick bird’s eye image of 15-meter resolution was used to identify and map out the buildings in the area considered vulnerable to flooding, using a 15-meter setback from the river banks. The study reveals that 799 buildings were built in contravention of building development standards and regulations in Suleja, while indiscriminate solid waste disposal methods were found to be strong factors influencing vulnerability to flooding in the area. The study also revealed that 47% of drainages in Suleja are blocked with indiscriminately disposed solid waste materials. The study recommends that an improved solid waste management system for Suleja be put in place to stem the imminent outbreak of diseases associated with poor environmental management and that development control measures be strictly enforced by the Niger State Urban Development Board.&nbsp

OPTIMIZATION OF BIODIESEL PRODUCTION FROM WASTE FRYING OIL OVER ALUMINA SUPPORTED CHICKEN EGGSHELL CATALYST USING EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN TOOL

An optimization of the biodiesel production from a waste frying oil via a heterogeneous transesterification was studied. This present study is also aimed at investigating the catalytic behaviour of the alumina supported eggshell (ASE) for the synthesis of biodiesel. A synthesized ASE catalyst, at various mixing ratios of alumina to eggshell, was investigated and exhibited a better activity for the reaction when the eggshell and alumina were mixed via incipient wetness impregnation in 2 : 1 proportion on a mass basis and calcined at 900 °C for 4 h. The as-synthesized catalyst was characterized by basicity, BET, SEM, EDX, and FTIR. The 2k factorial experimental design was employed for an optimization of process variables, which include catalyst loading, reaction time, methanol/oil molar ratio and reaction temperature and their effects on the biodiesel yield were studied. The optimization results showed that the reaction time has the highest percentage contribution of 40.139% while the catalyst loading contributes the least to the biodiesel production, as low as 1.233 %. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed a high correlation coefficient (R2 = 0.9492) and the interaction between the reaction time and reaction temperature contributes significantly to the biodiesel production process with percentage contribution of 14.001 %, compared to other interaction terms. The biodiesel yield of 77.56% was obtained under the optimized factor combination of 4.0 wt.% catalyst loading, 120 min reaction time, 12 : 1 methanol/oil molar ratio and reaction temperature of 65 °C. The reusability study showed that the ASE catalyst could be reused for up to four cycles and the biodiesel produced under optimum conditions conformed to the ASTM standard

Adsorption of Heavy Metals from Industrial Wastewater Using Nanoparticles from Agro Wastes

Effluents from essential industries have been characterized with heavy metals which are non-biodegradable in nature and also detrimental to health when accumulated in body tissues over long exposure. Adsorption was proved as the best efficient process amongst others to remove these heavy metals from industrial wastewater due to its excellent features. Activated carbons from nanoparticles of agricultural wastes such as pods, shells, husks, peels, shafts and many prepared via calcination process at high temperature can be used as active adsorbent for the industrial wastewater treatment involving heavy metals removal. This chapter discusses heavy metals in industrial wastewater effluents and potential agro wastes from which nanoparticles of activated carbon for industrial wastewater purification could be generated. The transformation of agro wastes nanoparticles into activated carbons via calcination and their applications for heavy metals removal from industrial wastewater via adsorption were examined. Various characterization techniques to study the effects of calcination on structural, morphological and textural properties of activated carbon prepared from agro waste nanoparticles were also discussed. Various isotherm, kinetics, mechanistic and thermodynamics models to investigate the adsorptive nature of the process were presented. Error functions and algorithms for both the linear and non-linear isotherm models regression to affirm their fitness for prediction were presented. Lastly, proposed adsorption mechanisms of heavy metals removal from industrial wastewater using activated carbons from nanoparticles of agro wastes were presented

A Review of an Expert System Design for Crude Oil Distillation Column Using the Neural Networks Model and Process Optimization and Control Using Genetic Algorithm Framework

This paper presents a comprehensive review of various traditional systems of crude oil distillation column design, mod- eling, simulation, optimization and control methods. Artificial neural network (ANN), fuzzy logic (FL) and genetic al- gorithm (GA) framework were chosen as the best methodologies for design, optimization and control of crude oil dis- tillation column. It was discovered that many past researchers used rigorous simulations which led to convergence problems that were time consuming. The use of dynamic mathematical models was also challenging as these models were also time dependent. The proposed methodologies use back-propagation algorithm to replace the convergence problem using error minimal metho

Application of Monte-Carlo Simulation to Estimate the Kinetic Parameters of n-Eicosane Pyrolysis and n-Heptane Catalytic Reforming

Pyrolysis of hydrocarbons and catalytic reforming of naphtha are important processes in petroleum refineries and petrochemical industries as they lead to production of light olefins, high octane gasoline, aromatics and so on. Thus, it is important to investigate their chemical kinetics in order to establish rate expressions or models for their reactions. In this research work, Monte-Carlo Simulation was applied to estimate kinetic parameters of two complex reactions: pyrolysis of n-Eicosane and catalytic reforming of n-Heptane. The rate models which were derived experimentally from previous work of Susu [18] were used directly as forward reaction models in the Monte-Carlo simulation model algorithm. This required the use of concentration-reaction rate data obtained from the experimental time-concentration data through a technique called Tikhonov regularization. The result revealed the values of rate constants ranging from 0.0138 – 48.301 hr-1 at different temperatures of 425, 440 and 450oC with minimum objective function of 0.01730 for the 1st order kinetic of n-Eicosane pyrolysis. For the 2nd order kinetic of n-Eicosane pyrolysis, the values of rate constants ranged from 10.8348 – 261.691 cm3.gmol-1.hr-1 at different temperatures of 425, 440 and 450oC with minimum objective function of 0.0678. The n-Heptane catalytic reforming was examined at 460oC with rate constants ranging between 1.270 and 86.8126. The methodology used predicted accurately well as there was good agreement between the calculated values and the examined experimental value

Investigations into Optimization Models of Crude Oil Distillation Column in the Context of Feed Stock and Market Value

This paper proposes optimization models of crude oil distillation column for both limited and unlimited feed stock and market value of known products prices. The feed to the crude distillation column was assumed to be crude oil containing naphtha gas, kerosene, petrol and diesel as the light-light key, light key, heavy key and heavy-heavy key respectively. The models determined maximum concentrations of heavy key in the distillate D o HK and light key in the bottom B o LK for limited feed stock and market condition. Both were impurities in their respective positions of the column. The limiting constraints were sales specification concentration of light key in the distillate [ DDss LK BB LK ], heavy key in the bottom [ ss HK HK ] and an operating loading constraint of flooding above the feed tray. For unlimited feed stock and market condition, the optimization models determined the optimum separation [D o HK and LK B o o ] and feed flow rate (F)that would give maximum profit with minimum purity sales specification constraints of light key in the distillate and heavy key in the bottom as stated above. The feed loading was limited by the reboiler capacity. However, there is need to simulate the optimization models for an existing crude oil distillation column of a refinery in order to validate the models

The potentials of waste-to-energy system in Nigeria: A study of pyrolysis conversion of wood residue to bio-oil in major cities of south-western Nigeria

n this study, the potentials of waste-to-energy system in Nigeria had been uncovered by considering the production of bio-oil from wood residue generated in major cities of south-western Nigeria using pyrolysis conversion. The major cities examined were Lagos, Abeokuta, Ibadan, Ilorin, Ado-Ekiti, Akure and Ile-Ife with wood residue generation of 807.7 Ton/day, 1,335.4 Ton/day, 65.5 Ton/day, 69.8 Ton/day, 15.1 Ton/day, 14.4 Ton/day and 8.1 Ton/day respectively. High tonnages generation from Abeokuta and Lagos result from their favourable environmental condition for afforestation, over-population and industrial influences. The potential of producing 1,161,242.4 litres/day of bio-oil using pyrolysis from a total of 2,316 Ton/day of wood residue generated from cities examined was discovered. The liable revenue to be generated from the sale of this bio-oil at ₦50/litre is ₦21.2 billion/year which can equally be used in providing lacking infrastructural facilities in examined cities. However, effective techno-economic analysis of the process is very important to know the capital and operating costs involved. Also, investigations into pyrolysis process optimization of wood residue are necessary to have optimum bio-oil production based on the available resource

The Grizzly, March 27, 2003

America at War: President Bush says Victory is Certain in Iraq • A Day in the Life of a UN Weapons Inspector • Celebrate Women\u27s History Month • A Fine Ursinus Fellow • Project Vote Smart Approves Five Scholarships for Ursinus College Students • Psyched up for Psycho Beach Party • Calling All Talents • Silence Broken: Korean Comfort Women • Men\u27s Basketball Falls to Scranton • Howard Earns All-American Honors • Dougherty 11th at NCAA Track Championshipshttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/grizzlynews/1532/thumbnail.jp

Taguchi Parametric Optimization and Cost Analysis of Hexavalent Chromium Sequestration From Aqueous Solution by NaOH-Modified Hull Particles

The presence of chromium in industrial wastewater is unavoidable due to its large usage as part of chemical constituents used in many industries. Its removal from wastewater is imperative because it’s toxic in nature. This study investigated the application of NaOH-modified Garcinia kola hull particles (cMGK-HP) for Cr(VI) sequestration from aqueous solution. The optimization of process parameters was executed using Taguchi of Design Expert software for optimum point prediction, analysis of variance, parameters interaction and mathematical model development. A proposed model was used for the adsorption cost analysis. The predicted and experimental percentage of Cr(VI) sequestration were recorded at optimum point to be 99.02% and 98.76% with pH, adsorbent dose, contact time, initial concentration, and temperature of 2, 8 g/L, 20 minutes, 10 mg/L, and 20°C respectively. A correlation coefficient of .9937 between experimental and predicted values of percentage Cr(VI) sequestration affirmed high efficacy of the developed model. ANOVA showed the order of parameter contribution to be pH > adsorbent dose > initial concentration > contact time > temperature. A maximum adsorption capacity of 217.39 mg g −1 was obtained for cMGK-HP. Cost analysis revealed using cMGK-HP to be cost effective for Cr(VI) sequestration with a total operational cost of 0.824 $/mole Cr(VI) ions when compared with commercial activated carbon. Adsorbent characterization revealed the presence of active functional groups enhancing the sequestration process. It could be deduced that cMGK-HP is effective to remove Cr(VI) from solution

Progress on pharmaceutical drugs, plant extracts and ionic liquids as corrosion inhibitors

In the past, lives and wealth have been lost due to corrosion in almost all engineering fields. Not only this, the cost of reviving damaged equipments in the industry due to corrosion contributed a lot to the gross domestic product of a nation. Thus, all hands must be on desk to combat this harzadous act via time to time research on its final resolution. However, current research works have revealed effective and reliable corrosion inhibitors from pharmaceutical drugs, plant extracts and ionic liquids as organic green corrosion inhibitors (OGCIs) with accommodative attributes such as being environmentally friendly, readily available, biodegradable, non-harmful, relatively cheap and many others to mention a few. This paper opens readers mind into the detailed classifications, mechanisms and active functional groups of these eco-friendly OGCIs. Not only the corrosion efficiency calculation ways but also influencing factors on efficiency were presented. Plant extracts, pharmaceutical drugs, ionic liquids and synthetic inhibitors, as among major sources of OGCIs, used in preventing material corrosion in corrosive media were separately and comprehensively examined. The significance of values obtained from simulating presented mathematical models governing OGCIs kinetics, adsorption isotherm and adsorption thermodynamics was also included. In conclusion, beneficial recommendations for both current and prospective researchers in the field of Corrosion Engineering were presented