Energy Audit of an Industry: a Case Study of Fabrication Company

Energy is one of the major inputs for the economic development of any country. In the case of the developing countries, the energy sector assumes a critical importance in view of the ever-increasing energy needs requiring huge investments to meet them. Energy audit will determine energy wastage and losses, and provide techniques and ways to minimize the losses. The payback period of the energy audit programmed for the industry was found to be 14 months. The energy consumption techniques suggested by the energy audit will not only minimize the losses but also reduce monthly electricity bill. The objective of Energy Management is to achieve and maintain optimum energy procurement and utilization, throughout the organization as to minimize energy costs and wastage without affecting production and quality. Energy Audit is the key to a systematic approach for decision-making in the area of energy management. It attempts to balance the total energy inputs with its use, and serves to identify all the energy streams in a facility

Compositions Optimization of Antang Corundum for Developing Advanced Ceramic

The research aims to study and optimize the formulation of materials required for advanced ceramic production using response surface methodology (RSM). In this research effort, the five (5) process independent variables studied with their corresponding levels are: Antang corundum powder, A (92.2 – 100 %W); polyvinyl alcohol, B (0 – 5 %W); CaO, C (0 – 2.3 %W); MgO, D (0 – 0.5 %W); and the sintering temperature, E (1200 – 1500 °C). The mechanical property responses determined were density, ρ, compressive strength, C/S, flexural strength, F/S; which are key characteristics of ceramics for armour applications. The optimized density, compressive strength and flexural strength of the sintered Antang corundum are 3.45 g/cm3 g, 1982 MPa and 295 MPa respectively; while the respective RSM prediction values are 3.45 g/cm3 g, 1982 MPa and 295 MPa. On comparing the determined optimum mechanical responses of the sintered Antang ceramic with the maximum RSM prediction values, there is high level of assurance in using RSM for the formulation process in ceramic armour development

Design and Construction of a Motorized Citrus Juice Extractor

This paper presents the design, construction and performance evaluation of a locally fabricated motorized citrus juice extractor for small and medium scale industry. The fabrication materials for the machine comprises of stainless steel aluminum alloy which is used for the construction of the hopper, compression chamber and collector or receiver. The presser and perforated cylindrical sieve was formed using stainless steel sheet. The power shaft was machined from stainless steel solid shaft; mild steel angle bar was used for the main frame while the transmission pulleys were machined from mild steel material. In selection of materials for the machine critical properties such as toxicity, corrosion and pitting resistance were considered. For power transmission, 4 HP electric motor, V-belt and cast iron ball bearings were used. The performance evaluation of the machine shows that the machine extraction capacity and extraction efficiency are significantly affected by the prime mover speed in revolution per minutes (rpm). The machine efficiency is found to be 84.54 %, average juice extraction capacity is 10.92 cm3/sec or 39.312 lit/h at 600 rpm and the machine capacity is 38.89 kg/h. The production cost of the machine is about N117,800.00  (326 USD) this cost compared with the imported GG-0.5 model of similar capacity which cost about 3150 USD makes the machine considerably acquirable for use by both small and medium scale citrus juice processing plants in Nigeria.  Keywords— Design, Extraction efficiency, Fabrication, Juice extractor, Performance evaluation

Development of Wood-Ash/Resin Polymer Matrix Composite for Body Armour Application

This research work formulated and developed a polymer matrix composite (PMC) for body armour application by adopting hand lay-up processing method in producing the epoxy resin-wood ash composite. The usual waste from wood after combustion, wood ash, was used as the additive in the development of the PMC. Chemical composition of the prepared wood ash was determined using X-ray florescence spectrometry. The mechanical properties of the developed PMC was evaluated and discovered to have been enhanced through the inclusion of the wood ash particles. 2.3% inclusion of wood ash resulted in the tensile strength value of 104 N/mm2against 86 N/mm2 for neat reinforced resin. The impact strength of the PMC increased from 50 J/mm2 (without wood ash) to 112 J/mm2 while 25.4 HRF was recorded for the hardness value of the PMC with wood ash against 23.4 HRF for the neat reinforced PMC. The microscopic analysis also revealed that the wood ash particles were uniformly distributed in the matrix without indication of segregation. When subjected to ballistic tests, the developed PMC successfully arrested the 9 x 19 mm ammunitions after perforating some layers of the sandwiched sample. The research is therefore applicable for the protection of torso