Analytical method to determine the potential of using rice husk for off grid electricity and heat generation

This work develops an analytical method of determining the captive Combined Heat and Power (CHP) potential of the rice husk produced at the rice mills. Technologies whose commercial efficacy has been established for generating electricity and heat from rice husk were analysed using sets of thermo-chemical and thermodynamics equations to determine their CHP potential for the same amount of input rice husk. Four power plants were considered: boiler steam turbine combination labelled Plant A, gasifier - boiler - s team turbine combination labelled Plant B, gasifier - gas turbine combination labelled Plant C and gasifier - Internal Combustion engine combination labelled Plant D. Results from the analysis shows that 4.85 kg, 6.82 kg, 0.87 kg, and 0.97 kg are required to produce a kilowatt-hour of electricity by plants A, B, C and D respectively; while the heat co - generation potential of the plants A, B, C and D obtained are 10,051.09 MJ/hr,  7,136.24 MJ/hr, 4,182.95 MJ/hr and 6,604.67 MJ/hr respectively. Hence, a gasifier - gas turbine CHP plant is the most viable means of utilizing rice husk for off grid CHP generation while a gasifier - boiler steam turbine CHP plant is the least viable. Keywords: rice husk ash, renewable energy, heat generation, CHP, gasifier - gas turbine CH

Development of a Voice Controlled Electric Wheelchair to Aid the Movement of the Physically Challenged

Nigeria is said to have the highest number of physically challenged in Africa and second only to India in the world. Traditional Electrical Wheel Chair has some limitations. In order to assist the physically handicapped, this paper presents the development of a voice controlled wheelchair. The user can control the wheelchair by voice commands, such as “jagaba (go forward)” in Hausa. A grammar-based recognition parser was used in the system. The system comprises of a wheelchair motorize by a DC motor, works on inputs such as voice commands via an android phone and navigates according to the command and battery powered. Voice command input was taken from android mobile and converted into text which is transmitted to microcontroller via Bluetooth module to control the operation of DC motors. Also an IR detection system was used to detect the obstacle in the path of wheelchair to avoid its collision. The chair enables the handicapped person to independently move around. A running experiment with three (3) persons was carried out on speech recognition. 95.4% and 94.0% of the movement command and the verification command were obtained respectively. Keywords: Control, Home Navigation System, Microcontroller, Physically Challenged, Voice Command, Voice Recognition and Wheelchair

An Inductive Power Transfer through metal object

The principle of Inductive Power Transfer (IPT)is very old but it is rarely used for transferring power from source to load via a conductive medium. This is because normally the medium restricts the power transfer due to losses or the shielding effects. However, for low energy applications, an acceptable amount of power could be transferred from the source to the load and it will be of great benefit to oil and gas as well as manufacturing industries to explore. This paper aims at finding the amount of power transferred, the losses and efficiency for a given configuration (metallic pipe) using an analytical model involving equations governing the mechanism of IPT and experimental validation of the derived analytical model. The maximum efficiency of the system for a stainless steel pipe at frequencies of 40Hz to 100Hz is obtained from experimental validation when the load at the output is about 5.55Ω. © 2013 IEEE

Growth and Reproductive Performance of Yankasa Ewes Fed Varying Levels of Dietary Premix

The purpose of this research was to assess the influence of nutritional premix on the growth and reproductive performance of confined Yankasa ewes. The experiment was designed using a Complete Randomized Design (CRD), in which twenty-five (25) Yankasa lambs were randomly assigned to five (5) treatment groups, each with five animals. The animals were randomly assigned to groups based on their weights and given baseline diets and four amounts of premix produced industrially and locally. Throughout the duration, 1 kilogram of basal feed (5 percent of the ewe's body weight) was supplied daily. Dietary premix was fed to the animals at four inclusion levels (0.25, 0.50, 0.75, and 1) in the morning in a restricted area; the amount of feed supplied and left over was recorded daily. The sheep were weighed at the start of the trial and then regularly afterwards. The study's results indicated that dietary interventions had an influence on final weight, total weight increase, and feed conversion ratio (P0.05). However, the dietary treatments had no significant effect on average daily weight increase, total feed intake, or average daily feed intake (P>0.05). Additionally, the findings indicated that when the amount of premix added to the diet rises, the final and total weight gain increases. The findings of T5 vary considerably from those of T1 and T2, but are statistically equivalent to those of T3 and T4. However, animals fed T5 (14.86) exhibited a higher feed conversion ratio (P0.05) than those fed T2 or T1

Agricultural Credit Utilization among Small Scale Women Farmers in Selected Wards Of Bida Local Government Area Of Niger State, Nigeria

The study investigated agricultural credit utilization among small-scale women farmers in selected wards of Bida Local Government Area of Niger State. The specific objectives were to: identify the major sources of credit to small-scale farmers ; and determine the benefit (if any) which small-scale women farmers had derived after acquiring credit for their farm operations. Data were collected from one hundred respondents randomly selected from five wards with the aid of structured interview schedule. Statistical tools used for data analysis were frequency distribution, percentage and student t-test. Up to fifty-six percent of the respondents claimed that they obtained their credit from various sources for their farm operations. The results showed that t-calculated (17.581) was greater than t-critical (1.9842) at 1% level of significance. Similarly, a total of 47.0 % of the respondents opined that their farm produce increased their income which ranged between N31,000 - N40,000 after acquiring credit from the Cooperative Bank. It was concluded that small-scale women farmers’ income increased when they had access to credit facilities from banks. Therefore, it was recommended that the regulatory body responsible to oversee the activities of (NACRDB) monitor regularly the disbursement of agricultural loan to women farmers at the appropriate planning season with reasonable interest charge and that extension agents should ensure that the loan is utilized for only agricultural purposes

PHYTOCHEMICALS AND HYPOGLYCEMIC PROPERTIES OF METHANOL LEAF EXTRACT OF PHYLLANTHUS AMARUS

Plants and plant products are continuously being explored in medicine against diabetics. In the present study, phytochemical screening and hypoglycemic properties of methanol leaf extract of Phyllanthus amarus against alloxan-induced diabetic rats were conducted. A total of fifteen (15) albino rats were randomly selected into 5 groups of 3 rats per group. Groups 1-3 rats were treated with   250 and 500 mg/kg methanol extract of Phyllanthus amarus and 5 mg/kg of glibenclamide respectively, while groups 4 and 5 served as diabetic and normal controls respectively. All treatments were administered orally, once daily for fifteen days. Results revealed the presence of alkaloids, terpenoids, saponins, glycosides, flavonoids, total phenols and tannins. A significant (P<0.05) and a progressive increase in blood glucose level were observed in diabetic untreated rats throughout the experimental periods. At the end of the treatment period rat treated with 250 & 500 mg/kg, P. amarus had final glucose level of 117.00±5.43 mg/dl & 106.00±4.56 mg/kg. Rats treated with 2.5mg/kg glibenclamide had final glucose level of 117.33±5.43 while the untreated rat had final glucose level of 562.50±15.45 mg/dl. The extract of phyllanthus amarus at 250 and 500 mg/kg also cause a significant improvement in body weight gain of the rat. It is concluded that phyllanthus amarus contains some useful phytochemicals with potential hypoglycemic reputations. Thus, it may be considered as a natural source of the drug for therapeutic purposes

Agricultural Credit Utilization among Small Scale Women Farmers in Selected Wards Of Bida Local Government Area Of Niger State, Nigeria

The study investigated agricultural credit utilization among small-scale women farmers in selected wards of Bida Local Government Area of Niger State. The specific objectives were to: identify the major sources of credit to small-scale farmers ; and determine the benefit (if any) which small-scale women farmers had derived after acquiring credit for their farm operations. Data were collected from one hundred respondents randomly selected from five wards with the aid of structured interview schedule. Statistical tools used for data analysis were frequency distribution, percentage and student t-test. Up to fifty-six percent of the respondents claimed that they obtained their credit from various sources for their farm operations. The results showed that t-calculated (17.581) was greater than t-critical (1.9842) at 1% level of significance. Similarly, a total of 47.0 % of the respondents opined that their farm produce increased their income which ranged between N31,000 - N40,000 after acquiring credit from the Cooperative Bank. It was concluded that small-scale women farmers’ income increased when they had access to credit facilities from banks. Therefore, it was recommended that the regulatory body responsible to oversee the activities of (NACRDB) monitor regularly the disbursement of agricultural loan to women farmers at the appropriate planning season with reasonable interest charge and that extension agents should ensure that the loan is utilized for only agricultural purposes

Antimicrobial and Free Radical Scavenging Potentials of N-Hexane and Ethyl Acetate Fractions of Phyllanthus Fraternus

The genus Phyllanthus (Phyllantaceae) is widely used in the african system of traditional medicine and is reported to have various biological activities. In this study, antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of n-hexane and ethyl acetate fractions of Phyllanthus fraternus leaves were investigated. The antimicrobial screening was carried out against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis, Pseudomonas aeruguinosa, Salmonella typhi and Klebsiella pneumoniae, using Agar-well diffusion method. The antioxidant activity was carried out using DPPH free radical scavenging capacity. The results show that fractions of Phyllanthus fraternus leaves have DPPH radical scavenging activities with IC50 value of 263.53 mg/mL and 143.56 mg/mL for n-hexane and ethyl acetate fractions respectively. For n-hexane fraction, the MICs of the extract were; 80 mg/mL against K. pneumoniae and S. aureus,120 mg/mL against P. aeruginosa and S. typhi, and 160 mg/mL against E. Coli. However, ethyl acetate fraction had MICs of 80 mg/mL against all test organisms except S. aureus (40 mg/mL). The n-hexane and ethyl acetate fractions of Phyllanthus fraternus leaves exhibited considerable antioxidant and antimicrobial properties, with ethyl acetate fraction been the most potent. This plant extract can be regarded as promising resource for antimicrobial and antioxidant drugs.Keywords: Antioxidant; Antimicrobial; Phyllanthus fraternus; n-hexane, ethyl acetate fractions

Performance nutrient digestibility and carcass characteristics of broiler chickens fed replacement levels of rumen filtrate fermented Shea nut (Vitellaria paradoxa) meal for groundnut meal

A study was conducted using one hundred and eighty (180) day-old  Hubbard broiler chicks to determine growth performance, nutrient  digestibility and carcass characteristics of broiler chickens fed replacement levels of rumen filtrate fermented shea nut (Vitellaria paradoxa, Gaertn.)  meal for groundnut meal. The chicks were randomly allotted to four dietary treatments. Each treatment was replicated three times with 15 birds per replicate. Four feeds were formulated for the four treatment groups. Dietary replacement levels of rumen filtrate fermented Shea-nut meal for groundnut meal were 0, 5, 10 and 15 %. The experimental design used  was the completely randomized design (CRD). Nutrient digestibility trial was conducted at the end of the eighth (8th) week. Data collected included feed intake, weight gain, carcass characteristics, feed conversion ratio and  organoleptic properties. The fermentation of Shea nut meal with rumen filtrate led to a significant increase in the tannin content of the Shea nut meal. Results obtained indicates that there were no significant (P>0.05) difference among the treatment groups in total feed intake and average daily feed intake. Chicks fed the control diet had significantly (P<0.05) higher final weight (1192.52 g), total weight gain (1155.30 g) and average daily weight gain (18.34 g) compared to the other dietary treatments. Apparent nutrient digestibility trial results indicated a decrease in the values of crude protein, crude fibre, ether extract and dry matter as the level of rumen filtrate fermented shea-nut meal replacement level  increased. This observation was opposite in the mortality result. Also, no significant (P>0.05) difference among the treatment groups in the cost of total feed intake to final weight were observed. It was concluded that the use of rumen filtrate fermented Shea nut meal at 5 to 15 % levels as a replacement for groundnut meal did not have significant improvement on the growth performance and nutrients digestibility in broiler chickens while an alternative method may be found to reduce the anti-nutritional factors in Shea nut meal.Keywords : Shea nut, digestibility, rumen filtrate, groundnut meal