Faculty of Engineering and Technology
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- ItemImproving mechanical properties of aluminium alloy through addition of coconut shell-ash(1970) A. Apasi; D. S. Yawas; S. Abdulkareem; M. Y. KolawoleThis paper investigates the microstructure and mechanical properties of aluminum alloy (Al-Si-Fe) reinforced with coconut shell-ash particulate. The aluminium (Al-Si-Fe) alloy composite was produced by a double-stir casting process at a speed of 700 rpm for 10 and 5 minutes at first and second stirring respectively. The samples produced from addition of 0-15 wt% coconut shellash particles (CSAp) were prepared and subjected to microstructural and mechanical properties testing. The results of the microstructural analysis of the composite reveal a fairly uniform distribution of the coconut shell-ash particles in the matrix with increase in volume fraction of CSAp. The mechanical property test results revealed that, hardness of the developed composite increased with increasing percentage weight of CSAp. Also the tensile and yield strength at 0.2% offset values of Al-Si-Fe/CSAp composite increased with percentage increase in CSAp up to 9% addition above which a little decrease in both tensile and yield strength was observed.Keywords: Matrix, coconut shell, mechanical properties, stir- casting, particulate, reinforcements
- ItemControlling the Periodic Flux of Solar Radiation into an Adobe Storage System for Onions: Part1 – Slab and Foam Roof Combination,(Nigerian Journal of Renewable Energy.10, (1&2), 2002, 108-116. Sokoto Energy Research Centre (Energy Commission of Nigeria) Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto., 2002) 11. Maduekwe, A.A.L., Balogun, S. W. and Garba, B.
- ItemDEVELOPMENTS IN AUTOMOBILE EMISSION CONTROL(2004-10) Abdulrahim, A. T; M.L. Usmah; B. AlkaliIt is widely acknowledged that automobiles are becoming dominant contributors to atmospheric pollution in most of the world’s cities. Hence, the need to find effective methods of controlling automobile emissions becomes imperative. Available automobile emissions’ control measures which include various legislations and responses to legislations such as improvement in the state of the art controls, greater attention towards automobiles growth, improvement of engine design features, periodic tune-up, the use of alternative fuels and the development of non-fossil energy sources were reviewed in this paper.
- ItemVIABILITY OF SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAIC SYSTEM FOR RURAL ELECTRIFICATION IN NIGERIA(2004-10) Alkali, A.B; A.T. Abdulrahim; B.M. MustaphaElectricity availability in rural areas is identified as one of the social amenities that drastically reduce poverty problem by bridging the gap between the rural area and the urban centres. A suitable, cheap and reliable source of power, which could be minimally maintained and manipulated, is necessary to transform the life of an average rural family. This paper focuses on the solar system as a possible alternative to meet the above need. The paper presents a solar photovoltaic (PV) design and cost analysis for a typical single bedroom apartment. It also recommends integration of renewable energy into national strategies to cope with the economic and technical uncertainties that may constrain the supply of conventional energy.
- ItemEffect of moisture content on crackability of bambara groundnut using a centrifugal cracker(Institute of Agrophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences, 2007-04-17) F.A. Oluwole; A.T. Abdulrahim; R.K. OlalereOne of the most tedious operations in processing bambara groundnut is the shelling operation. However, moisture content normally affects the handling and processing of agro materials, such as nut shelling/cracking. This study was conducted to determine the effect of moisture content on shelling efficiency of bambara groundnut using a centrifugal cracker. A 50 kg bag of bambara groundnut obtained from Damboa Local Government Area of Borno State, Nigeria, was divided into three groups. These groups were prepared for tests by soaking them in ordinary water at room temperature for different periods of 0, 60 and 90 min to obtain different levels of moisture content. Moisture content of each sample was determined by oven drying at 130°C for 6 h. The moisture content levels were found to be 5.3, 9.6, and 12.2% (d.b.) for samples A, B and C, respectively. The samples were subjected to impact energy through a centrifugal impaction device operating at an angular velocity of 1920 r.p.m., using three different types of impellers. Data obtained on the percentage of fully shelled pods and unbroken seeds, fully shelled pods with broken seeds, partially shelled pods and unshelled pods were statistically analysed. Results showed that both moisture content and impeller angula tions have a significant effect on these performance indices. The most effective performance was obtained at moisture content of 5.3% (d.b.), at which the shelling efficiency, percentage of dama ged seeds, percentage of partially shelled pods and percentage of unshelled pods were 96, 3.4, 0.6 and 0, 86.6, 3.6, 5.6 and 4.2, 85, 2.4, 5.4, and 7.2% for the forward facing impeller, radially posi tioned impeller and the backward facing impeller, respectively. The study further showed that development of a centrifugal impact bambara groundnut sheller with winnower would eliminate the tediousness of the present manual pod cracking methods.
- ItemDevelopment and performance evaluation of impact bambara groundnut sheller(Institute of Agrophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences, 2007-09-01) F.A. Oluwole; A.T. Abdulrahim; M.B. OumarouA centrifugal bambara groundnut sheller was designed, constructed and evaluated. The sheller consists of a feed hopper with a flow rate control device, shelling unit, separating unit and power system. Nine different impellers were used for the investigation at three different pod moisture contents. Results of the performance tests were examined using a 3x3x3 factorial design with moisture content, impeller slot angulations and number of impeller slots as variables. Results showed that moisture content, impeller slot angulations, number of impeller slots and interaction between these variables statistically affected the per formance indicators (shelling efficiency, percentage of breakage, percentage of partially shelled pods, percentage of unshelled pods and winnowing efficiency) at the significance level of 5%. The forward facing impeller with eight slots gave the best performance of 96% shelling efficiency, 3.4% breakage, 0.6% partially shelled pods. No unshelled pods were recorded, and winnowing efficiency of 97.3% was recorded at an average feed rate of 215.8 kg h-1
- ItemDEVELOPMENT OF A WATER AIR-CONDITIONER FOR THE SEMIARID REGION OF NIGERIA(2007-10) Aji I; ; Balami A.A.; Abdulrahim A. TThe harsh weather condition experienced in Maiduguri between the months of February and June of most years has been a problem to the populace. Buying conventional air-conditioners to ameliorate this problem is difficult for the ordinary people in Maiduguri. In an attempt to lower the temperature of an average 16m2 room, an electrically operated water supply cooling system was designed, constructed and tested and was found to make the room conducive for human comfort. Guard sponge was selected and used out of the existing sponges because it has been found to reduce the ambient temperature better than others. Weather conditions of Maiduguri for the past fifteen years and the unreliability of electricity supply were put into consideration in the design of the water air conditioner. The machine was able to reduce the temperature of an average room (16 m 2 ) by 28% over a period of 42 minutes. The efficiency of the water air-conditioner with respect to the conventional unit is 60%. Seventy five per cent the machine parts were sourced locally, this is to make its production cheap and more affordable to low income earners.
- ItemDEVELOPMENT AND PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF A SPINDLE PRESS FOR OIL EXTRACTION(2007-10) Oluwole, F.A; A.T. Abdulrahim; N.A. AviaraA manually operated spindle oil press adaptable to rural areas was designed, constructed using locally available materials and tested to evaluate its performance. The spindle press, which consists of tool frame, power transmission unit made of a spindle and its lever arm, and oil expression unit comprising of the upper and lower press plates and the perforated cage, operates on the principle of power screw to express oil from milled oil seeds. Each of these components was analyzed and the results obtained were used as parameter for sizing and fabrication of the components. The raw material used for testing the developed spindle press was groundnut paste and a nylon clothing material was used as filter. Results of the performance tests carried out on the machine using groundnut paste showed a maximum oil recovery of 78.1% and the cake produced is of the same quality when compared with those produced with the traditional method. Also the oil extraction time is reduced by about 50%
- ItemCHARACTERIZATIONS OF SOME NIGERIAN BED MATERIALS FOR FLUIDIZED BED COMBUSTOR(2009) I. I. Ozigis; Abdulraman Sikiru OttanBed materials processing involves solid minerals reduction to sizes of about 100-600pm and density of about 1400-3000 kg/m". Apart from the physical criteria, the chemical properties were also essential in respect of its absorbent and agglomeration effects in the fluidized bed combustor. In this work, we present the process technology to produce and select bed materials from Nigerian solid minerals. Firstly, the chemical composition of the various processed bed materials were determined using wet chemical method. Secondly, we subjected the materials at 100um to dustiness test which provided the proportion trapped by the cyclone and filter. Nigerian bed materials were high in qualities and they met the requirements of fluidized bed combustion technology.
- ItemInvestigation of Some Physical and Strength Properties of Clay and Weathered Bedrock for Production of Hydra Form Bricks(2010) S. O. Abdulrahaman; B.M. Olaleye; M. A. SaliuClay and weathered bedrock samples at Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria have been investigated; as alternative earth materials for the production of hydraform bricks. Varying mixes of clay and weathered bedrock samples were evaluated and their physical and chemical properties determined. The compressive strength of the bricks made from different mixes were determined using Hydraform Block Tester. The result of the investigation showed that a 50:50 mix ratio of clay and weathered bedrock samples gave hydraform bricks of highest strength averaging 4.4 MPa which makes it better and stronger hydraform blocks than the ones produced from laterite which is 2.90 MPa. The mix ratio also has a medium absorption rate of 6.25% which falls within ASTM standard and which is quite adequate for construction works applications.
- ItemMESSAGE ABOUT LOVE TO WHO DENIED IT(GOOD LUCK, ILORIN, 2010-02-10) ALFABANNI TUNDE AHMEDTHIS EXPLAINED THE GAP BETWEEN AGAPE AND FAKE LOVE THAT EXISTING IN HUMAN LIFE..
- ItemSmall Scale Biochar Production Technologies: A Review(Scholarlink Research Institute, 2010-12-01) Odesola, Isaac F.; Owoseni, Tunji AdetayoThis paper is set to review the available small scale biochar production technologies. Biochar production technologies are a few of the green technologies that seek to rid the environment of green house gases (GHG). The products of this technology are biochar and biofuels (oil and syngas). Variant methods of this small scale production are known. The use of single (metal) container to two barrels is common, while some units are built of ceramic materials like fired brick. However, there is no published work stating the production of biochar in Nigeria, as at the time of this compilation.
- ItemDevelopment of local technology for a small-scale biochar production process from agricultural wastes(Scholarlink Research Institute, 2010-12-01) Odesola, Isaac F.; Owoseni Tunji AdetayoA charcoal fired reactor for small-scale production of biochar was successfully designed, fabricated and tested. The method of biochar production offered by this equipment was evaluated by comparing its output with a single barrel method of production. The results obtained during the test indicated that the efficiency of the equipment based on its output per kg of Cocoa pod husk was 79.9%. It has the capacity to produce 18.3 kg of Biochar from Cocoa Husk per day using 1 bag of local Charcoal. Cocoa pod Husk can be effectively used as raw material for Biochar production. The Specific Heat Capacity of Cocoa pod Husk was obtained as 3.8 kJ/kg K using the Choi and Okos model. The equipment can be afforded by small scale farmers at production cost of -24, 600.00. This machine can be easily used and maintained without any formal training. The reactor is therefore appropriate for use by subsistent farmers, and households for producing biochar on a small scale.
- ItemThermo-physical properties of rubber seed useful in the design of storage structure(Chinese Intitution of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, 2012) Adeshina Fadeyibi; Zinash Delebo OsundeThis study was carried out to determine the thermo-physical properties of rubber seed in the moisture range of 9.1% to 14.8% (w.b.). The length, width, thickness, measured surface area, bulk density and true density increased with increasing moisture content with high coefficients of determination (significant at p<0.05). Their optimum values at 14.8% moisture content were 17.00 mm, 11.94 mm, 8.26 mm, 285.20 mm2, 295.00 kg/m3 and 470.67 kg/m3, respectively. The angle of repose increased as moisture content increased with low coefficient of determination and has optimum value of 28.81°at 14.8% moisture content. The specific heat capacity and thermal conductivity decreased linearly while thermal diffusivity increased exponentially with an increase in moisture content (significant at p<0.05). The optimum values of specific heat capacity, thermal conductivity and diffusivity at 14.8% moisture content were 55.84 kJ/(kg.K), 0.032 W/(m.K) and 1.93×10-9 m2/s,respectively. The results are essential in the design of storage structure for rubber seed
- ItemDEVELOPMENT OF COMPUTER INTERFACE PROGRAM FOR THE MAINTENANCE PLANNING AND SCHEDULING OF DANGOTE FLOUR MILLS, ILORIN, NIGERIA(FACULTY of ENGINEERING ‐ HUNEDOARA, ROMANIA, 2012) Ajao, K. R.; Issa, W. A.; Muhammed, B. H.This work developed an interface for the planning and scheduling of plant maintenance operations at Dangote Flour Mills, Ilorin Nigeria. The focus of this computer based maintenance planning is to ensure continuous operations of equipment, plant and machineries and reduce operation stoppages or downtimes. It provides interactive modules whereby industrial activities can be assigned to employees by the company's management while employees can have an immediate view of job schedule, simplifies the process of requesting for work to be performed and manage the issuance of work permits, control parts and inventory, keep good record of equipment and appropriate safety management through proper documentation of accidents that may occur in plant operations among others. The paper form of planning and scheduling industrial work activities is tedious, past maintenance and scheduling records are always difficult to retrieve and in many instances when the stock level becomes zero all industrial production seizes and its attendant consequences.
- ItemComputer Aided Design and Drafting of Helical Gears(2012) Akinnuli B. O; Ogedengbe T. I; Oladosu K. OAn interactive user friendly low cost software called “CADDgear” was developed in this study to facilitate the design and drafting of helical and spur gears thereby generating reliable data for use in manufacturing process. The software was developed, using JAVA programming language, as a tool for determining the design parameters and producing accurate and efficient 3D (three dimensional) and 2D (two dimensional) detail working drawings of helical gears. The study considered the existing approaches in use for the design of helical gears and then established a design analysis procedure for helical gear design. The established procedure was implemented through the developed software so that a substantial saving in term of time and cost of production of the design is obtained. The outcome of this research would enhance the designer’s productivity by reducing the time required to synthesis, analyze and document helical gear design. This would permit a thorough analysis of a large number of design alternatives. Results generated by the software shows very good agreement with that obtained through manual calculation using the established procedure. It was observed that the developed software successfully increase productivity over manual gear design and drafting by approximately thirty-four times in term of the time required for the design
- ItemAnalysis of Two Dimensional Heat Transfer Problem Using Spreadsheet Approach(Energy Technology and Management conference, 2012) A.A Oladosu; I.F Odesola; A.S OlaworeThe storage of thermal energy in the form of sensible and latent heat has become an important aspect of energy management with the emphasis on efficient use and conservation of the waste heat and solar energy in industry and buildings. Heat storage materials absorb heat through standard heat transfer mechanisms, e.g., radiation, conduction, and convection. The need for developing software for solving these problems become imperative because it has necessary functions for solving a large class of engineering problems. The aim of this project is to demonstrate how Spreadsheet can be used for solving heat transfer problems in an arbitrary geometry. Survey was carried out on various geometries. An example considered was a chimney. The symmetry of the geometry was considered. Energy balances were obtained and finite difference formulations were made. Finite difference equations for various nodes were determined. Spreadsheet was set up for the problem. Various temperature distributions were obtained. Temperatures are highest at the inner wall (but less than 300oC) and the lowest at the outer wall (but more than 260 k), as expected. The average temperature at the outer surface of the chimney was 352.65k. The rate of heat loss through the 1m long section of the chimney was determined both manually and numerically.
- ItemDesign and development of vapor absorption refrigeration system for rural dwellers(Covenant University, 2012) Adekeye, T; Oyedepo, S.O; Oyebanji, J.A
- ItemDetermination of an Appropriate Exploitation Method for Sobi and Oloje Clay Deposits for Production of Bricks and Ceramic Work; Ilorin, Nigeria(2012) Abdulraman S. O; Olaleye, B.MCurrent exploitation practice of llorin clay deposits in Nigeria has been investigated to be largely dominated by female artisans (old and young) who depend solely on crude implements such as sticks, spades and baskets with resultant premature abandonment of mined out pits. Exploratory pits were dug to probe the profile of the deposits in the two locations (Sobi and Oloje) and the borehole data of the deposits were used to produce isopach map of the deposits. Several equipment combinations were considered for the exploitation of the deposits. Stripping by bulldozer was favoured to be most appropriate.