LAUTECH Journal of Engineering and Technology

Production and purification of biogas from poultry dropping at mesophilic temperature

2024-08-08T19:55:24+00:00

Biogas is a mixture of gases produced during the breakdown of biodegradable organic matter in the absence of oxygen. Problems of impurities such as Carbon dioxide (CO₂), Hydrogen sulphide (H₂S) and moisture have to be removed in order to improve the quality of biogas. This study aimed at upgrading the biogas produced from poultry dropping. The Poultry Dropping (PD) used as substrate was collected from Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso (LAUTECH) poultry farm. The Continuously Stirred Tank Reactor (CSTR) available in the Agricultural Engineering Laboratory LAUTECH was used for biogas production. The biogas produced was analyzed using Gas chromatography, AGILENT 6890 before and after purification. The produced biogas was purified using chemical absorption. Distilled water, Silica gel and Iron fillings were used as the scrubbers to remove CO₂, moisture and H₂S, respectively. The CH₄, CO₂ and H₂S of biogas production before and after purification were 61.42%, 35.83% and 0.67 %; and 89.81 %, 8.22 % and 0.54 %, respectively. The results revealed that the purified biogas has better advantage for cooking over the raw biogas.

Urban soil infiltration rates on different land use types in southwest Nigeria: actual versus model estimates

2024-08-08T19:59:52+00:00

As urban development increases and rainfall patterns become more highly variable, rainwater management issues are becoming increasingly prevalent. Given that urban soils may experience greater compaction than non-urban soils, infiltration models may not accurately represent disturbed urban soils, and this might jeopardize computations that rely on these models. Therefore, the objective of this research was to quantify the rates of soil infiltration on various urban land use types and assess the effectiveness of Horton and Green-Ampt infiltration models for application in urban soil environments. At 88 locations (23 commercial, 15 institutional, 36 residential, and 14 urban agricultural locations) spread across Akure metropolis, southwest Nigeria, soil infiltration rates and the soil's characteristics (texture, compactness, and moisture content) were examined. The highest infiltration rates were found in institutional (16.20 ± 9.73 cm hr^-1) and urban agricultural (17.51 ± 10.38 cm hr^-1) soils; nevertheless, all our data show that Akure's urban soils can infiltrate most rainfall episodes. The modeled and measured infiltration rates compare poorly, with both the Horton and Green-Ampt models underestimating the rates of infiltration of urban soil. When it came to estimating infiltration capacities, both models fared better in moist compared to dry soils and in loamy compared to sandy soils. Regarding the loamy soils, infiltration on the non-compacted soils was more accurately predicted compared to the compacted soils, according to both models, while the reverse was the case for the sandy soils. The models' largely below-average performance in urban soils will probably make projections from the models less reliable. The results of this study demonstrate the necessity of creating more reliable, enhanced infiltration models that work with urban soils.

Assessment of water quality variation: tool for effective water treatment system operations

2024-09-23T08:20:50+00:00

Water quality and treatment systems are dynamic because they constantly undergo seasonal variations in water chemistry, varying plant operating conditions, and new environmental laws, among others. Because of this, proper monitoring is essential to ensure that the water supplied by the treatment system safeguards public health from waterborne diseases. Selected surface water quality parameters as inflow were obtained before treatment against the treated water for different hydrological periods (2009 – 2019) from a water treatment system to determine the trend in water quality variation, water quality index, and effectiveness of the treatment process. Each hydrologic year had varying concentrations of selected parameters for raw and treated water quality. The concentration values of pH, electrical conductivity, total hardness, calcium and magnesium hardness, chloride, and total dissolved solids of the natural source water were within the recommended limit. Turbidity concentrations were above the recommended value for each hydrologic year, values ranging from 14.65 – 57.98 NTU, and iron concentration was above the permissible for 2010 and 2012. Selected parameters were all within the threshold limit after treatment with a water quality index (WQI) ranging between 1.09 – 39.39, rated as good/excellent water quality. The treatment system operations were effective throughout the observation period. However, turbidity, iron and hardness should be tested more frequently during the operational and verification monitoring process.

Efficiency of water hyacinth and cattail for wastewater treatment using constructed wetland

2024-09-23T08:29:06+00:00

^{ABSTRACT
Constructed wetlands have emerged as a cost-effective, eco- friendly and sustainable solution to enhance water quality by effectively removing nutrients. The objective of this study is to compare water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) and Cattail (Typha latifolia) as wetland plants for wastewater treatment at the National Water Resources Institute (NWRI) situated in Kaduna State, Nigeria. The percentage removal of various parameters including pH, Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), Turbidity, Total Suspended Solids (TSS), Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), Total Phosphorus, Nitrate, Ammonia, Sulphate, Oil and Grease, Total Coliform, Feacal Coliform, Copper, Zinc, Iron and Lead were compared for cattail and water hyacinth. The results of the analyzed parameters were compared with the Food and Agricultural Organization of United Nations (FAO, 2015) limits for irrigation purposes. Results showed pH, TDS, Turbidity, TSS, Sulphate, Nitrate, BOD, COD, FC, and Iron, Copper, Lead and Zinc were within permissible limit of the standard for irrigation water quality according to FAO, while EC and Total Phosphorous were above the maximum permissible limit. The result of the percentage removal efficiency showed that water hyacinth had higher performance in removing the pH (13.34%), Turbidity (97.24%), Sulphate (100%), Nitrate (18.51%), Total Phosphorous (96.34%), COD (86.21%), BOD (77.92%), Oil and Grease (73.80%), FC (78.48%), TC (36.24%), Copper (81.84%), Lead (89.69%) and Zinc (79.38%) compared to typha latifolia. For 82.61% EC, 82.09% TDS, 94.51% TSS, 97.31% Iron and removal, efficiency of typha latifolia was higher. Constructed Wetland vegetated with typha latifolia and Eichhornia crassipes showed high contaminant removal efficiency with water hyacinth showing superior removal efficiency.}

Affordable and sustainable clean energy generation potentials from municipal dumpsites: case study of Oke saje dumpsite, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria

2024-09-23T08:35:50+00:00

The operating method of final waste disposal in Oke saje area of Abeokuta is direct open dumping and burning. This study was conducted at a major dumpsite in Abeokuta, to investigate the existing waste management systems, characterize solid wastes generated, and estimate for the sustainable energy generation potentials.

Exploratory study design was adopted for a period of six (6) months, May to November, 2023. Seven (7) randomly selected plots of 1sq.m were located on Oke saje dumpsite, from where solid wastes were collected from top to the depth of 300 mm. Waste components were weighed to obtain the weight-based characterizations. Sorting into major waste components was in accordance with College and University Recycling Council (CURC) grouping system with modifications to accommodate peculiar waste stream generated in Oke saje dumpsite. Waste samples were taken to laboratory to carry our necessary physical, chemical and proximate analyses.

Estimated total solid waste generation in Oke- saje, dumpsite was 3,718,832.03 kg (3718.83 tonnes). Estimated energy content of solid wastes was 46370.47MJ. This implies that there is possibility of electricity generation up to 12.881MWh from daily steam production. An integrated solid waste management concept adoptable to Oke- saje, dumpsite, has zero waste concept of about 46 % waste material recyclable (from composting, bio-fuel production and recyclables), with electricity generating potential of 5.923 KWh and 56 % energy recovery (from electricity generation, incineration-derived ash and residual ash for landfilling or soil enhancement), of about 6.956 KWh.

Considering the high material recyclability, reusability and energy recovery potentials from solid wastes generated from Oke saje dumpsite, it was recommended that the Ogun State Waste Management Authority adopts affordable, sustainable and integrated waste management options of waste minimization and sorting from the source, reuse, recycling, and incineration of solid waste generated from the large communities within the state.

Effects of methylene blue as a mediator on pharmaceutical wastewater treatment and bioelectricity generation in a microbial fuel cell

2024-10-18T14:20:20+00:00

Pharmaceutical wastewater (PWW) as an industrial wastewater presents a potential hazard to natural water systems. This wastewater contains organic matter, which is toxic to the various life forms of the system. PWW is one of the major health problems nowadays, not only for aquatic life but also for human beings and the environment. There are several methods such as filtration, advanced oxidation, coagulation and biological membranes been used for the treatment of PWW, however, all of these methods are limited in their results and applications. In this present study, Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) represent a new method for

treating wastewater, generating electricity, and reducing COD simultaneously. A novel H-type MFC connected with a graphite electrode has been designed for bioelectricity generation, COD reduction as well as PWW treatment. The treatment of PWW showed adequate bioelectricity generation such as Voltage, Current, and Power, of about 775 mV, 0.421 mA, and 583.70 mW at 100 Ω respectively. The percentage of the COD removed ranged from 95.2-96.7% and 12-34% at the different process variables. This study established bioelectricity generation and bio-treatment of PWW.

Enhanced multimodal biometric access control system using chicken swarm optimization and self-organizing feature maps: a study on ear and iris recognition

2024-09-23T12:10:25+00:00

Access control systems are crucial for securing sensitive data and system components by allowing authorized access while blocking unauthorized entities. Traditional unimodal biometric systems, make use of a single physiological or behavioral trait, have limitations such as susceptibility to spoofing and environmental constraints, leading to reduced reliability. This study explores an enhanced multimodal biometric access control system that combines ear and iris traits using an enhanced Self-Organizing Feature Map (SOFM) algorithm improved with Chicken Swarm Optimization (CSO). The system's performance is evaluated against traditional SOFM, with a focus on recognition accuracy and processing time.

The data used to train the classifier for this study were collected from 190 individuals, encompassing a total of 2,280 images of iris, and ear traits. Preprocessing involved cropping, resizing, and grayscale conversion using histogram equalization. Feature extraction utilized Local Binary Patterns (LBP), followed by feature fusion at the feature level to create an integrated feature set. The enhanced SOFM algorithm was then applied for classification, with the CSO technique optimizing the learning rate and weight parameters for improved performance.

At different thresholds, the CSO-SOFM classifier outperformed the standard SOFM classifier using metrics such as Sensitivity, Specificity, Precision, Accuracy and Recognition time.

Investigating the impact of solvent extraction parameters on oil yield and oil properties: a review

2024-09-23T12:25:29+00:00

Oilseeds are rich in fatty acids, proteins, fibers, minerals, and vitamins that are necessary for human health. It mainly comprises triglycerides and other minor components, including phytosterols, phenols, carotenoids, tocopherols, and phospholipids. Oils can be extracted using a variety of extraction methods including but not limited to the conventional mechanical and solvent method, and novel methods like supercritical fluid extraction. However, the quality and quantity of extracted oil depends on the process parameters. Among many process parameters temperature is the main parameter which controls the yield and its quality. Temperature range depends upon the nature and type of oilseed. High temperature leads to increased yield while relatively low temperature results in low oil yield and longer extraction time. Large particle size of the solid creates a temperature gradient between the inner and outer surface of the seeds which in turn lowers oil yield. Based on this review, an extraction temperature slightly below the boiling point of the solvent is recommended.

A viable prototype device for air quality and heart rate monitoring using Internet of Things (IoTs)

2024-09-23T12:30:40+00:00

Air pollution poses a serious risk to everyone's health and well-being, especially the health of young people, the elderly ones, and people who have trouble breathing. All contaminants, such as gases, particulate matter, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide and biologically generated particles that are found in the atmosphere are referred to as air pollutants. The traditional ways of monitoring pollution are quite laborious and inefficient enough. It is pertinent to mitigate the excessive air pollution that is detrimental to people's and other living things' health. This bring motivation to carried out the objective of developing a device, an air pollution detector (APD) that monitors and measures both the quality of air and heart rate in a given environment. The IoT devices were used to collate data within a geographical area. The air data collected through MQ 135 sensor were calibrated and processed using Arduino programming language. The LCD module displays the air pollution data with the pulse of heartbeat in beats per minute (BPM) once the air gets denser. The system was tested in different five location on school's campus environments at Lead City University, Ibadan, Nigeria. Two sets of tests were carried out to measure air quality index (AQI) and the pulse. The tests carried out were based on the effect of time of day on AQI and heart rate (HR) in action and resting heart rate (RHR) respectively taking one-hour intervals from 8am to 8pm. The obtained sensitivity results showed that, a higher concentration of air pollution leads to an increase in heart rate and a lower concentration of pollution leads to a decrease in heart rate. Hence, the affordable and eco-friendly developed system has the potential to be used as a tool to explore for researchers, students and bringing awareness on the types of air pollutants for the general public.

Implementation of smart wheelchair with obstacle avoidance

2024-09-23T12:37:18+00:00

The primary goal of this work is to develop a dependable and efficient solution for maintaining optimal mobility in wheelchair systems. The aim is to enhance functionality and reduce the user’s physical effort required to move the wheelchair wheels. The proposed system integrates advanced sensing technology, intelligent control algorithms, and robust hardware components to manage the wheelchair, detect obstacles, and eliminate the need for external assistance. This wheelchair employs joystick control and halts when the system senses an obstacle. The system enhances user autonomy by providing ease of control and ensures safety by detecting and avoiding obstacles. Motor speeds are adjusted based on joystick input, and the motor direction (forward, backward, left, right) is determined accordingly. An ultrasonic sensor measures obstacle distance, and if an obstacle is detected (distance <= 20cm), both motors stop, and a warning buzzer activates for 1 second. If no obstacle is detected, the warning buzzer turns off, and motor speeds are adjusted based on joystick input. The system effectively demonstrated obstacle avoidance by changing direction when a command was issued away from the obstacle. The outcomes of this study contribute valuable insights to the field of wheelchairs, specifically in the realm of obstacle avoidance.

Characterization and acid leaching beneficiation studies of Anka (Zamfara State, Nigeria) copper ore deposit

2024-10-01T21:08:25+00:00

The chemical and mineralogical characterization of the Anka copper was examined and its susceptibility to H₂SO₄ acid leaching was assessed. A crude sample of the ore, weighing 5 kg, was sourced from the mines, communiated, homogenized, and characterised the crude sample. A 100 g fraction of the crushed sample was subjected to fractional sieve analysis and each sieve retained was chemically analysed. The leaching process was carried out on 100 g of -125+90 µm sieve size fraction using H₂SO₄ acid and the resulting product was chemically analyzed. The characterization result reveals 42.271% CuO using the energy dispersive x-ray fluorescence spectrometer and the x-ray diffractometer shows that the ore is mainly composed of Cu-carbonate hydroxide in the form of malachite mineral. The scanning electron microscope micrograph suggests that the ore contains dispersed grains of sodium aluminium silicate and copper carbonate hydroxide in a silica-dominated matrix. The ore's liberation size was determined to be at the sieve size of -125+90 μm. Finally, the ore was discovered to be responsive to the H₂SO₄acid leaching operation, leading to an enrichment of the feed from 42.27% Cu to a pregnant solution of 52.51% Cu and the residue from the leaching was analyzed to be 4.69% Cu.

Remediation of colour from distillery wastewater using orange peels as adsorbent

2024-09-23T12:49:35+00:00

The dark-brown color of Distillery Wastewater (DWW), often termed melanoidin, causes discoloration and turbidity rise in water bodies, restraining water usage and detrimental to aquatic life. This study investigates Orange Peels (OP) efficiency as a low-cost adsorbent for color removal from DWW. The color of Fresh DWW’s was confirmed on platinum-cobalt color scale, its color concentration was measured at 620-nm using UV-visible spectrophotometer. OP was carbonized and characterized for chemical composition, specific surface area, surface functional group and surface morphology. Batch adsorption experiment was performed on Orange Peel Carbon (OPc) and compared with coal-based commercial activated carbon (AC_C) to determine the effects of agitation speed, retention time, carbon dosage, DWW pH on the Maximum Removal Efficiency (MRE) of color. The adsorption capacity was evaluated using Langmuir, Freundlich, Elovich, Pseudo-first-order and Pseudo-second-order models. OP_c showed good-quality adsorbent. DWW was dark-brown in color (2.030 Abs). A 60.20 % MRE was achieved at 100 RPM agitation speed, 60 mins retention time, 2.5 g/100ml OP_c dosage and pH of 4.0. AC_C showed better performance of 79.46 % color removal. The adsorption followed Elovich isotherm, implying multilayer adsorption with correlation factor of 0.9414. In general, OPc proved effective in reducing color from DWW, and thus, recommended as a suitable adsorbent to replace the costly commercial adsorbents for DWW treatment.

Optimization of municipal solid waste management system in landfill using response surface methodology - a case study of Ogbomoso South Local Government

2024-09-26T14:54:22+00:00

In this study, Solid waste generation and collection assessment within the study area was undertaken with the view of formulating an optimization model that helped identify the important variables influencing the overall cost of solid waste management and also determine their optimum values. Some of the important variables used in formulating the model include; The number of solid waste collection trips (X₁), Number of manpower (Persons) (X₂), Fuel consumption per day (X₃), Weight of solid waste collection per trip (X₄).

To determine the model, Statistical design of experiment (DOE) using central composite design method (CCD) was employed. The number of experimental runs based on the CCD method was determined and thirty (30) experimental runs were thereafter generated and optimized.

Result of the optimization model revealed that; the number of solid waste collection trips per month (X₁ = 47), Number of manpower (persons) (X₂ = 3), Fuel consumption per day (X₃ = 18.20liters) and Weight of solid waste collection per trip (X₄ = 6.33tons). The optimal solution of selected variables produced an overall cost of N162,300.

The solution was selected by the Design Expert software with a desirability value of 1 that is 100% reliability.

Estimation and forecast of methane emission from Solid Waste Generation within LAUTECH, Ogbomoso, using IPCC Model and LANDGEM

2024-10-16T16:23:56+00:00

Estimation and prediction of methane emissions from various sources have become crucial for understanding their environmental impacts, preparing effective reduction plans against their hazards or converting them to be useful. This project examined the emission of methane gases from solid waste in open dumps at Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso, Southwest Nigeria. Methodologies from the well-established Landfill Gas Emission Model (LandGEM) and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC Model) were used for calculating the production of methane (CH₄) gas, a greenhouse gas, with defined data, study areas, and assumptions clarifications. The results from the calculations and points for consideration are then laid out. Several open dumps were defined for these two models based on zones. The results revealed that there is a negligible existence of methane emissions in LAUTECH campus, with the IPCC model and LandGEM showing 1.5617E-04 Mg/year and 3.877E-07 Mg/year, respectively, at the end of the study years.

Co-digestion of Hyptis suaveolens (bushmint) and poultry manure for energy generation: Effects of pretreat-ment methods, Modelling and process parameter optimization study

2024-10-16T16:26:12+00:00

The potentials of anaerobic co-digestion of poultry dropping with chemically pretreated and untreated Hyptis suaveolens (bushmint weeds) shoots for biogas generation, as well as the process optimization after using a combination of mechanical and thermo-alkaline pretreatment methods, were assessed in this study. Inoculum from cattle rumen content was used to anaerobically digest the shoots. A batch experiment was designed by the Central Composite Design (CCD). Standard procedures were used to assess the physicochemical parameters of the substrates and inoculum, as well as the components of the generated biogas. For the chemically pretreated and untreated tests, the experimental biogas yields were 0.7652 L/kg VS and 1.1396 L/kg VS, respectively. The methane and carbon dioxide content of biogas from both experiments was 69.08%; 17.64% and 62.13%; 21.39% respectively. The Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was employed in data optimization. The predicted biogas yield was 0.7652L/kg VS in the chemically treated experiment, and the model's coefficient of determination (R²) was high (0.9159), indicating strong modeling and prediction accuracy for the chemically treated experiment. There was a 11.19% increase in methane gas yield in the chemically treated experiment over the untreated. The study recommended the worldwide usage of Hyptis suaveolens shoots for biofuels generation and several combinations of pretreatment methods to improve biogas yields.

Evaluation of Performance Parameters of Direct Injection Spark Ignition Engines Fuelled with Alcohol-Gasoline Blends

2024-10-16T16:28:30+00:00

Abstract

This study investigates the performance parameters of Direct Injection Spark Ignition (DISI) engines fuelled with alcohol-gasoline blends under varying engine loads and speeds, focusing on methanol, ethanol, butanol and gasoline blends. Alcohols have been recognized for their potential to improve engine performance and reduce harmful emissions due to their higher oxygen content and favourable combustion characteristics. The experimental tests were conducted using a single-cylinder DISI engine under controlled laboratory conditions. Pure gasoline and two alcohol-gasoline blends were tested at different engine loads (0%, 50%, and 100%) and speeds (2500, 3000 and 3500 RPM). D-optimal Response Surface Methodology (RSM) design of Design-Expert version 13.0.1with eleven experimental runs, two factors and seven responses were used for the experimental design and to construct mathematical models for the performance parameters. The adequacy of the models was determined by statistical methods and the best fit model for each response was selected and analysis of variance was applied for a better understanding of model attributes. The results show that alcohol-gasoline blends significantly improve the combustion efficiency of DISI engines. The thermal efficiency of the alcohol-gasoline blend increased slightly by 0.9% compared with that of pure gasoline The addition of alcohols led to an increase in Brake Specific Fuel Consumption (BSFC) by up to 1.89% and engine torque exhibited a marginal improvement. The study concludes that alcohol-gasoline blends can serve as viable solutions to meet future energy efficiency goals in the automotive industry, while also contributing to the reduction of fossil fuel consumption.