FUOYE Journal of Engineering and Technology (FUOYEJET - Federal University Oye-Ekiti)
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Impact of Cutting Environments on Sustainable Machining of H13 Tool Steel Alloy
No full textThe use of electrical energy and coolants/lubricants has been widely reported in mechanical machining. However, increased research and process innovation in high speed machining has brought about optimised manufacturing cycle times. This has promoted dry machining and the use of minimum quantity lubrication (MQL). This work understudies the impact of different cutting environments in machining H13 tool steel alloys at transition speed regime with emphasis on sustainable machining of the alloy. To achieve this, end milling tests were performed on AISI H13 steel alloy (192 BHN) on a MIKRON HSM 400 high speed machining centre using milling inserts. After each cutting pass, the milling insert was removed for tool wear measurement on the digital microscope. The electrical power consumed was measured with the Fluke 435 power clamp meter mounted on the three phase cable at the back of the machine. It was discovered that MQL has a promising advantage in terms of tool life with 25 minutes of machining, net power requirement of 10% when compared to dry cutting, and environmental benefits when machining H13 tool steel alloy. This work is fundamentally important in assessing the environmental credentials and resource efficiency regime for green machining of H13 tool steel alloysKeywords— H13 tool steel, green machining, process optimization, tool life, cutting environments, energy consumption
Geoelectric Investigation of the Groundwater Potential of the Federal Housing Estate, Eastern Part of Ado-Ekiti, Southwestern Nigeria
No full textThis study aimed at evaluating the potential for groundwater development in the eastern part of Ado-Ekiti, Southwestern Nigeria using Vertical Electrical Sounding (VES). Data were acquired with ABEM SAS 300 and processed through partial curve matching techniques and assisted with 1-D forward modelling. Geoelectric parameters were determined from the VES interpreted result. Seven (7) different VES type curves (H, A, HA, KH, HK, QH and HKH) indicating inhomogeneity of the subsurface layer beneath the study area were observed. Weathered layer resistivity map having values ranging from 3.2 – 272 Ωm, overburden thickness of value vary between 0 and 28m and bedrock relief values range from 360 – 480 m were delineated. It was estimated from the result that the northwestern and southeastern part which constituted about 15%of the study area possess high groundwater potential while the remaining 85% of the study area exhibit low/moderate potentials for yielding substantial water. Hence, the groundwater potential rating of the area was considered generally low.Keywords- Geoelectric, Groundwater potential, Overburden thickness, Vertical Electrical Soundin
Effect of Potassium Carbonate Catalyst on Pyrolysis of Milicia excelsa in a Fixed Bed Reactor
No full textThe effect of potassium carbonate catalyst on the products distribution from pyrolysis of Milicia excelsa (Iroko) at various temperatures (400, 500 and 600 oC) was investigated. Milicia excelsa sawdust was obtained from a sawmill in Ogbomoso, South-Western Nigeria and was sundried for five days in order to reduce its moisture content. Catalytic pyrolysis of the sawdust was performed with different amounts of catalyst (10, 20, 30 and 40 wt.%). Non-catalytic pyrolysis was also performed for the same temperatures and the products distributions from both batches were compared. Char yield generally increased with increase in catalyst amount for all the temperatures considered. Tar yield did not follow any definite pattern with increasing amount of catalyst as different trends were obtained for different temperatures. Gas yield generally decreased with increase in catalyst amount in the feed. Char yields from non-catalytic experiments were higher than those obtained from catalytic runs, with the highest value of 68% at 400 oC. Tar yields from catalytic pyrolysis were higher than those from non-catalytic process at 400 oC (biomass/catalyst ratio of 90/10) and at 500 oC (biomass/catalyst ratios of 70/70 and 60/40), the highest yield being 29.47% at 500 oC and biomass/catalyst ratio of 60/40. Gas yields from catalytic pyrolysis were higher than those from non-catalytic runs except at 500 oC (biomass/catalyst ratio of 60/40), the highest being 51.3% at 600 oC (biomass/catalyst ratio of 90/10). By making use of appropriate biomass/catalyst ratio and temperature, the yield of liquid fuel from catalytic pyrolysis of Milicia excelsa can be increased.Keywords— Catalyst, potassium carbonate, pyrolysis, biomass, product distributio
An Artificial Neural Network Model for Estimating Daily Solar Radiation in Northwest Nigeria
No full textSolar energy has attracted enormous attention as it plays an essential role in meeting the ever growing sustainable and environmental friendly energy demand of the world. Due to the high cost of calibration and maintenance of designated measuring instruments, solar radiation data are limited not only in Nigeria but in most parts of the world. The optimal design of solar energy systems requires accurate estimation of solar radiation. Existing studies are focused on the analysis of monthly or annual solar radiation with less attention paid to the determination of daily solar radiation. Estimating daily solar radiation envisages high quality and performance of solar systems. In this paper, an Artificial Neural Network data mining model is proposed for estimating the daily solar radiation in Kano, Kaduna and Katsina, North West Nigeria. Daily Solar radiation data for 21years collected from the Nigerian Metrological Agency were used as training/testing data while developing the model. Two statistical indicators: coefficient of determination (R2) and the root mean square error (RMSE) were used to evaluate the model. An RMSE of 0.47 and 0.48 was obtained for the training and testing dataset respectively, while an R2 of 0.78 was obtained for both the training and testing dataset. The overall results showed that artificial neural network exhibits excellent performance for the estimation of daily solar radiation.Keywords— Artificial Neural Network, Data mining, Solar Radiation
Evaluation of Two Global Rainfall Models for Water Resources Planning and Management in Nigeria
No full textGiven the sparseness of weather stations in Nigeria, there is an increasing need for alternative sources of rainfall data such as satellite measurements, numerical models and reanalysis. Nevertheless, the complexity of such data requires proper evaluation and validation. Therefore, this study evaluated two globally available rainfall products from Climate Research Unit (CRU) and University of Delaware (UNIDEL) using rain gauge data obtained from Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET), over a period of twenty years (1980-1999) covering 24 stations. Time series plot and statistical tools were used to evaluate the products on annual, seasonal and zonal basis. The results show that the two products demonstrated comparable ability and sufficiently captured the spatial and temporal patterns of rainfall over the country. However, the products overestimated and underestimated during the dry and rainy seasons, respectively. Although, correlation was comparatively high between 0.3 and 0.8, but negative in few instances, mean bias error (MBE) and root mean square error (RMSE) were generally high depicting high random error. The performance of the products was best in the Sahel, followed by the Savannah and Forest zones, with UNIDEL showing better performance in most cases. Consequently, we recommend further studies to validate the present results on the use of gridded data in the country.Keywords— evaluation, CRU, UNIDEL, rain gauge, rainfall product
Computation of First order Delay Differential Equations via Simpson Block Method
No full textA family of Simpson Block Method (SBM) is proposed for the numerical integration of Delay Differential Equations (DDEs). The methods are developed through multistep collocation technique using constant step width. The convergence and accuracy of the methods are established through some standard DDEs in the reviewed literature. Keywords— Block Method, Collocation Technique, Delay Term, Delay Differential Equation, Self Starting.
Performance Evaluation of an Automatic Monitoring Device Developed for Grain Storage
No full textGrains are rich sources of carbohydrates, proteins, fibres and oil. These components form daily constituents man in human diets and animal feed. Nigeria is one of the largest producers of grain crops in Africa, though, more than 60% of this is lost due to postharvest processing, whereas inadequate storage structures and inappropriate storage techniques cause about 45% damage to the produce. In Nigeria, huge losses occur in grains during storage based on traditional and intermediate methods being use, and the few modern structures used by the public sector are poorly managed. In order to reduce these losses, this study developed an automatic grain storage device which would monitor internal temperature and relative humidity of stored grains. The components of the storage monitoring device (SMD) including; temperature and humidity sensors, buck converters, Node MCU, Arduino IDE, H-bridge and fan were soldered and connected to perform the expected function. Readings from the SMD revealed that during storage, average temperature and relative humidity measured 34.4 oC and 63% respectively. A total weight loss of 4.1 kg (3.2%) at average moisture content of 13% was experienced. 2.3 kg and 1.8 kg of the entire weight loss were loss due to drop in moisture content and insect infestation respectively. The device was found to be effective because the slightest variations in parameters measured were indicative of the sensitivity and efficiency of the device.Keywords: Grain, storage, temperature, moisture content, automatic devic
Solar Electricity System Design for Administrative Buildings
Get PDFRegular availability of electricity is fundamentally important for everyday running and productivity of any organisation. In any modern society, stable and reliable electric power is a basic need, without which living condition becomes substandard and smooth business operations become difficult. Unreliability of power services in Nigeria is taking its toll on administrative, academic and research activities at Federal Polytechnic, Ede, just like other institutions in the country. Diesel generator on which the institution depends for alternative power source during outage is not sustainable as outage is too frequent and the duration is usually long, at times for days. This results in a very high running cost if normal activities in the institution are to go unimpeded. This work is on the design of 172.84kWP Solar Photovoltaic (PV) System aimed at permanently addressing the electric power challenges at the Administrative Blocks of the Federal Polytechnic, Ede. The proposed project’ design was simulated and the results show that its real life performance is highly promising. The least energy yield of the PV system occurs in June with 549.93kWh/day as against the maximum demand of 457.30kWh/day. The system performance is much higher in the months of September to March as solar irradiance is higher in these months. The PV plant has active service life of over 25years without significant change in its efficiency. The benefits of the proposed project are manifold. The project if implemented will solve the electric power problem of the institution at the Administrative’ Building by providing stable, adequate and reliable 24-hour a day electricity. The estimated cost of the proposed project is N45, 000,000 which is much cheaper than diesel generator and interestingly, is appreciably less than the cost of unreliable power supply from the grid. Keywords: Energy yield, off-grid, photovoltaic system, solar electricity, solar photovoltai
Determination of Strength Classes of Selected Nigerian Timbers in Accordance with EN338 (2009)
Get PDFWood has several unique, independent properties. The physical and mechanical properties of wood do vary from species to species and even within species due to environmental conditions during growth. In Nigeria, timber is been grade based on permissible stress (NCP) an upgrade to the limit state is required. A laboratory test was carried out to develop the physical and mechanical properties (four-point bending test) of the timber species in accordance with EN 13153-1, ASTM D143 and EN 408. The strength classification of selected timber was performed according to EN 338 using characteristic value of the material properties in accordance with EN384 from the generated physical and mechanical properties, after being adjusted to 12% (Eurocodes reference moisture content). The timber species considered were Tectona grandis and Gmelina arborea. The result showed Tectona grandis had a higher property than Gmelina arborea and the species were assigned to strength classes of D50 and D35 (hardwoods) respectively. The study shows that the selected timber species are suitable for structural purposes.Keywords: Strength classes, Nigerian timber, Four-point bending test, Tectona grandis, Gmelina arbore
Development of an Instrumentation System for a Laboratory Model Food Product Dryer
Get PDFTo achieve optimal dryer performance, the process parameters required for both the optimization and control of the drying process must be made available via the instrumentation system. A few works have been reported on the development of instrumentation systems for handling drying system parameters. Out of which, some are deficient in the number of drying process parameters that can be handled, while others are unreliable and inaccurate. Therefore, there is the need to develop a microcontroller-based instrumentation system that can monitor, measure, control, display and store the main drying process parameters and sample weight with a high degree of reliability and accuracy. In this study, the sensors were selected based on system specifications and interfaced with the microcontroller. The codes for controlling, logging and displaying of drying parameters were developed and installed on the microcontroller. When tested at steady-state conditions, the system yielded satisfactory results with maximum control and detection errors being 2.0% and 1.8% for the temperature and sample weight, respectively. The developed system can be used for efficient computation of both the dry and wet basis sample moisture content values and also detect the set sample weight. Keywords— Dryer, Drying parameters, Instrumentation system, Moisture content, Sensor