LAUTECH Journal of Engineering and Technology (LAUJET)
Not a member yet
571 research outputs found
Sort by
A PREDICTIVE MODEL FOR ESTIMATING PETROLEUM CONSUMPTION USING MACHINE LEARNING APPROACH
Get PDFThis study is focused on predicting the consumption of Petroleum (Thousands of Barrels per year) in Nigeria. Autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA), Linear Regression (LR) and Random Forest Regression (RFR) models were fitted to predict the consumption of Petroleum. The prediction accuracy of these models was evaluated using Root Mean Square Error (RMSE), Mean Absolute Error (MAE), Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE) and Coefficient of determination (R^2 ) metrics. The Petroleum dataset spanned a period of 37 years (1980-2017) and it was spilted into train and test at the ratio of 70:30 respectively to reduce overfitting. The result obtained revealed that the two machine learning models: LR and RFR outperformed the ARIMA model with lower values of prediction accuracy in terms of MAE, MAPE, RMSE and
COMPARATIVES STUDY ON THE EFFECT OF WET AND DRY SUBSTRATES ON BIOGAS YIELD
Get PDFThe objective of this study is to compare the use ofwetanddry wastes as substrates for anaerobic digestion and its effect on biogas yield.Different quantities of substrates and co-substrates (wet and dried) were weighed and mixed vigorously with corresponding quantity of distilled water to form the fermentation slurry in the digesters; the digesters were operated at 45°C in batch anaerobic digesters for 25 days. The results showed that the average volume of biogas obtained from the dried animal wastes co-digested with dried fruit wastes and wet animal wastes co-digested with wet fruit wastes was found to be 0.2928 kg and 0.0972 kg per day respectively. When the fermentation process was performed with dried animal wastes only and wet animal wastes only the value of the average volume of biogas obtained were calculated to be 0.1508 and 0.0892 kg per day respectively. Thus biogas yield using dried substrates comparatively gave a better biogas yield than wet substrates. In conclusion, the use of dried wastes for biogas production suggests superior energy recovery, saving resources and engineering investment as compared to the use of wet wastes as substrates
EVALUATION OF LEVEL OF PARTICIPATION OF INDIGENOUS CONTRACTORS IN A TYPICAL STATE IN NIGERIA BETWEEN 2000 AND 2010
No full textThis work assesses the level of participation of indigenous contractors in developmental construction projects in Nigeria and compares it with that of their foreign counterparts; it also examines the factors responsible for the low level performance by indigenous firms. The work revealed that indigenous contractors were being limited to low developmental projects in terms of contract value while foreign contractors were being awarded contract with higher contract value. Questionnaire was administered on 15 indigenous contractors and 5 foreign contractors but due to their nonchalant attitude, only 12 questionnaires were collected back all together which assisted in providing some basic information such as number of contract awarded, year of award etc. These data were analysed, then bar chart (representing the number of contracts awarded to both indigenous and foreign contractors in different years within the period considered) and the graphs (of cumulative values of contract) were plotted. All these showed that, indigenous contractors were awarded about 86% the total number of contract awarded between 2000 and 2010 while foreign contractors were awarded 14% of the total number of contracts within the period considered. Total contract of about 029.22 billion was awarded within the period considered and of which indigenous contractors were awarded 53.48% of the total value while the foreign contractors were 46.52% of the total value. Comparing the percentage of contract awarded to both local and foreign contract in terms of number of contract awarded, it can be deduced that the difference is remarkably wide in favor of indigenous contractors while the percentage of contract awarded in terms of value to both is somewhat close to each other despite the great difference in the number of contract awarded. It then means that on the average, foreign contractors were being awarded contracts with larger contract values. Coefficient of determination (R2) was used to determine the relationship between contract values of both indigenous and foreign contractors and consequently the regression values point to the fact that the contract value – year characteristics for both foreign and indigenous contractors could only account for 20.5% and 13.6% of the variability respectively
GEOSPATIAL ANALYSIS AND MAPPING OF ANNUAL WEATHER VARIATION EFFECT ON SORGHUM YIELD
Get PDFAgricultural production in Nigeria like other developing countries is highly vulnerable to climate variability. Taking the effect of weather variability on the yield of sorghum into consideration and the difficulties attached to it, there is the need for an integrated method of the GIS modeling system to allow agricultural producers as well as policymakers to know the impact of spatial-temporal variation of weather on sorghum yield for better profitability, management and productivity. The study analyzed rainfall and temperature variations with sorghum yield data covering the period of 1991-2012 in seven states in North Central Nigeria namely Benue, Kogi, Kwara, Nasarawa, Niger, Plateau State and The Federal Capital Territory Abuja. Data on sorghum yield, rainfall and temperature cover only 22 years. This study used GIS (geographical information system) to examine the impacts of temperature and rainfall variation on the production of sorghum in North Central Nigeria. The results revealed that sorghum production correlated highly with rainfall amount, climatic variables examined have the impact to a certain limit on the selected crop yield in the study area. The GIS revealed that sorghum production and yield could be explained by the climatic variables examined. Nasarawa State recorded the highest correlation with a value of 1.59 and Niger state had the lowest correlation with an average value of -0.27 the highest record of rainfall occurred in 1993 with the volume of 1930.4 cm with the highest temperature in 2005 reading 68?C. The implication of the findings for sustainable agricultural development is discussed in the concluding part
BRIDGING THE DISTANCE IN OPEN AND DISTANCE LEARNING: DEVELOPING STUDENT-STUDENT AND STUDENT-LECTURER COLLABORATIVE FORUM
Get PDFThe internet has been a platform for individuals, groups of people and companies to interact with one another through the social media. The social media has truly aided interaction in academic settings and services through social networks, forums, blogs, among others. Forums are now been used as tools/platforms to create discussions, connect to people (mostly of similar interests) and as sources of relevant information. This work intends to make use of forums as tools in helping NOUN students to simplify their studies considering the peculiarity of the program. Based on an in-depth review of some relevant literatures, some key requirements have been considered in the development of the application. The app has been developed and tested against the objective. The system was implemented using MYSQL database, hypertext pre-processor (PHP), JavaScript and apache server. The methodology employed was Object-oriented analysis and design (OOAD). The developed system is user friendly and was designed with student, lecturers, and admin interfaces to assist users interact using friendly interfaces. The implication for students is the provision of a platform for student – student, student – lecturers and student to management interactions. Other implications for the ODL institution, the government are discussed
COST-EFFECTIVE RASPBERRY PI BASED SURVEILLANCE SYSTEM USING INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY
Get PDFHome security is paramount. Criminals break into houses and cart away valuables and sometimes injure/kill the property owners. Though the existing home security system is effective however it is not affordable to the majority. Thus, due to the high cost of CCTV or IP camera systems alike, there is a need to develop a cost-effective surveillance system using innovative technology. This study develops and builds a prototype of a low-cost security system based on Raspberry Pi microcomputer. The Raspberry Pi will interface with Pi camera without interfacing the device with a PIR sensor, remotely send an email to a prescribed mail hub and also send SMS alert to the facility owner and or security agency
GEOTECHNICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF LATERITIC SOILS IN PARTS OF EJIGBO LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, SOUTHWESTERN NIGERIA
No full textLateritic soils deposits over quartzites in Ejogbo Local Government Area, Southernwestern Nigeria have been characterized in terms of geotechnical and engineering properties.
Ten lateritic soil samples were collected in test pits and were subjected to the following laboratory tests: natural moisture content, grain size analysis, atterberg limits, compressive strength and compaction in accordance with the procedures of the British Standard 1377 of (1990).
The result of specific gravity ranged from 2.58 to 2.70. The grain size analysis result showed that percentage passing No. 200 (75mm) ranged between 10 and 33%. The liquid, plastic limit and plasti
FORECAST PERFORMANCE OF UNIVARIATE TIME SERIES AND ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORK MODELS
Get PDFIn this paper, the better model for forecasting Nigeria monthly Precipitation time series data that exhibit seasonal, periodic variations and non-linearity is determined. The models considered are Seasonal Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (SARIMA), Fourier Autoregressive (FAR) and Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) models. The accuracy of the out-sample forecast of the model considered was measured based on the following forecast evaluations sum of square error (SSE), Mean square error (MSE) and Root mean square error RMSE. From the results, the FAR model forecast was better than that of SARIMA model based on the values of the forecast evaluations when seasonal and period in the series is considered and ANN model forecast was better that both FAR and SARIMA when the non-linear nature of the precipitation is considered. In conclusion, the FAR model is the most appropriate model for forecasting seasonal and periodic variations while the ANN model is the most suitable model for forecasting non-linearity in Nigeria monthly precipitation time series dat
EFFECTS OF PRETREATMENT ON BIOBUTANOL YIELDS FROM RICE-BRAN AND DEOILED RICE-BRAN PROCESSED WITH Clostridium saccharoperbutylacetonicum N1-4
Get PDFAcid and enzymatic pre-treatment of selected lignocellulosic materials [Rice Bran (RB) and Deoiled Rice Bran (DRB)] were conducted to facilitate the release of simple sugars for fermentation process leading to biofuel production. In this study, an innovative approach involving the use of acids to breakdown the complex lingo-cellulosic structure of RB and DRB was utilised. In addition, RB and DRB samples were subjected to physical (heat treatment) and enzymatic treatments, sequentially; in order to improve the amount of simple sugar available as substrate in a microorganism assisted fermentation process. The released sugar from the various treatment regimes were subjected to fermentation process. The highest total fermentable sugar obtained from the Trichloroacetic Acid (TCA), HCl and H2SO4 treated hydrolysate were 33.07 g L-1, 27.14 g L-1 and 31.93 g L-1 for treated hydrolysates, respectively. DRB samples showed a higher total sugar yields and fermentation products than RB samples. The highest butanol yield obtained from the TCA, HCl and H2SO4 treated hydrolysate were 8.66 g L-1, 5.32 g L -1 and 7.86 g L-1, respectively, after fermentation. The Acetone-Butanol-Ethanol (ABE) yield and productivity of the TCA, HCl and H2SO4 treated DRB hydrolysates were 0.47 g/g and 0.1g L-1 h-1, 0.32g/g, and 0.07 g L-1 h-1 as well as 0.42 g/g, and 0.08 g L-1 h-1, respectively. (This is consistent with Table 1) The high ABE yield and productivity values suggest that TCA is a good novel pre-treatment agent for biomass fermentation
DEVELOPMENT OF MICROCONTROLLER - BASED STORAGE CHAMBER FOR WATERMELON FRUITS (CITRULLUS LANATUS) GROWN IN NIGERIA
Get PDFWatermelon fruits rapidly deteriorate after harvest because of its short shelf life of about 10 days, after which it loses its nutritional value. Hence, the development of a microcontroller based storage chamber for watermelon fruits. The chamber is a combination of the cooling, power supply, microcontroller circuit, and sensors units for controlling the atmospheric parameters. The storage chamber was designed to keep the atmospheric conditions at temperature of 10-15, relative humidity at 90%, oxygen and carbon dioxide concentrations at 2% and 3% respectively. The chamber with an area of 1456cm2 and a height of 41cm was designed to store 20kg of water melon. The cooling unit incorporated a compressor of 0.1hp. An ATmega328P microcontroller programmed in C++ was developed with the Isis Proteus software for the design and simulation. The microcontroller was interfaced with the DHT11 sensor, valves, power supply and a liquid crystal display. Cooling test was carried out on the system and a temperature of 1oC and humidity of 90% was recorded at a time of 55 minutes. An average voltage of 4.07V was measured at the microcontroller interface with the sensor when temperature and humidity level were 12 and 90% respectively. Tests were carried out on the system and the result was a controlled environment characterized by temperature of range 10oC -150C and 90% relative humidity. The relationship between temperature and humidity with time and output voltage respectively were determined using Matlab software. The results showed that the chamber will increase the shelf life of watermelon fruit