FUTOSpace (Federal Univ. of Technology, Owerri)
Not a member yet
636 research outputs found
Sort by
Effect of project managers' leadership skills and styles of construction project performance
Get PDFThe thesis contains tablesThis study investigated effect of project managers’ leadership skills and styles on the performance of construction projects in Imo State. The objective was to identify and evaluate the leadership skills and styles that affected the performance of the construction projects in the state with a view to examining their level of significance so as to make a meaningful decision. Primary and secondary data were gathered for the study. Primary data was collected from stakeholders in the construction subsector through the use of a well-structured questionnaire while secondary data were collected from projects files, internet and the library. 225 copies of questionnaire were distributed, where 144 copies were returned and subsequently used for analysis. Regression analysis, Relative Importance Index and correlation analysis were carried out on the data. Upon the analysis, the study revealed that transformational leadership style had the most significant effect with a regression coefficient of 0.775 on the performance of those projects evaluated in our study. This was closely followed by participative leadership with regression coefficient of 0.735 and transactional leadership with regression coefficient of 0.654 respectively. Similarly, the revealed that problem solving skills, effective communication skills and professional expertise skills were all significant in affecting performance of construction projects evaluated in Imo State. In line with the findings from the study, it is concluded that there is a strong positive correlation between project managers’ leadership skills and styles and construction project performance in our study population. Drawing from the conclusion, the study recommends that stakeholders in the construction industry should as a matter of urgency ensure that effective project managers’ leadership skills and styles are adopted by project managers in order to achieve good project performance
Nitrogen forms and fertility status of selected floodplain soils in Imo State, South-East Nigeria
Get PDFThe theis is for the award of Master of Science ( M.Sc) in Soil and Environmental ManagementThe study was carried out on a floodplain formed by Otamiri river, Nkesi river and otamiri River, all in Southeastern Nigeria with the aim of determining and studying the Nitrogen Forms and fertility status of some selected soils of the area for optimal management and utilization. The Nitrogen forms are total nitrogen, total organic nitrogen and inorganic nitrogen which consist of Nitrate nitrogen (NO3 - N), Ammonium nitrogen NH4+- N and Nitrite (NO2- N). The soils were derived from coastal plain sands and the corresponding sites were Emeabiam, Ohaji Egbema, and Oguta. Three pedons were dug in each location. A total of 42 soil samples were collected and subjected to routine analysis. Data generated was analyzed statistically using coefficient of variation. They had high sand fraction and clay content. The dominant hues were 5YR and 2YR in Emeabiam, 2Y and 5Y in Ohaji Egbema and 10YR in Oguta. Soil texture varied from sand to loamy sand. Bulk density had means of 1.48 gkg-3 to 1 68 gkg-3 at Emeabiam, 1.17 gkg-3 to 1.25 gkg-3 at Ohaji Egbema, 1.34 gkg-3 to 1.53 gkg-3 at Oguta, The pH (H20) indicated that soils were moderately to slightly acidic with mean values of 5.55 to 6.32 at Emeabiam, 5.74 to 6.14 at Ohaji Egbema and 6.25 to 6.32 in Oguta. Organic carbon were low with mean values that ranged from 0.46% to 0.90 % at Emeabiam, 0.52 % to 0.95 % at Ohaji Egbema, 0.22 % to 0.90 % at Oguta. Organic matter content were low 0.79 % to 1.73 % at Emeabiam, 0.93 % to1.55 % at Ohaji Egbema, 0.36 % to 0.66 % at Oguta. Total Nitrogen content were low in all the pedons with mean values that ranged from 0.08gkg-1 to 0.13gkg-1 at Emeabiam, 0.09 gkg-1 to 0.10gkg-1 at Ohaji Egbema, 0.04gkg-1 to 0.08gkg-1 at Oguta. Available Phosphorous content were generally low with mean values that ranged from 3.46 mg/kg to 10.74 mg/kg at Emeabiam, 4.62 mg/kg to 6.80 mg/kg at Ohaji Egbema, 4.20mg/kg to 4.62mg/kg at Oguta. Effective Cation Exchange Capacity (ECEC)was low to moderate with mean values that ranged from1.06 cmol/kg to 1.68 cmol/kg at Emeabiam, 7.11cmol/kg to 8.83 cmol/kg at Ohaji Egbema, 3.66 cmol/kg to 4.90 cmol/kg at Oguta. Base saturation was high in all the pedons with mean values that ranged from 63.34% to 82.6% at Emeabiam, 74% to 83.6% at Ohaji Egbema, 89% to 93% at Oguta. There was positive correlation between organic carbon and all the nitrogen forms of Emeabiam. Sand correlated positively with TN (r= 0.54*), TON (r =0.51*) and NO3-N (r =0.50*), Available Phosphorous and SCR correlated positively with all the nitrogen forms at Ohaji Egbema, TEA correlated with all the nitrogen forms for Oguta ECEC correlated with NH4 +- N (r = 0.53*), NO3 - N (r =0.52*), TIN (r = 0.53*). Total nitrogen, total organic nitrogen, NO3 - N, NH4 + - N had high mean values in all the locations studied except Nitrate nitrogen at Oguta location that had mean values that ranged from (11.24mg/kg to 17.82mg/kg). This result showed that the soils had low fertility and also needs adequate management for sustainable utilization. The nitrogen forms studied showed that total nitrogen was high in all the locations. Ammonium nitrogen was high with mean values that ranged from 56.7mg/kg to 89.4mg/kg and above the critical limit suitable for crop production. Nitrate nitrogen was moderate at Oguta soils with mean values that ranged from11.24 mg/kgto 17.82 mg/kg. Nitrate for Ohaji Egbema was moderate in Pedon 1 with a mean of 17.44 mg/kg and high in pedon 2 mean 40.76 mg/kg and pedon 3 mean 53.06 mg/kg. nitrite was high with mean values that ranged from 13.58 to 21.40 mg/kg at Emeabiam, 8.02 to 20.92 mg/kg at Ohaji egbema and 7.13 to 7.76 mg/kg at Oguta. inorganic nitrogen was also high with mean values that ranged from97.33 to 149.3 mg/kg at Emeabiam, 55.86 to 127.38 mg/kg at Ohaji Egbema and 43.15 to 60. 52 mg/kg at Oguta
Levels of heavy metals in the blood of electronic technicians in Port Harcourt metropolis, Rivers State
Get PDFA Master's thesis on environmental health and safetyDifferent types of heavy metals used in the production and repairs of electronics, can be found in the blood of those handling these electronics. This study was done to determine the levels of heavy metals in the blood of electronic technicians in Port Harcourt metropolis. The study was aimed at determining specifically the levels of lead (Pb), Mercury (Hg) and Arsenic (As) in the blood of electronic technicians. The study design was experimental as the metals are introduced into the body through their occupation and the population of electronic technician sampled was 40 using the modified Cochran formula, Purposive sampling method was used and 40 volunteers allowed their venous blood to be collected and, analyzed using Atomic Absorption spectro photometry method of analysis. The results revealed that there was statistical significant difference in the mean concentration of these metals [F(2, 117) = 8.243, P = 0.000] and the levels of the metals in the blood was 0.64218 mg/L for lead with the highest concentration, 0.134505 mg/L for mercury with the least and 0.399275 mg/L for Arsenic . It also showed increased bio-accumulation levels for the various metals studied. It shows that there is an accumulation of metals in the blood of technicians and also that the PPE’s used were only nose masks and aprons indicating inhalation and dermal contacts as the commonest exposure route. Proper enlightenment is needed to reduce bio-accumulation of metals in these technicians, Also there should be measures by government on use of PPE’s
Formation evaluation and reservoir properties estimation of hydrocarbon zones in 'AZOH' field onshore Niger Delta
No full textMaster's degree in petroleum/sedimentary geology. It contains maps. diagrams and tables.Formation evaluation of three wells in the "Azoh‘ field, Northern Delta Depobelt, was carried out in this study in order to identify potential prospective pay zones, their potential hydrocarbon fluid content and reservoir quality. An integrated methodology involving the use of well logs, mud logs and core data (sidewall core descriptions and core photos) was adopted to delineate three reservoir sand units, designated D2000, E3100 and F1000 reservoir sands respectively. Reservoir properties including water saturation, effective porosity and net reservoir thickness were computed and used to estimate the volume of in-place hydrocarbons within these reservoirs. In addition, the depositional environments were characterized using gamma ray log shape. Results of the petrophysical analysis revealed that these reservoirs are high quality sands, with estimated average effective porosity values
of 20% for D2000 sand, 30% for E3100 sand and 25% for F1000 sand, respectively, which are within the range for commercial accommodation of hydrocarbon. Generally, the petrophysical characteristics of the reservoirs are good especially at the areas of interest (hydrocarbon zones). This can be attributed to their depositional environment which ranges from distributary mouth bars to shoreface deposits. The volume of shale values for some of the reservoirs are within the limits that could not affect the water saturation, while the water saturation in some zones is appreciably low (1%- 21%), indicating that hydrocarbon production from these reservoirs are likely to be water free. D2000 sand and F1000 sand tested oil in the three wells, while E3100 sand tested gas in the wells. Each of the reservoir sand have an average estimated permeability value of 16.92mD for D2000 sand, 47.80mD for E3100 sand and 28.05mD for F1000 sand respectively, indicating that the reservoirs have good interconnected pores. Estimates of hydrocarbon volumes showed that D2000 and F1000 sands both have 2.9 and 2.4 billion barrels of recoverable oil respectively, while E3100 have 3.1 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas. These results on the whole suggest that the reservoir sand units of ‗Azoh‘ Field contain significant accumulations of hydrocarbon.Department of Geology, FUTO
Optimization of water injectivity and oil recovery through lateral radial drilling into the reservoir
No full textMaster’s thesis on "water injectivity and oil recovery through lateral radial drilling". It contains graphs, pictures, diagrams and tables.The efficiency of water injectivity into the reservoir is greatly reduced by poor reservoir permeability and near well bore damage. However, the aim of this study is to evaluate the possibility of improving oil recovery during water flooding by using radial drilling technique which has the capacity of achieving longer perforation length than the conventional perforation operation. Perforation length up to 100 m (330ft) into the fresh formation beyond damaged zone can be obtained with radial technology. Eclipse simulator, version 100 was used to model the lateral radial drill and conventional perforation into there servoir. The key project indicators that were studied are injectivity index, displacement efficiency,recovery factor and water cut using different radial drill configurations. It was observed that water injectivity was improved with radial drill case with the increasing length and number of radials as compared to the conventional wellbore perforation case. There was aprogressive increase in recovery factor with increase in number radials irrespectiveoftheradial length. Also, the water cut from the producer well was increasing as the number and length of the radials were increasing. Therefore, radial drilling is seemingly apromising technology that can be used to improve water inj ectivity and hence maximize oil recovery in a water flooding scheme
Factors affecting quality assurance of road construction project delivery in South-Eastern Nigeria
No full textThe thesis has tablesThis study focused on factors affecting quality assurance in road construction projects in South-eastern Nigeria. The objectives are to ascertain whether there is any significant deviation between actual quality of road construction projects and quality plan, to identify and analyze the collective and individual effects of the factors affecting of quality assurance in the construction of road projects, to determine the extent to which actual quality assurance of road construction projects correlate with economic development. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), Multiple Regression and Correlation analytical techniques were used to analyze the data collected from 223 respondents through questionnaire administration. The ANOVA result show that there is a significant deviation between the actual quality of road projects and quality plan. The multiple regression result show that political interference is the most significant factor that negatively affect quality assurance in delivery of road projects in Imo State. Contractors’ attitude towards quality standard and bad climatic conditions were not significant factors. However, the correlation analysis shows high level of association between road projects and economic development. Based on this, the study recommends positive political interference geared towards ensuring honesty and transparency in contract awards, proper funding of road projects and policy formulation that will criminalize poor quality performance of projects, especially road construction
Development of models for producing high performance recycled aggregate concrete using extreme vertices design
Get PDFMaster thesis on high performance recycled aggregate concreteThis research utilizes statistical methods to develop models (prediction equations) for various properties of high-performance recycled aggregate concrete. These models are further applied to obtain optimum combinations of the components of high-performance recycled aggregate concrete which include water, cement, silica fume, High range water reducing admixture (HRWRA), natural coarse aggregate, recycled coarse aggregate, and fine aggregate. The properties of the HPC studied are the slump, 1-day compressive strength, and 28-day compressive strength. Mixture experiment approach was employed in this research. A selected reference mixture gave the guide for the selection of upper and lower bounds of the mixture components in terms of volume fractions. A total of 46 experimental runs were planned for the mixture experiment design. Minitab statistical software was employed in the design and analysis of the experiment. The experiment design was based on the extreme vertices design for mixture experiment. The mixture experiment was modeled on the Scheffe’s quadratic polynomial. The numerical optimization procedure based on desirability function methodology was used to obtain the optimum components combinations to simultaneously meet all desired response properties. A confirmation experimental test was carried out using predicted mixture component settings from Minitab’s response optimizer, to verify the predictions from the fitted models. A second approach for testing the model was to randomly remove 3 design points from the 46 design points initially used to fit models. New
models were fitted using the 43 remaining design points and the models were used to predict the three design points that were randomly removed. The two approaches showed that the developed models had high accuracy because they gave predictions which were close to experimental results, and would have been perfectly accurate in an isolated system, i.e. barring all possible sources of error. Results obtained showed that the range of slump is 80 -170(mm), the range of 1-day compressive strength is 14.6 – 26.4(MPa) and that of 28-day compressive strength is 36.2 – 57.4(MPa), and that it would be possible to obtain 28-day compressive strength of upto 45MPa with upto 43% replacement of natural coarse aggregate by recycled coarse aggregate, and a 28-day compressive strength of upto 55MPa is feasible with only 13.3% replacement. The use of recycled aggregates has therefore been
recommended for partial replacement in high performance concrete mixes with expected properties similar to results obtained herein
Soil classification and concentration of selected heavy metals in some soils of the Niger Delta region, Nigeria
Get PDFThis thesis is for the award of Master of Science (MSc.) in Soil Survey and LanduseSome physicochemical characteristics and heavy metal levels in selected spilled and unspilled soils of the Niger Delta region, Nigeria were analysed. A total of three locations were sampled and two profile pits (spilled and unspilled) were dug at each location making a total of six (6) profile pits. Samples were collected from genetic horizons starting from the lowest horizon in each pedon. Conventional analytical methods were employed for the determination of these physico-chemical properties and heavy metals. Data gotten from the laboratory analysis were subjected to simple correlation, coefficient of variability and t-test. Results showed that the consistence of the soils was very friable(Egbem-spilled and unspilled, Oguta unspilled), friable(Oguta spilled and Ugwunagbo spilled) and loose in the epipedons and friable in all subsurface horizon, while the soil structure ranged from very weak fine granular to medium subangular blocky in spilled pedons whereas unspilled pedons were predominantly very fine single grained. There were generally fine and medium roots in the studied soils. The soils were basically Sandy Loam (SL) and Sandy Clay Loam (SCL). The value of sand ranged from 740 - 810 g/Kg. Sand and Silt fractions decreased down the pedons. Low clay characterized the epipedons. The soils were well drained and all soils were deep (> 180cm). Bulk density increased with depth for all pedons and ranged from 1.17 – 1.56 gcm-3 . Spilled pedons had higher bulk densities (1.37 gcm-3 , 1.37 gcm-3 and 1.40 gcm-3 ) than the unspilled pedons (1.33 gcm-3 , 1.30 gcm-3 and 1.33 gcm-3 ).Slight variations (CV 15mg/Kg). It was highly variable (CV>35%) in most pedons. Available Phosphorus was higher in unspilled than spilled soils. Organic Carbon generally decreased with depth. Values of Calcium and Magnesium were higher in unspilled than in spilled soils. Sodium values were generally low and varied for different pedons. Exchangeable Potassium had higher values in unspilled than spilled soils. Ca:Mg ratio was below 3 in (Egbema-spilled and unspilled, Oguta unspilled and Ugwunagbo spilled and unspilled) indicating unfertile soils. Higher values were recorded for ECEC in unspilled soils than in spilled soils. Values of Base saturation were higher in unspilled than spilled soils and showed a significant difference between spilled and unspilled pedons. Aluminum saturation values were low in the studied soils. Heavy metal values decreased down the pedon and were generally higher in spilled than unspilled soils, but they were within the permissible limit for use. Generally, the magnitude of heavy metals followed Ni > Pb > Cd > Cr for spilled soils and Ni>Pb>Cr>Cd for unspilled soils. Though the detected levels of heavy metals in the studied soil were within the permissible limits, caution should be taken to avoid accumulation and toxicity. The soils of Ugwunagbo and Egbema were classified as Typic paleudult - Dystric Nitisol (FAO/WRB). While those of Oguta were classified as Typic tropudult - Orthic Acrisol (FAO/WRB)
Assessment of commercial agriculture development project (CADP) for maize value chain in Nigeria
Get PDFA Doctoral Thesis on "commercial agriculture development project (CADP) for maize value chain". It contains diagrams and tablesThis study assessed the Commercial Agriculture Development Project (CADP) for Maize ValueChain in Nigeria. The specific objectives of the study were to: assess the level of gender involvement and segmentation supported by the project in the targeted value chain; assess the performanceof CADP relative to baseline in terms of Commodity Interest Groups’ (CIGs) technology adequacyanddemographic variables, assess the performance of maize value chain relative to baseline production, processing and sales, estimate the socioeconomic factors of the commodity interest groups that influence the production, processing and sales performance of the targeted value chain; estimatetheinstitutional and socioeconomic factors that af ect the availability of CADP’s matching grant tocommodity interest group in maize value chain; and examine the factors constrainingtheimplementation of CADP along maize value chain. A multi-stage sampling technique was usedintheselection of sample for this study. Data were collected from 360 maize farmers. Data collectedwereanalyzed using descriptive statistics, functional analytical tool, Duncan Dissimilarity Index (DDI), performance index, multivariate regression technique, multivariate probit model and principal component analysis. The result revealed that the male producers had the highest percentage (17%)of capital inadequacy which invariably af ected the rate of returns. The pooled data of the maizeprocessors showed that 59.6% of the respondents were male while 40.4%were female indicatingthat the males were more involved in maize processing than their female counterpart in the studyarea, which is not so in other studies. This could be attributed to the customs and tradition as well asthe insecurity in the study area. The pooled result of the level of dissimilarity index showed that the female actors in the study area dominated in the area of capital disbursed and output. This meansthat 1.21% of capital disbursed and 1.872% of output favored the females than their malecounterparts. This result means that the female actors are more capital adequate and this could bebecause the females are making more ef ort in adding capital from external sources which positivelyafects their output. The result further revealed that value added to maize products can significantly enhance sales performance by 2.98 X 10 -08 . The average total variable costs incurred onmaizeproduction in the study was N283,651.06 while the total revenue realized was N619,447.61whichindicates that maize production is a profitable farm enterprise. The result also showed that thenet farm income of the farmers is significant and positive (0.0001), hence increase in their farmincomewill make them comply with the sharing formula and provide their matching grant as soon as there is need for it in maize value chain activities. There was improvement in the technology adequacyinthe study area: the pooled data showed that the technology adequacy in the base year was 47.7%and 58.3% in the current year. The pooled result further showed that performance in processing and marketing/sales outran the baseline by 104.88% and 120.82% respectively. The Principal Component Analysis (PCA) extracted 6 major factors constraining the implementation of CADP in the value chain namely: delay in fund disbursement, insuficient access to fair market priceinformation, inability to provide percentage requirement for the fund, funding do not obey the sharing, land tenure problem and poor infrastructure (roads, irrigation, poor harvest facilities). The Federal and State government should improve the infrastructural facilities especially theroadnetworks to serve as an incentive to rural farmers to work harder to increase productivity, subsequently increasing income and reducing the length of time products take to get to the final consumers there by reducing spoilage as well as wastage
Sequence Stratigraphic and fault-seal interpretations of reservoir in ' Ikeani' field, coastal swamp depobelt, Niger Delta Nigeria.
Get PDFMaster's thesis in sedimentary/petroleum geology. It contains diagrams, maps and tablesThe aim of this work is to show the spartial distribution of the reservoir architectural elements in “Ikeani” Field, Coastal Swamp depobelt using data from well logs, checkshot,
biostratigraphy and 3D seismic in the evaluation of sequence stratigraphy, structural interpretation, seismic stratigraphy and amplitude extraction. The results of the sequence
stratigraphy delineates the reservoir geometries, stacking patterns, sequences and parasequences. These were directly interpreted sequel to relative sea level fluctuations and
sediments infills. It is observed that the reservoir qualities varies by virtue of the sequences (Highstand Systems Tract, Transgressive Systems Tract and Lowstand Systems Tract). The
HSTs as seen in this study have clean and better developed sand reservoirs. They are generally aggradational to progradational. The TST‟s are dirty towards the top and are mostly
retrogradational channels terminating up dip at the Maximum Flooding Surfaces (MFS). These MFS‟s considering their good thickness are likely good top seals to the TST reservoirs.
The LSTs are mainly progradational with intercalations of sand and shales typical of prograding wedge deposits, slope deposit and basin floor fan deposits. Fault truncations as
interpreted in this research, caused different reservoir closures. However, some other faults as seen in this study has penetrated some stacking geometries of reservoirs resulting to faulted out (missing section typical of C7000 Reservoir) and fault cut (short section typical of C6000) depicting non-testing of hydrocarbon in some wells such as C7000_reservior which could not be penetrated by Ikeani Well 7. Also, hydrocarbon accumulations as delimited at reservoir intervals using both well logs and seismic are complemented with the associated depo environment as interpreted in this study. However, non-faulted or four-way dip closure of a reservoir is also seen in this study. This is typical of C13000. The study adopted seismic stratigraphy to delineate the reflection configurations and patterns such as the divergent and sub-parallel seismic configurations connoting different/fluctuations of depositional environment. These were then complemented with Root Mean Square Amplitude extraction to display the diverse intermingled barrier channel truncated reservoir deposits. The sealing capacity of the reservoir is demonstrated within the fault surface utilizing the Shale Gouge Ratio (SGR) as the sealing parameter – attributing its rock components as stratigraphic juxtapositions, catalasis and influential across fault pressure as the capillary pressure. This disclosed that faults forming closures at studied reservoir levels had over 60% SGR and as such caused good sealing in C6000 reservoir by impeding further oil migration as well as being supported and capped with over 70% Volume of Shale as the top seal rock.Department of Petroleum Geology, FUTO