Mechanical Engineering Research Papers/Topics

Extrusion cooking on pasting properties and relative viscosity of selected starch crops

AbstractRheological properties of food are very important indicators of the quality and texture of food products. In this study, the relative viscosity and pasting characteristics (cold and hot paste viscosity) of extrudates from a locally developed extruder (L/D 12:1, CR 4.4:1, 4 KW) were determined. The extrudates were processed from the flour and starch of cassava and maize and wheat flour. Stepwise regression and other follow up tests were employed to a factorial experiment in completely ...

Evaluation of a Small Hydro/Photovoltaic Hybrid System Potential for Electricity Generation for Federal University of Technology, Owerri

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1 Background of the Study 1 Statement of the Problem 6 Objectives of the Study 7 Justification for the Study 8 Scope and Limitations of the Work 9 Scope 9 Limitations 9 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW 10 2.1 Small Hydropower Systems 10 2.1.1  Types of Hydroelectricity Generation 13 2.1.1.1 Conventional Hydroelectricity 13 2.1.1.2 Run-of-the-river Hydroelectricity 14 2.1.1.3 Pumped-storage Hydrelectricity 15 2.1.1.4 Tidal Hydroelectricity 15 2...

Optimization of Cutting Parameters in Turning Operation of EN24 Steel with Minimum Lubrication

ABSTRACT This experimental study optimized the cutting parameters (depth of cut, feed rate, spindle speed) in turning EN24 steel (0.4% C) with hardness 40+2 HRC. In this, turning operation were carried out on EN24 steel by carbide P-30 cutting tool with minimum lubrication and the combination of the optimal levels of the parameters was obtained. In order to study the performance characteristics in turning operation, Taguchi method (consisting of the Signal-to-Noise Ratio (S-N Ratio) and A...

Experimental Study of Passive Cooling of a Building Using Long-Wave Night Sky Radiation in Owerri, Nigeria KY RADIATION IN OWERRI, NIGERIA

ABSTRACT An experimental study of the passive cooling of a building using longwave night sky radiation in Owerri, Nigeria is presented. The experimental rig consists of a standard (3.0 x 3.0 x 2.5m) room, flat plate sky radiator, heat exchanger, storage tank, water pump, interconnecting pipes and another standard room to act as control for the experiment. This test rig is a rectangular building made from 15.24cm hollow blocks. It has two windows located in the east and the south facing wa...

Appraisal of Industrial Accidents and Their Effects on Profitability (A Case Study of Two Manufacturing Companies)

ABSTRACT Appraisal of industrial accidents and their effects on profitability are presented. Two manufacturing companies, The Nigerian Bottling company, Owerri, and the Nigerian Breweries, Aba were selected for the study which covered a period of three business years (2011–2013). Data collection was through administration of questionnaires and personal interviews of some strategic staff of the Companies. The data were analyzed using Mean Percentage Method. The results showed that th...

Modeling And Evaluation Of A Passive Flat-Plate Solar Collector

ABSTRACT This work investigated the variation of top loss heat transfer coefficient with the emittance of the absorber plate, the collector tilt angle and air gap spacing between the absorber plate and the cover plate. The effects of the emittance of the absorber plate, the collector tilt angle and air gap spacing between the plate and the cover on the collector performance were also considered. Data collected from the thermosyphon solar water heater constructed by the National Centre for En...

Experimental and Numerical Study of Multi Hole Extrusion Process: A Comparative Study

ABSTRACT When comparing with other manufacturing technologies, the extrusion technology always stands out as it is known to be highly efficient in terms of producing products of superior quality with the least possible amount of wastage. With the ever-increasing cost of materials, energy and the competition in the market, it becomes almost necessary to device a model with the minimum number of trials and shortest lead time. A multi-hole extrusion process was hence devised to serve the above n...

Development of a Savonius Vertical Axis Wind Turbine

Wind energy is abundant, inexhaustible, affordable, environmentally preferable, and equally sustainable. More researches are emerging in the analysis of wind energy in Nigeria and each have proven that great potential exist for wind power generation in Nigeria but sufficient results is yet to be achieved in terms of application. The present research is intended to apply the technology of wind energy for pumping of water in rural Nigeria. To achieve this, a Savonius vertical axis wind turbine ...

PREDICTION AND OPTIMIZATION OF EN8 MILD STEEL MATERIAL

The demand for EN8 mild steel in the industry is high due to its integral mechanical properties. However, conventional machining of EN8 mild steel is a challenging task. In this research work, prediction and optimization of EN8 mild steel Material Removal Rate (MRR) and Surface Roughness (Ra) using Response Surface Methodology (R.S. M) were investigated. The dimension of the EN8 mild steel material was 0.12 m diameter and 0.08 m in length. The turning operation of the ENS mild steel was carri...

The benefits of using solar energy as an alternative means of cheaper energy source.

Solar energy is the energy that is in sunlight. It has been used for thousands of years inmany different ways by people all over the world. As well as its traditional human usesin heating, cooking, and drying, it is used today to make electricity where other powersupplies are absent, such as in remote places and in space. It is becoming cheaper to makeelectricity from solar energy and in many situations it is now competitive with energyfrom coal or oil. A solar cooker can be used for cooking ...

The Design and Fabrication of a used Polyethylene

In this paper, the design and fabrication of a Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) bottle recycling machine was undertaken. It was designed to wash a set of two (2) 75cl used PET bottles in 10 seconds. The washing, rinsing and sterilizing chambers were made of stainless steel. The rotational wash brushes were made of plastic bristles, and the machine runs on a single phase electric motor with a washing speed of 470 rpm. After fabrication and testing, results obtained showed a set of two (2) 75cl...

Performance Evaluation of Biomass Briquette from Elephant and Spear grass in Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria

This research work is aimed at the performance evaluation of biomass briquette from elephant and spear grass in Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria. The grasses were dried, pulverized and compressed by the briquetting machine to produce the briquettes. The performance evaluation shown that elephant and spear grass briquettes had a good compressive strength between 2.0N/mm2 and 1.2N/mm2; ash content (5.18% and 6.13%) and calorific values (15013.9KJ/Kg and 15990.0KJ/Kg) respectively. The briquettes ...

Performance Evaluation of a Developed Multipurpose Solar Dryer

Post-harvest losses in developing countries have contributed to the unavailability of foodstuff. Estimation of these losses is generally cited to be of the order of 4% but under very adverse conditions, it is estimated as high as 100%. A significant percentage of these losses are related to improper and/or untimely preservation of foodstuffs. This research work is therefore aimed at developing a multipurpose solar dryer. The solar dryer consists mainly of solar collector and dryer chamber com...

Pure Pursuit Algorithm and Autonomous Driving

Pure Pursuit Algorithm is a commonly used path-tracking algorithm that in autonomous driving applications determines the steering rate necessary for the vehicle to stay on track. The aim of the project is to set up a simulation of a moving UGV and experiment with different mathematical solutions to improve the existing technology, making it suitable for a wider spectrum of applications. The main result produced by this research is a Modified Follow the Carrot Algorithm capable of high accurac...

DEVELOPMENT OF A FLAT PLATE SOLAR STORE

ABSTRACT The fabrication of the solar dryer was successful and test were carried out for various performance comparisons such as No-load and Load performance of the dryer and direct sun drying comparison and noticeable differences was noticed in the final moisture content such that the maximum temperature recorded in the drying chamber and solar collector for No-load are 44.5 and 52 respectively and also for when the cabinet is loaded the above stated temperatures are 66 and 76.5 for a highes...


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