Papers by Clifford Nwaeburu
In this research we explored the calorific or heat value of alcohol fuels as well as blends with ... more In this research we explored the calorific or heat value of alcohol fuels as well as blends with kerosene by using both glass and bomb calorimeters comparatively. The calorific values obtained from the combustion of alcohol fuels from glass calorimeter were very much lower than those obtained from bomb calorimeter, as a result of heat loss in glass calorimer. The heat values, obtained by glass calorimeter, of methanol, ethanol, propanol, butanol, and pentanol gave 6.3MJ/Kg, 10.64MJ/Kg, 15.27MJ/Kg, 20.84MJ/Kg, and 22.56MJ/Kg respectively, while the heat values of methanol, ethanol, propanol, butanol, and pentanol, using the bomb calorimeter gave 16.36MJ/kg, 21.6MJ/Kg, 30.75MJ/Kg, 32.13MJ/Kg, and 36.1MJ/Kg respectively. It is observed that the heat value of each blend is greater as the percent of alcohol increases, but as the percent alcohol exceeds the percent kerosene, the heat value starts to decrease. Generally, the heating values of alcohol fuels increase as the carbon atoms increases and the heating values of these alcohol fuels increase as the percent oxygen decreases.
Biodiesel is a monoalkyl esters of long chain fatty acids derived from renewable feedstock like v... more Biodiesel is a monoalkyl esters of long chain fatty acids derived from renewable feedstock like vegetable oils and animal fats. It is produced by transesterification in which oil or fat is reacted with a monohydric alcohol in the presence of a catalyst. In this research, transesterification process was used to convert olive oil and cashew nut oil into biodiesel (methyl ester). The selected material used in the preparation of this biodiesel was methanol, alkaline catalyst (KOH), constant temperature of 70 o C at 1.5hrs, to optimize the experimental conditions for maximum biodiesel yield. The thermodynamic properties of the biodiesel produced such as heat content of the pure biodiesel (B100) and the blends were investigated.
Among the various pollutants which are emitted in the atmosphere, emissions of heavy metals in th... more Among the various pollutants which are emitted in the atmosphere, emissions of heavy metals in the environment pose a new serious trouble to mankind. The main threats to human health from heavy metals are associated with exposure to lead, cadmium, mercury, arsenic and chromium. Chromium and certain chromium compounds are known carcinogens. Long-term exposure of workers to airborne levels of chromium higher than those in the natural environment has been associated with lung cancer. Compounds containing hexavalent chromium -chromium (VI) -is believed to be the major problem when inhaled. In the present investigation an attempt is made to demonstrate the use of activated carbon and sawdust for removal of chromium from the synthetic effluent in batch operation. During the studies, both the adsorbents were found to be effective for chromium removal. The optimum values of adsorbent dose, pH, and initial adsorbate concentration were found. The percentage adsorption was found to be 98 to 99 percent for both the adsorbents. The optimum values of adsorbent dose, pH, initial adsorbate concentration were observed to be 0.2 gram/100 ml, 2 and 10 mg/l respectively and 0.35 gram/100ml, 4 and 10 mg/l respectively for sawdust.
Uploads
Papers by Clifford Nwaeburu