Agric & Bioresources Engineering
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Agric & Bioresources Engineering
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Item Design, Construction and Performance Evaluation of a Rice Winnowing Machine.(2013) Balami, A. A.; Fadiji, S. T.; Suleiman, A.; Simeon, Meshack Imologie; Muhammad, I. A.; Hussani, M. S; Mshelia, Z. A.Item Determination of the Suitability of Urine as Substrate in a Power Generating Soil Microbial Fuel Cell(2016-08-18) Simeon, Meshack Imologie; Raji O. A.; Musa J. J.; Kuti I.Urine has been identified as a suitable substrate in Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs). However, its possible utilization in a soil-based Membrane-less Single Chamber Microbial Fuel Cell (MSCMFC) has, hitherto, not been reported. This study used the mud-watt MFC vessel inoculated with mud prepared from topsoil, and was operated across seven external loads for 19 days (456 hours) without adding any substrate to the soil. Urine was fed into the cell in four durations of time, after the MFC output stabilized. For comparison, a fresh setup (control MFC) was made and operated under the same conditions of temperature (27+3°C), but without the addition of urine. The performances of the MFCs were examined over seven external loads of resistance: 4670 , 2190 , 1000 , 470 , 220 , 100 , and 47 . The Urine-treated MFC and the control MFC both produced an initial peak power output of 5.62μW. Both MFCs produced close values of power outputs up to the point of adding urine. At the final stage, the peak power output of the MFC treated with urine was 246.77μW; whereas the corresponding values for the control MFC were 0.007μW. This study showed that fresh (untreated) human urine can be successfully utilized as fuel in a soil-based MFC for the production of electrical energy for varied external loads.Item Comparative study of BQ2557 and LTC3108 as efficient ultra-low bioelectricity harvesters from soil microbes using microbial fuel cells.(IEC, 2023-03-23) Simeon, Meshack Imologie; Mohammed, A. S; Freitag, R.Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are attractive bio-electrochemical transducers that can convert waste and organic substrates into usable energy through the metabolic activity of electroactive microbes. However, the power generated by MFCs is relatively low compared to other types of fuel cells. This poses a serious problem for the practical application of MFCs. Commercially available voltage boosters are not suitable for use with MFCs due to the low current capacity of the MFCs. Therefore, special amplifiers are needed to boost the power of MFCs. In this study, two ultra-low harvesters (BQ25570 and LTC 3108) were configured and tested for their efficiency in extracting usable energy from soil MFCs. The result showed that the BQ could harvest bioelectricity from three MFCs connected in series to charge a 0.22 F supercapacitor up to 3.5 volts, which in turn was used to power a light-emitting diode (LED). The LTC, on the other hand, boosted the voltage of a single MFC from 0.72 V to 3.3 V. The increased voltage was used directly to supply a white LED operating at a constant voltage of 2.5 V. The voltage at the LED remained constant even when the MFC voltage dropped to 20 mV. These results demonstrated the potential of soil microbes to generate free energy that can be harvested, amplified and used for practical applications. Compared to the BQ, the LTC performed better with the soil MFC, boosting the voltage of a single MFC unit to a usable level without the need for a battery or supercapacitor.Item Influence of Electrodes Spacing on the Maximum Power of a Soil Microbial Fuel Cell Based on Stainless-Steel-Nanocarbon Composite Electrodes.(ISMET, 2021-10-09) Simeon, Meshack Imologie; Freitag, RuthThe electrical output of microbial fuel cells (MFCs) is unstable due to the natural activities of the electroactive bacteria involved. To sustain the maximum performance of MFCs, an optimization of the architectural aspect is necessary with special consideration of electrode materials, electrode spacing, and substrate availability. This study was conducted with three single-chamber soil MFCs having different electrode spacings (2, 5 and 8 cm) and electrodes made of stainless-steel mesh with activated carbon catalyst layers to investigate the influence of the electrode spacings on the sustainability of the Maximum Power Point (MPP) of a soil MFC with synthetic urine medium (SUM) as substrate. The MFCs using mud from active soil were polarized every three days until the MPP was reached and then refueled with SUM every 6 days during a 90-day operating period. During the initial treatments, the maximum power was inversely proportional to the anode-cathode distance. However, this trend could not be maintained during continuous treatments, as the optimum performance was achieved with an electrode spacing of 5 cm. At 2 cm, 5 cm, and 8 cm electrode spacing, the maximum power and the open-circuit voltage were 695.67 + 36.0041 µW and 779.71 ±13.698 mV for 18 days, 517.66 ± 30.4 µW and 804.8 ±12.01 mV for 66 days, and 474.9 ± 45.3 µW and 757.49 ±11.488 mV for 54 days, respectively. During continuous treatment, the internal resistances of the MFCs decreased by 34.30, 28.2, and 41.87 %, respectively, due to an increase in electrolyte conductivity. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy of the MFCs showed that the treatment had a more significant effect on electrolyte resistance than charge transfer resistance. These results showed that optimal cathode-anode spacing ensures substrate availability at the electrodes to maintain bacterial metabolism, resulting in stable performance of an MFC over a reasonably long period.Item Evaluation of the Electrical Performance of a Soil-Type Microbial Fuel Cell Treated with a Substrate at Different Electrode Spacings(Proceedings of ICEESEN2020, 2020-11-21) Simeon, Meshack Imologie; Imoize, Agbotiname L.; Freitag, RuthThe effect of electrode spacing on the performance of a microbial fuel cell (MFC) under batch treatment with a substrate was investigated with three single-chamber MFCs built with biologically active soil. The electrodes consisted of a stainless-steel mesh with layers of activated carbon catalyst. The MFCs were fed with artificial urine after reaching a stationary phase. After the initial treatment, the cell with the smallest electrode gap produced the maximum peak power under polarization. At 2 cm, 5 cm and 8 cm electrode spacing, the maximum power was 726.2 µW, 547 µW, and 520.3, respectively; while the average power of the MFCs from the first point of treatment with substrate to the last point was 297 + 259.2, 505.43+ 42.5, and 433.81+ 64, respectively. A significant decrease in internal resistance of the MFCs was observed during batch treatment. The impedance analysis of the MFCs showed that the reduction in internal resistance was largely due to a significant decrease in ohmic resistance compared to the charge transfer resistance.Item Comparative evaluation of the performance of a capacitive and a non-capacitive microbial fuel cell(IEEE, 2021-03-25) Simeon, Meshack Imologie; A. L. Imoize; Freitag, RuthElectrode materials play a critical role in the performance of microbial fuel cells. This study investigates the contribution of capacitive bio-electrodes to sustainable power production in a single-chamber microbial fuel cell (MFC). The capacitive electrodes consisted of a stainless-steel wire mesh with an activated carbon layer, while the non-capacitive control electrodes were made of graphite felt with a wound current collector. The MFCs were constructed using a glass vessel with the anode completely buried in biologically active soil and the cathode placed above the soil to form a single-chamber configuration. The performance of the MFCs was investigated using linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The results showed that the performance of the capacitive MFC was three times better than that of the non-capacitive MFC. While there was no significant difference in the Ohmic resistances of the MFCs, there was a significant difference in charge transfer resistance and capacitance of the MFCs. The capacitive MFC had a double layer capacitance of 8.282 µF in addition to the diffuse layer capacitance at the layer/metal interface of 2.012 F, while the non-capacitive MFC had a double layer capacitance of 5.034 µF with no diffuse layer capacitance. The results show that the capacitive characteristics of both cathode and anode improve the performance of a single-chamber MFC.Item Optimization of soil microbial fuel cell: influence of feeding duration, electrode factors and diversity factor of uncontrolled mixed microbial communities(international Society for microbial Electrochemistry amd Technology-ISMET8, 2022-09-19) Simeon, Meshack Imologie; Freitag, RuthThe electrochemical performance of the microbial fuel cell (MFC) depends not only on the operational and design parameters, but also on biological factors (Gadkari et al., 2019). Therefore, optimization studies that incorporate the interactive effects of the main influencing factors and the contributions of the biological factor would improve the understanding of the improvement strategies needed to advance the application of MFCs in the real world. While single-factor experiments are simple and less expensive to conduct, the reproducibility of the results of such experiments cannot be established with a high degree of confidence, especially in a complex system such as MFC. In this study, the feeding duration (4, 6 and 8 days), electrode material (carbon felt (CF) and modified stainless steel mesh (SM)), and electrode spacing (2, 4 and 8 cm) were integrated into a single design to optimize the performance of Soil MFC for stable and useful bioelectricity. The binder component of the SM was further optimized with four polymeric binders (epoxy, PVA, PVDF, and PTFE) and a new method - pasting and reinforcement (Simeon et al., 2022). PCR amplification and sequencing of 16S rDNA fragments were performed on the genomic DNA extracted from the MFCs, and bioinformatics analysis was performed using the QIIME2 microbiome analysis package. The results showed that the SM with a surface modified by conductive carbon black and epoxy binder exhibited superior performance in all experimental phases and achieved a maximum power three times higher than the CF at an electrode spacing of 4 cm and a feeding duration of 8 days. PVDF produced the highest current under real-time external loading, while epoxy produced the highest and most sustained power of 487.15 + 9.5 mW/m2 under linear polarization. Bioinformatic analysis revealed a wide bacterial diversity, with the most abundant phyla belonging to Proteobacteria (30-35%), Acidobacteriota (10-13%), Actinobacteriota (4-14%), Chloroflexi (6-9 %), Bacteroidota (3-9%), firmicutes (3-6%). Complex diversity in composition and abundance was observed mainly between the anode and cathode and between sampling time points, but no statistically significant difference was observed between the two electrode materials. This study indicates that the electrode material has the greatest influence on the sustainability and extent of bioelectricity capacity of a soil microbial fuel cell. Therefore, an increased focus on improving the electrode material would be a step in the right direction to position SMFCs as viable energy systems that can compete with the other established bio-electrochemical systemsItem Design, Fabrication and Testing of a Tractor Drawn Soybean Planter(FUW Trends in Science & Technology Journal, 2017-04) Agidi, Gbabo; Andrew, I.; Simeon, Meshack ImologieA tractor drawn Soybean drum planter was designed, fabricated and tested in the DESFABENG Company Limited, Bida, Niger State. The project was undertaken because most of the imported planters usually have maintenance and repair problems in addition to high costs of procurement that are not affordable to an average farmer. The major components of the developed planter are three drums with predetermined hole sizes at the exterior ends, a central rectangular shaft, spring soil openers, roller soil coverers, tractor hitching points, two wheels, and power transmission mechanism, and a frame. All these components were fabricated with locally available materials. Using three test speeds, the planter was preliminarily assessed for seed rate, soil opening, covering, and germination efficiencies. Results obtained indicate that desirable seed rate values of 47.7 and 61.2 kg/ha were observed for tractor/implement speeds of 20 and 16 km/hr, respectively. The highest germination efficiency of the planter was 81.3% at a tractor/implement speed of 16 km/hr with a corresponding soil opening efficiency of 94%.Item Aerodynamic and Thermal Properties of Melon (Citrullus Lanatus) Seeds Under Varying Drying Temperature for Separation from Shells and Processing(ARID ZONE JOURNAL OF ENGINEERING, TECHNOLOGY & ENVIRONMENT, 2018-12) Asoiro Felix; Simeon, Meshack Imologie; I. C. EzugwuItem Optimisation Of The Production Parameters Of Delonix Regia Methyl Ester Using Box Behnken Design(INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SCIENTIFIC & TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH, 2019-09-09) Adejumo, B. A.; Agboola, J. B.; Orhevba, B. A.; Obasa, P. A.; Simeon, Meshack ImologieThe optimisation of the production parameters of Delonix regia ester was carried out to establish the parameters for the production of optimum methyl ester yield from Delonix regia seed oil. The effects of reaction temperature, reaction time, alcohol: oil molar ratio, and catalyst concentration as well as their interaction effects on the yield of methyl ester, were investigated using the response surface methodology Box-Behnken design. Data obtained were analyzed statistically using Design expect 9.0 statistical package to determine the response model, surface respond anal ysis of variance (ANOVA). The data collected from optimization of the reaction process was fitted to a model. The results showe d that the percentage yield in term of reaction temperature, time, molar ratio, concentration and interaction terms of reaction tem perature and reaction time were significant (p ≤ 0.05) while the lack of fit F value for the Delonix regia methyl ester yield response showed that it was not significant ( p ≤ 0.05) relative to the pure error. This indicates that all the models predicted for methyl ester yield response were adequate. Regression models for data on response methyl ester yield were significant ( p ≤ 0.05) with a satisfactory R 2 value of 0.829. The boundaries of the design intergalactic of methyl ester yield have the lowest value at 72 % within the process range of 40 0 C to 56 0 C for Temperature, 30 to 53 minutes for Reaction time, for all production processes while the highest of 90.21 % with the process boundary range of 55 to 60 0 C for A: Temperature, 40 to 60 minutes reaction ti me. The optimization solution gave the process conditions for each process factor at the highest desirability prediction of 0.642 as the best reaction temperature of 53.20 0 C and the reaction time of 60 minutes, alcohol: oil molar ratio of 2:1, and catalyst concentration of 0.69% when the set goal is based on the physic thermal properties of produced methyl ester.