International Journal of Engineering Research in Africa最新文献

{"title":"Recovery of Flared Natural Gas with High CO2 Content Using SOFC CHP System: Feasibility Study for Neem-Field, Sudan","authors":"Mohammed I. Bargo","doi":"10.4028/p-E7ehFB","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4028/p-E7ehFB","url":null,"abstract":"Flared natural gas emissions are one of the main sources of environmental pollution and global warming. To recover this gas, the presence of impurities like CO2 in high concentrations forces oil producers to escape from investing in such intensive processing. Several implementations of no flaring methods have been reported in the literature, however, there have been limited concerning the bulk-CO2 natural gases. This research developed an innovative idea for the use of the SOFC CHP system to recover flared bulk-CO2 associated gas of Neem-Field in Western Sudan. The exergy of the system and the performance of the SOFCs are investigated in this paper, in addition to environmental and economic analysis. The simulation (Cycle-Tempo©) results demonstrate that the proposed system can generate 1 MW electrical power and 0.068 MW thermal energy with efficiency approached 43.3% (based on LHV). The exergy analysis showed that 38% of system losses occurred in the air preheaters. Instead of conventional gas-burning, recovering the flared gas reduced the equivalent CO2 GHGs emissions by 80%. Overall, the novel solution found to be environmentally friendly, and economically appealing with a total capital investment estimated to be US$1.175 million and a cost of electricity (COE) of 4.07 cents per kWh.","PeriodicalId":45925,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Engineering Research in Africa","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2023-12-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139175772","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Optimization of the Impact of Dune Sand, Recycled Rubber Aggregates, and Clay Brick Waste on Eco-Mortar Mechanical Strength by the Taguchi Method","authors":"Mohamed Zohair Kaab, B. Athamnia, Tarek Djedid, H. Khelaifa","doi":"10.4028/p-s0mYlB","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4028/p-s0mYlB","url":null,"abstract":"Utilizing local materials and recycling waste has the potential to yield both ecological and economic advantages in the field of construction materials. In this context, the object of this work is to apply Taguchi's design of experiments on cement eco-mortar, which were designed using an L-9 orthogonal array, to optimize and model the effect of dune sand of the El Oued region, rubber aggregates, and crushed clay brick waste on the mechanical strength at 28 days. The different interactions were also investigated between the factors targeted in our study, namely: dune sand (DS) content, rubber aggregates (RA) content, and brick waste (BW) content. The results of the analysis of variation (ANOVA) as well as the mathematical models developed in this study showed that the BW factor content has a positive effect on compressive strength and a negative effect on flexural strength. In addition, the interactions between DS and BW contents and between RA and BW contents have a negative effect on the compressive strength of eco-mortar. With regard to flexural strength, the results showed that the interaction between the factors DS and RA contents has a negative effect on flexural strength, in contrast to the interaction between the RA and BW contents, which has a positive effect.","PeriodicalId":45925,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Engineering Research in Africa","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2023-12-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138995393","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Evaluating Thermal Performance and Environmental Impact of Compressed Earth Blocks with Cocos and Canarium Aggregates: A Study in Douala, Cameroon","authors":"B. M. Ganou Koungang, Luc Courard, Ulrich Tatchum Defo, D. Ndapeu, E. Njeugna, Shady Attia","doi":"10.4028/p-71UmdZ","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4028/p-71UmdZ","url":null,"abstract":"A novel low-cost earthen construction system integrating biosourced aggregates is proposed for houses’ erection of low-income households. This study is based on in-situ measurements on two representative test cells constructed in Douala, with a typical hot and humid climate. One of these buildings is made with a hollow cement block as a reference, and the other with biosourced earth bricks modified with Cocos nucifera and Canarium schweinfurthii aggregates. Dynamic thermal simulations of the two test cells were performed using the EnergyPlus building performance simulation program. The results are based on measuring air temperature and humidity, and the simulation leads to defining the discomfort hours and the annual energy consumption. The adaptive ASHRAE 55 thermal comfort model was used to evaluate the comfort conditions. The results show that air conditioning systems provide the best comfort systems with minimums of about 95% for plastered and unplastered wall construction systems. Biosourced compressed earth brick constructions offered the best thermal performance with comfort ranges of around 96% and 44% for air conditioning and natural ventilation, respectively. In terms of energy consumed, there was a gain of about 100 kWh over the year. Energy consumption is lower in the biosourced compressed earth brick building than in the hollowed cement block building: this one offered the lowest comfort range of about 40% in natural ventilation. The construction provisions were considered for the life cycle assessment, and two scenarios describing the origin of the cement raw materials were considered. It can be seen that cement accounts for more than 95% of the impacts for both construction systems, as well as for the scenarios of its origin. In all situations, the hollowed cement block construction presented the highest impact on the global warming potential: 66 KgCO2eq and 89 KgCO2eq, respectively, without plaster and with plaster. It can also be seen that the plastered layer had a carbon footprint (in terms of Green House Gas Emissions (GHG emissions)) of almost 40% on the overall functional unit. Canarium Schweinfurthii and Cocos Nucifera materials accounted for only 1% of the overall impact.","PeriodicalId":45925,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Engineering Research in Africa","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2023-12-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139176356","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Comparative Analysis of Energy Production and Simulation Software for Photovoltaic Systems in Multiple Moroccan Sites","authors":"Younes Faouzi, Omkaltoume El Fatni, A. Maftouh, Bouchra Laarabi, A. Barhdadi","doi":"10.4028/p-j5vhDU","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4028/p-j5vhDU","url":null,"abstract":"This paper presents a comprehensive study conducted as part of the Propre.ma's project, comparing data from several identical photovoltaic systems installed at multiple sites in Morocco. The project capitalizes on twenty distinct locations equipped with the same solar photovoltaic system and three varieties of solar modules (Mono-si, Poly-si, and Amorphous-si) with nearly identical rated power (2kWp) and a standardized 2 kW inverter. The main objectives are to compare the energy production of different solar photovoltaic systems over two years (2015 to 2016) and to assess the performance of PVsyst and SAM simulation software, renowned for their precision. The study reveals that Mono-si and Poly-si systems produce higher energy outputs than Amorphous-si. Moreover, PVsyst demonstrates closer alignment with real-world energy production rates across all technologies (Mono-si, Poly-si, and Amorphous-si) compared to SAM. This research represents a pioneering effort in evaluating simulation software for photovoltaic systems deployed across multiple sites, providing valuable insights for future solar energy projects and technological advancements.","PeriodicalId":45925,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Engineering Research in Africa","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2023-12-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138963697","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Numerical Study of the Opening Angle Incidence in Michell-Banki Turbine’s Performance without Guide Blades","authors":"Freddy Sotto Capera, Juan Gonzalo Ardila Marín, Camila Cerquera Sandoval","doi":"10.4028/p-EO6We7","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4028/p-EO6We7","url":null,"abstract":"Technologies that take advantage of alternative sources, such as Michell-Banki turbines, can improve electric power conditions in rural or non-interconnected areas with low environmental impact, but they need to be further studied to better understand their phenomenology and ways to increase their performance. The numerical evaluation of rotors under specific operating conditions results in efficiency curves for the evaluated prototypes such that devices that take full advantage of the flow conditions of a given location are proposed. Considering the above, the main objective of this work was to design the rotor and the injector of a Michell-Banki turbine and to evaluate it numerically for the conditions of 0.24 m3/s and 18 m of head available at a point with potential energy use in the irrigation district Canal Iguá in Huila - Colombia. The design was made following OLADE recommendations, and the simulations were made utilizing computational fluid dynamics, the k- ω turbulence model was used and the torque was monitored, then the GCI and TCI were calculated to establish the numerical uncertainty of the results. Finally, the numerical curves of efficiency versus rotor speed were created. Both the design and simulation results show that the design is feasible for the operating conditions and meets the expectations of serving for the installation of a 20 kW micro-hydroelectric power plant at the site, but the design predicted an atypically high 86.3% efficiency, while the simulation reported an atypically low 51.8%, being 78% the average reported according to OLADE.","PeriodicalId":45925,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Engineering Research in Africa","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2023-12-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138964451","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"International Journal of Engineering Research in Africa Vol. 67","authors":"","doi":"10.4028/b-sr8gxf","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4028/b-sr8gxf","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":45925,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Engineering Research in Africa","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2023-12-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139174690","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effect of Water Cooling on the Microhardness of Friction Stir Welded High-Density Polyethylene Sheets: Experimental Study","authors":"B. Moulai Ali, Djilali Bouha, Abdellah Kaou, El Bahri Ould Chikh, H. Meddah, Athmane Khalifa Bouha","doi":"10.4028/p-QPbA1o","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4028/p-QPbA1o","url":null,"abstract":"The objective of the current work is to analyze the influence of water cooling of high density polyethylene (HDPE) sheet welding by friction stir process (FSW) on mechanical strength, based on microhardness tests. In the present work, the process using the conventional tool (C-FSW) is presented with the new procedure developed for FSW for HDPE, called water conventional friction stir welding (W-FSW). Test results for water-cooled and non-cooled welded samples were compared. HDPE sheets were initially welded by FSW process, and intensive water cooling was performed to weld after the tool exceeded the initial welding position by 30mm. The tool rotation speed of 1100 rpm and welding speed of 26 mm/min was used. The results were compared and evaluated with the hardness tests. A decrease in the hardness was observed when the sheets were treated by quenching, especially in the weld cores. It was found that the average hardness was much lower than that of untreated welded plates. Additionally, there is a region outside the core that has more or less the same stiffness value. The use of intensive quenching and conventional tooling has proven to be of great importance in improving surface finish, reducing defects, and increasing the mechanical strength of welds. The resulting recrystallization modified the hardness and thus increased the efficiency of the joint. These findings indicate the welding quality of the studied polyethylene.","PeriodicalId":45925,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Engineering Research in Africa","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2023-12-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139173178","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Studying the Effects of Opening Size and Location on Punching Shear Resistance of Flat Slabs Using ANSYS V.19","authors":"Naglaa G. Fahmy, Hanaa Gamal Mohammed, L.M. Abd el-Hafez, Alaa Y. Abouelezz","doi":"10.4028/p-IT6Xm6","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4028/p-IT6Xm6","url":null,"abstract":"To validate the accuracy of ANSYS V.19, an experimental model based on a previous study was used to determine the typical values of crack pattern, ultimate load, and deflection. The model was a flat slab with an internal column with dimensions of 1000 × 1000 × 100 mm³. Four groups used a slab with an edge column in parametric research. The first group studied the opening size relative to the column face. The second group of specimens studied opening sizes close to column corners. The third group consisted of four specimens: two had openings in front of the column face and two in front of the column corner to study how opening distance affected flat slab behaviour. The fourth group examined the optimum opening arrangement in slabs with two openings around the column. The findings showed that flat slab openings at the column corner had higher ultimate load capacity than those at the column face; however, increasing opening dimensions beyond the column dimension decreases punching shear capacity. If the column needs two openings, place them on opposite faces or near the corners; this minimizes ultimate load reduction.","PeriodicalId":45925,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Engineering Research in Africa","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2023-12-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138965286","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A Machine Learning Scheme for Speed Prediction in Intelligent Transportation Systems Using a Bi-LSTM Based Model","authors":"A. Njoya, Alice Wangui Wachira, A. A. Abba Ari, Rockefeller Rockefeller, A. Guéroui, Christopher Thron, Sondes Khemiri Kallel, Wahabou Abdou, Emmanuel Tonye","doi":"10.4028/p-FZ0iNi","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4028/p-FZ0iNi","url":null,"abstract":"Congestion has become a big issue in major cities throughout the world. Numerous transportation activities have been affected, and travel times have increased as a result of many travelers spending lengthy hours on the road. To overcome these challenges, the Intelligent Transportation System (ITS), which provides efficient traffic service and management, has sparked widespread attention. Collection and analysis of traffic data has been made possible by the algorithms implemented by the ITS. Huge volumes of data are produced by the vast wide range of sensors used in the Internet of Things (IoT), enabling the collection of a variety of traffic information. Development of short-term traffic speed prediction, has been made possible using deep learning models such as Long Short Term Memory (LSTM) and Bidirectional LSTM. Numerous variables, including the weather, the state of the roads, and traffic congestion, can have long-term dependencies and influence traffic speed. The bidirectional architecture of Bi-LSTMs enables them to handle long-term dependencies in sequences and efficiently capture both past and future context in a sequence, which is crucial for producing accurate forecasts of traffic speed. In this paper, the upstream and downstream flow of traffic speed on various pathways has been investigated using a traffic path planning algorithm based on Bi-LSTM models. The algorithm considers the factors affecting the flow of traffic at different seasons and time of the day and tries to predict the average speed associated to that path several timeslots ahead. The experimental results demonstrated that the Bi-LSTM model has the benefit of predicting speed for various timeslots while retaining a high level of accuracy.","PeriodicalId":45925,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Engineering Research in Africa","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2023-12-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139175865","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Deep Neural Networks Based Modeling to Optimize Water Productivity of a Passive Solar Still","authors":"Soufiane Halimi, N. Cherrad, Mohammed Mustapha Belhadj, A. Belloufi, M. Chelgham, Fares Mouissi, Youcef Messaoudi, Soufiane Touati, Khadra Aliouat","doi":"10.4028/p-yrRZ03","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4028/p-yrRZ03","url":null,"abstract":"Solar stills (SSs) have emerged as highly efficient solutions for converting saline or contaminated water into potable water, addressing a critical need for water purification. This study aims to predict and optimize SS performance, emphasizing the importance of enhancing productivity in various applications, including domestic, agricultural, and industrial settings. Several influencing factors, such as sunlight intensity, ambient temperature, wind speed, and structural design, are crucial in determining SS performance. By harnessing the power of contemporary machine learning techniques, this study adopts Deep Neural Networks, with a special emphasis on the Multilayer Perceptron (MLP) model, aiming to more accurately predict SS output. The research presents a head-to-head comparison of diverse hyperparameter optimization techniques, with Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) notably outpacing the rest when combined with MLP. This optimized PSO-MLP model was particularly proficient when paired with a specific type of solar collector, registering impressive metrics like a COD of 0.98167 and an MSE of 0.00006. To summarize, this research emphasizes the transformative potential of integrating sophisticated computational models in predicting and augmenting SS performance, laying the groundwork for future innovations in this essential domain of water purification.","PeriodicalId":45925,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Engineering Research in Africa","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2023-12-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139173448","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}