Browsing by Author "Diji, C. J."

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Constraints and prospects of research capacity building for engineering undergraduates in Nigerian Universities
(International Centre for Mathematical and Computer Sciences, 2012) Diji, C. J.
Research is an organizational study, which is concerned with methodical investigation into a subject in order to discover facts, to establish or revise a theory or to develop a plan of action based on the fact discovered. Universities, as centers of knowledge production and generation play a critical role in national research by maintaining research infrastructures and standards in all existing academic disciplines, creating new disciplines, and building research capacity through training of new researchers and influencing university teaching. Research capacity building is the process of enhancing the abilities of individuals, organizations and systems to undertake and disseminate high quality research efficiently and effectively. It involves improving research skills, as well as access to research information and resources. This study examines the constraints and prospects of building research capacity among engineering undergraduates of Nigerian universities. Based on the report of the last accreditation exercise of engineering departments across Nigerian universities, which showed that only 55% of engineering departments were fully accredited; the study identified the problem of low funding, poor curriculum design, lack of adequate industrial practice and the problem of staff qualification and experience as major constraints for effective research capacity building in the Nigerian engineering education sector. The study concluded by proposing a research capacity building framework for engineers that will assist in integrating research capacity building into the university engineering education curriculum in the country. The framework recommends improved funding of engineering departments, enhancement of university – industry relationship, renewed emphasis on industrial training, improved role of the accreditation bodies and changing of the licensing requirements for Nigerian engineers, as measures that will considerably improve the research capacity of engineering undergraduates.
The constraints and prospects of small scale business enterprises in Nigeria
(2011) Ayika bn, S. N.; Diji, C. J.
Small businesses play a vital role in the economic development of any nation. They are a strategic sector for generating high economic growth, reducing unemployment and a veritable tool for poverty alleviation. Based on the current economic globalization and neo - liberalization concept, the paper examines the constraints and prospects of small business development in Nigeria. Exploring the concept of entrepreneurship, the paper asserts that the growth in small businesses will be proportionate to the level of entrepreneurship in the country. Thus the paper asserts further that the constraints of small business development are synonymous with the constraints to entrepreneurial development and identifies high interest rates of banks and financial institutions, defective educational curriculum that does not support entrepreneurship, influx of foreign products, weak enforcement of copyright and piracy laws as well as poor infrastructural support as major constraints to small business development in Nigeria. The paper concludes on an optimistic note by highlighting various economic and social conditions which offers hope and prospects to entrepreneurial and small businesses development in Nigeria such as the prevailing economic situation, renewed government support for small business development and the prevailing social scene in the country, which offer high incentives to business development.
A critical review of the Nigerian energy scenario
(2013-04) Diji, C. J.
Abundant and economical energy is the life blood of modern civilization. Energy poverty continues to be a major constraint to the developmental and economic of Nigeria and the crucial challenge of the energy sector in the country includes the issues of inadequate energy supply, energy security and sustainability. This study appraises critically the current energy scenario in Nigeria and examines the roles of all the primary energy forms in the country as well as alternative energy forms in the provision of adequate energy supply and energy security for the future, particularly as it pertains to the attainment of the country's goals for boosting energy supply as articulated in all its policy and developmental documents. The study identified poor energy mix, slow implementation of policy and inadequate private sector participation as major constraints and challenges of the energy sector and recommends appropriate strategies to improve the energy scenario in the country.
Design of a biomass power plant for a major commercial cluster in Ibadan, Nigeria
(2013-04) Diji, C. J.; Ekpo, D. D.; Adadu, C. A.
The Nigerian electricity supply industry is currently under reforms, due to inadequate power supply to meet basic needs. Current government policy favours the development of alternative and renewable energy options to meet the shortfalls in electricity supply. The paper presents a proposal for the establishment of a biomass power plant at the Sango plank market, a major commercial cluster in lbadan. Field studies showed that the plank market generates a biomass feed of sawdust and wood chips of 25, 000tonnes/year. The paper proposes the establishment of a 10MW direct combustion conversion process, biomass power plant at a capital investment of $1.77 million. Based on standard accounting practices, the generating cost of the plant was estimated at $0.56/kWh. Based on the Annual cost and present worth method the study also found the biomass plant more economical viable than using equivalent diesel generating plants. The study concludes by showing the economical and environmental benefits of setting up the biomass to the Sango community.
Electricity demand and consumption in a manufacturing industry
(2002-02) Diji, C. J.; Okiwelu, A. A.
Industrialization the world over owes its growth to the discovery of electricity. Most machines and plants are driven by electric motors; residential and industrial lighting is predominantly electrical; and the communication and entertainment industry are largely dependent 011 electricity. This paper is an analysis of the demand and consumption pattern of electricity in a manufacturing industry in Ibadan. Based on the supply pattern of the electricity to meet the needs of the organization; the paper concludes that there is a need to improve electricity supply to tile manufacturing industry to cut down its production cost which has been on the increase due to energy as one of its prime causes.
Electricity production from biomass in Nigeria: options, prospects and challenges
(2013) Diji, C. J.
Biomass power, also called bio power, is electricity produced from biomass fuels. Biomass consists of plant materials and animal products. Biomass fuels include residues from food production and processing, trees and grasses grown specifically as energy crops, and gaseous fuels produced from solid biomass and wastes. This paper highlights the various biomass materials available in the country and the available technologies that are used for converting biomass to electricity. The paper also highlights the broad policy objectives of government with regards to the development of renewable energy in general and biomass development in particular. The paper concludes by exploring based on global experiences and best practices, the various options, and their resulting prospects and challenges in producing electricity from biomass. The paper highlighting the fact that though the prospects of using biomass for electricity generation is high; land availability, plant location, scale and choice of technology and distribution of economic benefits are factors that have to be considered in deploying biomass for electricity generation in Nigeria.
Energy and Exergy analysis of raw material preparation in a cement production plant
(2010-07) Diji, C. J.
The production process of a major wet process cement manufacturing plant in Nigeria was studied and data collected for a five year period 2001 - 2005, from them enabled the estimation of the embodied energy intensity, exergy efficiency and the environmental impact of the raw material preparation process was assessed. The cement plant accounts for over 40% of total local production of cement in Nigeria. The Input - Output energy analysis methodology was used to evaluate the embodied energy intensity which was found to decrease over the period by 35% from 91.7 kWh/t to 57.6kWh/t, this embodied intensity was over 70% higher than the best recommended global practice of 18 - 20kWh/t. Exergy analysis was used to evaluate the exergy efficiency of the raw material preparation and this increased marginally from 45 - 49% over the period, compared to best global practices of 50% this was found to be optimum. CO2 and CO are two major greenhouse gas emitted during the raw material preparation process, however there was a 20% reduction in their emission over the study period.
Energy auditing of a typical residential building in Ibadan metropolis
(2013) Diji, C. J.; Ganiyu, H.
An electricity audit of a building is the process whereby an energy manager survey and analyzes how energy is used in the building with the main objective of identifying opportunities for reducing the amount of energy used and ensuring that available energy is used efficiently. This study reports the outcome of an electricity audit on a typical residential building in a major location of Ibadan metropolis. The audited building is a four - flat apartment where all the customers in the building have different tariff plans. Two of the customers labeled Customer A and B are metered, while the other two Customers labeled C and D are not metered The result of the audit showed that the metered customers were paying the actual estimated electricity bills, while the non - metered customers were over billed by over 30 and 80% respectively. The study concluded by recommending the metering of all residential apartments and the use of pre - paid meters as it not only stimulate demand but also is more effective in the electricity billing process.
Energy-Exergy analysis and carbon emission of Nigerian cement manufacturing industry
(2009-04) Diji, C. J.; Fagbenle, L.
Two of the largest cement manufacturing plants in Nigeria, named Plants A and B, were studied and the data collected for the 10 year period 1995- 2005 from them enabled an analysis of their energy consumption, energy cost per tonne, efficiency of energy use from exergy analysis, and carbon dioxide emission rates. The two plants account for over 70% of total local cement production in Nigeria. Both plants utilize thermal and electrical energy. With both plants having thermal to electrical energy utilization ratio of 90:10 compared to the 70:30 recommended best global practice. The Input-Output Analysis methodology was used to evaluate the embodied energy intensity which was found to increase over the period in both plants, with Plant A having the highest increase from 7.1 to 9.4 GJ/tonne. The embodied energy intensity for both plants was 50% higher than the recommended best global practice of between 2.9 and 3.2 GJ/tonne. The energy cost per tonne for both plants increased by about 1000%over the period despite a 33% reduction in total energy consumption. Efficiency of energy use evaluated from an exergy analysis in Plant A increased from 50% to 59% while in Plant B the increase was from 33%to 45% over the period, compared to the recommended global best practice of 50%. Carbon dioxide emission in both plants declined over the period, for Plant A from 765903 Tg to 548310 Tg (40%) and for Plant B from 604255 Tg to 543658 Tg (16%) over the period.
Exergoenvironmental evaluation of a cement manufacturing process in Nigeria
(2013-07) Diji, C. J.; Ekpo, D. D.; Adadu, C. A.
The Cement manufacturing process is an energy intensive and environmentally impacting process. In this study, an exergoenvironmental evaluation is conducted on a wet process, gas - fired 1.3 million tone capacity cement plant in Nigeria, to assess the ecological impact of its production process by revealing the extent to which each major component of the production process is responsible for the overall environmental impact and identify the sources of the impact. Exergoenvironmental evaluation consists of three major steps. The first step involves a detailed exergy analysis of the production system under consideration using the input - output energy analysis method; in the second step, the required values of the environmental impact are determined by applying the ECO - 99 life cycle assessment method. In the third step the environmental impacts are assigned to the exergy streams in the process. Subsequently, exergoenvironmental variables are calculated and the exergoenvironmental evaluation is carried out. . Based on a 70% utilization capacity, embodied energy intensity of 7.07GJ/t and overall exergic efficiency of 0.55; the exergoenvironmental evaluation shows that the major process components impacting the environment were the kiln and limestone extraction processes. The study also showed that exergy destruction occasioned by process and combustion emissions in the kiln is the major source of environmental hazards in the process. With an overall environmental factor of 20.3% for the plant, the study concludes that the environmental hazards are mainly due to system irreversibilities in the process and not the related components environmental factor.
A short excursion into the energy supply mix in Nigeria
(University of Lagos Press, 2012) Diji, C. J.; Bamiro, O. A.
Abundant energy supply is the lifeblood of modern civilization. Energy poverty arising from poor management despite appreciable energy resource base continues to be a major constraint on the socio-economic development of Nigeria. The crucial challenge of the energy sector in the country includes inadequate energy supply, its security and sustainability. In this paper we briefly examine the roles of the major primary energy forms in the country as well as some of the alternative energy sources in the provision of adequate energy supply to meet the growing demand. The paper posits that poor energy mix, slow implementation of policies and inadequate private sector participation are the major constraints and challenges of the energy sector. Concerted efforts towards addressing these challenges will go a long way in solving the endemic energy problem in the country.
A technical and economic evaluation of the electricity generation and distribution system in Nigeria
(2002) Diji, C. J.
Electricity is one form of energy . It occupies a special place in our civilization, because it is easier to use than many other types. It is clean, versatile and can be transported over long distances almost instantly. These factors account for why electricity has grown faster than other forms of energy and why this growth is' expected to continue. Electricity generation and distribution in Nigeria is a business of government and government vested that sole responsibility to the National Electric Power Authority (NEPA). Almost 30yrs of its existence, NEPA has not been able to meet the electricity needs for residential, commercial and industrial use. This paper is an exploratory appraisal of the economic and technical factors that has been responsible for the inability of NEPA to fulfil its statutory responsibility. The paper ,asserts that if the issues of electricity demand' and supply, electricity tariffs, choice of technology for power generation and the efficiency of the electricity distribution networks are not addressed, the adequate supply of electricity in Nigeria will continue to be a mirage.