Papers by Timothy Adekanye
Academia Green Energy, Mar 13, 2025
Biomass resources such as agricultural residues, forest by-products, and municipal solid waste in... more Biomass resources such as agricultural residues, forest by-products, and municipal solid waste in Nigeria are quite considerable and thus could be a potentially beneficial pathway toward achieving carbon neutrality. This review looks at biomass energy as a promising alternative to help reduce carbon emissions while enabling the country to attain its objectives of energy security and sustainability. The review discusses some of the main avenues for using various biomasses, consisting of energy crops and agricultural wastes, in producing bioenergy. However, the large-scale use of biomass energy faces obstacles due to policy inconsistencies, technological shortcomings, and infrastructure deficits. The country’s lack of an appropriate regulatory framework and financial incentives complicates the bioenergy project development process. Resource competition, environmental impacts, and unsustainable practices, such as deforestation, also raise significant barriers to the long-term sustainability of biomass energy systems. This review critically assesses strategies for overcoming such obstacles in the management of sustainable biomass resources, modern bioenergy technologies, and policy reforms. It also sheds light on how Nigeria can harness biomass energy toward achieving its carbon neutrality targets while ensuring that rural development is achieved with the protection of the environment. These findings will provide the necessary guidance for policymakers, researchers, and investors willing to promote bioenergy projects in Nigeria.
Academia Green Energy, Mar 13, 2025
Biomass resources such as agricultural residues, forest by-products, and municipal solid waste in... more Biomass resources such as agricultural residues, forest by-products, and municipal solid waste in Nigeria are quite considerable and thus could be a potentially beneficial pathway toward achieving carbon neutrality. This review looks at biomass energy as a promising alternative to help reduce carbon emissions while enabling the country to attain its objectives of energy security and sustainability. The review discusses some of the main avenues for using various biomasses, consisting of energy crops and agricultural wastes, in producing bioenergy. However, the large-scale use of biomass energy faces obstacles due to policy inconsistencies, technological shortcomings, and infrastructure deficits. The country’s lack of an appropriate regulatory framework and financial incentives complicates the bioenergy project development process. Resource competition, environmental impacts, and unsustainable practices, such as deforestation, also raise significant barriers to the long-term sustainability of biomass energy systems. This review critically assesses strategies for overcoming such obstacles in the management of sustainable biomass resources, modern bioenergy technologies, and policy reforms. It also sheds light on how Nigeria can harness biomass energy toward achieving its carbon neutrality targets while ensuring that rural development is achieved with the protection of the environment. These findings will provide the necessary guidance for policymakers, researchers, and investors willing to promote bioenergy projects in Nigeria.
Development of a Direct Measurement Device for Evaluation of Tillage Fuel Consumption and Power Requirements
Energies
In this study, drying characteristics, kinetic modelling, energy and exergy analyses of a convect... more In this study, drying characteristics, kinetic modelling, energy and exergy analyses of a convective hot air dryer are presented for water yam. The drying experiments were carried out at temperature levels of 50, 60, and 70°C and slice thicknesses of 3, 6, and 9 mm. The effects of drying variables on the drying rate (DR), moisture diffusivity (Deff), activation energy (Ea), energy utilization (EU), energy utilization ratio (EUR), exergy loss (EXL), exergy efficiency (EXeff), improvement potential (IP), and exergetic sustainability index (ESI) were investigated. The results showed that increasing air temperature increased the DR, Deff, EU, EUR, EXL, EXeff, IP, and ESI, while increasing the slice thickness increased Deff and Ea, but decreased the DR. The highest Deff and Ea values were 4.2 × 10−8 m2/s, and 53 KJ/mol, respectively. EU and EUR varied from 10 to 150 J/s and 0.39 to 0.79, respectively. EXL and EXeff varied between 2 and 12.5 J/s and 58 to 75 %, respectively. Midilli’s mod...
Experimental Evaluation of an Automatic Cabinet Dryer
2023 International Conference on Science, Engineering and Business for Sustainable Development Goals (SEB-SDG)
Development of a Smart Grain Storage Silo Using the Internet of Things (Iot) Technology
SSRN Electronic Journal
SSRN Electronic Journal
Food security is the aspiration of every nation. To achieve this, particularly in Developing Coun... more Food security is the aspiration of every nation. To achieve this, particularly in Developing Countries, there is a need to reduce wastage by storing staple foods grains beyond their production seasons. Longer storage requires human presence, monitoring and control of the storage environment which may be laborious, demanding and sometimes outrightly unsafe. Therefore, the needs to employ automation and artificial intelligence become necessary to control this storage environment. This study developed an automated, intelligent silo bin that controls the storage environment of the system for the small-scale rural farmers, of which over 70% of their population still depend on agriculture, using Internet of Things (IoT). The developed system consists of three units interfaced together. These units are the pro-type 2-ton (2,000 kg) silo structure, the embedded system (made up of the microcontroller, sensors and relays). The system is integrated to an IoT system (made up of mobile application (BLYNK), Wi-Fi module and ultrasonic atomizer) and the air blowing system (consisting of blower fan and heater). The developed smart system was tested and the test run results showed that it successfully monitors and controls storage air temperature, humidity, air pressure, grain moisture, insect infestation and CO 2 levels, the key parameters for long term storability of grains. The coding process could be set to suit different grains and storage conditions required for their effective storage. Although the silo bin structure used for testing was for a particular prototype , it can be geometrically scaled for many silo structures.
Research in Agricultural Engineering, 2022
Adopting the concept of the waste to wealth approach, agricultural waste from maize cob could be ... more Adopting the concept of the waste to wealth approach, agricultural waste from maize cob could be transformed into a renewable form of energy through thermo-chemical methods of treating the biomass. This method can be utilised for biochar production. The utilisation of biochar has several significant applications. These applications include the enhancement of the soil through amendment, stimulation of crop production by a variety nutrient inputs in the soil, etc. In this research work, a biochar was obtained through a slow pyrolysis process of maize cob waste. This experiment was carried out using a small-scale muffle furnace and subjecting the feedstock to heating at different temperatures (300, 400, 500 °C). The biochar was produced and characterised by a proximate analysis, scan electron microscope (SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, while the surface area was determined by Saer's method. The effect of the temperature on the yield of the biochar was investig...
Comparative energy use in cassava production under different farming technologies in Kwara State of Nigeria
Environmental and Sustainability Indicators, 2022
One of the main components of production expenses in agricultural operations is energy. The effec... more One of the main components of production expenses in agricultural operations is energy. The effectiveness of its application is frequently impacted in favor of other equally important aspects. The energy utilization in cassava production in three distinct farm sizes and technologies in Kwara State, Nigeria, was investigated using parametric equations. Questionnaires were used to obtain data on output from 175 cassava farmers. Farms were separated into three groups: group 1 (no mechanization), group 2 (partial mechanization), and group 3 (complete mechanization) (full mechanization). There were 92 farms in Group 1 (1-5 ha), 54 farms in Group 2 (6-15 ha), and 29 farms in Group 3 (16-50 ha). Human labor, machinery, diesel fuel, chemicals, seed, and fertilizers as inputs influenced cassava yield. Cassava production used 4904.87 MJ/ha/tonne in small-scale farms, 36352.04 MJ/ha/tonne in medium-scale farms, and 96257.93 MJ/ha/tonne in large-scale farms, according to the study's findings. In the study region, the average energy output of cassava production was 107,632 MJ/ha, 604,800 MJ/ ha, and 2,016,000 MJ/ha in the various farms. The energy input-output ratios for the three types of farms were calculated to be 16.13, 16.69, and 20.94 respectively. The Cobb-Douglas function was used to calculate the impacts of inputs on cassava outputs. In medium and large-scale farms, indirect and non-renewable energy contributed significantly more to yield than direct and renewable energy. Human labor, fertilizers, chemicals, and seed were statistically significant contributors to cassava productivity, according to empirical findings.
Biochemical conversion of fruit rind of <i>Telfairia occidentalis</i> (fluted pumpkin) and poultry manure
Environmental pollution by solid wastes and inadequate energy supply are some of the major challe... more Environmental pollution by solid wastes and inadequate energy supply are some of the major challenges facing the developing world. This study evaluated the potentials of Fluted pumpkin fruit rind and poultry manure for biogas generation. Mechanical and thermo-alkaline pre-treatments were applied to two samples labeled 'O' and 'P' while the third sample (Q) had no thermo-alkaline treatment. The physicochemical characteristics of the substrates revealed richness in nutrients and mineral elements. The results showed that use of a combination of pre-treatment methods enhanced the biogas yield in the pre-treated substrates. Analysis of the gas composition showed 66.5 ± 2.5% Methane, 25 ± 1% Carbon dioxide; 58.5 ± 2.5% Methane, 26 ± 1% Carbon dioxide; 54.5 ± 1.5% Methane, 28 ± 2% Carbon dioxide for the three experiments, respectively. All the obtained values show the models had a high predictive ability. The substrates should be further used for energy generation.
World Journal of Agricultural Research, 2013
An assessment of cassava processing plant was conducted in Irepodun local Government Area of Kwar... more An assessment of cassava processing plant was conducted in Irepodun local Government Area of Kwara State, Nigeria to evaluate different cassava processing machinery being used by the processors, the common machines, and costs of machines, type of prime movers and sex of machine operators. The study was carried out in five communities and five cassava processing centres were selected from each of the community to give a total of twenty–five processing centres. Many of the processing centres were owned by private individuals. 292 cassava processing machines were observed altogether during the study and most of these were obsolete equipment. Grating machine, dewatering machine and milling machines were more prominent in the Local Government. The diesel engine was the only prime mover in all visited centres. Cassava processors preferred diesel despite its high cost, this may be as a result of incessant petrol scarcity and constant absence of electricity supply from Power Holding Company...
More than 70% of the working adult population of Nigeria is employed in the agricultural sector d... more More than 70% of the working adult population of Nigeria is employed in the agricultural sector directly and indirectly. Over 90% of Nigeria's agricultural output comes from peasant farmers who dwell in the rural areas where 60% of the population live. The vast majority of these farmers has limited access to modern inputs and other productive resources and is unlikely to have access to pesticides, fertilizers, hybrid seeds and irrigation. The successful development of farm mechanization is determined primarily by the transition process from manual tools through animal-drawn implements and finally to the application of mechanical power technologies, which will improve efficiency time, labour and productivity of peasant farmers and thereby enhance food security of a Nigeria. This study investigates constraints to agricultural mechanization in Irepodun Local Government Area (LGA), Kwara State, Nigeria. This study employed a multi stage sampling techniques to collect information on ...
Food security is currently a fundamental issue in Nigeria as the country faces serious challenge ... more Food security is currently a fundamental issue in Nigeria as the country faces serious challenge in meeting food needs of its growing population. Though large expanse of arable land, favorable climatic conditions the nation has not been able to translate these to increased food production. Over 90% of agricultural production in Nigeria is rain-fed. Smallholders, mostly subsistence producers account for 80% of all farm holdings such that crop and livestock productions remain below potentials. Majority of Nigeria’s agriculture is still at subsistence level; this is grossly inadequate in food production. This paper highlights the relevance of appropriate technology to production, processing and preservation of food, advances in biotechnology, renewable energy and waste management for environmental sustainability. Neglect or low level of appreciation for agricultural engineering is partly responsible for food insecurity in Nigeria. The role of agricultural engineers in the development a...
Evaluation of a Locust Beans Seed Dehulling Machine for Small Scale Farmers
Other Topics Engineering Research eJournal, 2019
A locust bean dehulling machine was fabricated and evaluated using locally available materials. T... more A locust bean dehulling machine was fabricated and evaluated using locally available materials. The machine performs dual operations of removing the seed coats and cleaning. Components of the machine include the frame, hopper, dehulling chamber, water container, discharge outlets, set of gears and bearings in operation. In operation, locust beans seeds introduced via the hopper moved to the auger which separates the soft pulp and conveys the material into the dehulling chamber. The seeds were washed in the dehulling chamber while the coat (residual waste) passes through the sieve into the water trough where it was discharged through the waste outlet. Throughput capacity, output capacity, recovery percentage and cleaning efficiency were 264.0kg/hr, 98.48%, and 98.75%, respectively. This machine may find applications in the processing of locust beans.
The motion of the weeding disc at any point on the surface of a rotary tiller travels was studied... more The motion of the weeding disc at any point on the surface of a rotary tiller travels was studied. Parametric equations were used to describe the motion of path followed by the weeding tines. The effective performance of soil working tool was related to the kinematic parameter of the soil working tools, the forward travel distance and speed of the rotary tines and working action of components of weeding tool. The design parameters for appropriate soil working tools and implements were established. The weeder consists of a 5 hp-petrol engine, three ground wheels (pneumatic), tool assembly, frame and handle. The construction of the powered rotary weeder was done in the workshop of the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria. The performance of the weeder was investigated by considering the effects of four (4) weeding tools (Iron rod tine, Cable tine, Line yard tine and Plastic strand tine) and three (3) levels of weeding speeds (180...
Agricultural Engineering International: The CIGR Journal, 2018
A small-scale machine for extracting watermelon juice was developed with locally available materi... more A small-scale machine for extracting watermelon juice was developed with locally available materials and evaluated to determine its best extracting operating factors. The machine slices a whole watermelon and extracts its juice content. This machine operates on the principle of compressive and shearing force exerted through an auger. Component parts includes feeding hopper, conveyor shaft, auger conveyor housed in a cylindrical chamber, juice sieve, juice collector, seed - pulp outlet, gear and main frame. It was powered by a 1hp electric motor, coupled to a gear reduction speed to operate at 46.67 rm -1 . In operation, watermelon fruits introduced via the hopper is squeezed and transferred to the auger conveyor. The auger presses and squeezes the watermelon fruit to extract the juice. The juice extracted is filtered through the juice sieve into juice collector while the seeds and pulp are discharged through another outlet. Performance evaluation was carried out using different si...
An investigation survey was carried out to examine factors affecting processing and quality of ri... more An investigation survey was carried out to examine factors affecting processing and quality of rice in Ekiti State, Nigeria. Nine major towns were selected from six Local Government Areas involved in rice production in the State. A structured questionnaire was used to collect information from three hundred (300) rice processors. Findings revealed that 47% of the processors were males and 53% are females, 66.7% of the processors have family size ranged within 4 to 7 persons, 63.78% of them have only primary education and 22.67% have no formal education, 70% of rice is gotten from middle men and 80% of the processors used their personal savings as capitals. 70% of the milling machines used was obsolete being single pass type characterized with high broken grains and 90% of the processors depend on diesel engines to power the mills while 7% had access to good storage facilities. None of the processors had accesses to a rice destoner. The result obtained is used to improve the processin...
Energy inputs and yield relationship in cassava production was investigated to establish correlat... more Energy inputs and yield relationship in cassava production was investigated to establish correlation between inputs and output in cassava production in Nigeria. Production data of energy inputs and crop yields were collected from 54 cassava farms in twelve cassava producing villages through site visits, interaction with the farmers and physical measurements for three production seasons (2013-2016). The data were analyzed statistically. Amount of inputs per hectare were calculated and multiplied by coefficients of energy equivalents. Total energy inputs in cassava production in this study was 36,482.8 MJha -1 while average output of cassava tubers was 32, 022.6 kgha -1 . Energy use ratio, energy productivity and specific energy of the surveyed farms were 4.9, 0.9 MJ kg -1 and 1.1 MJ kg -1 respectively. Shares of direct and indirect energy inputs were 5.7% and 94.2% respectively. Human labor, fertilizer, cassava stem, machinery and fuel had positive effects on output. Fertilizer, cass...
Energy inputs and yield relationship in cassava production was investigated to establish correlat... more Energy inputs and yield relationship in cassava production was investigated to establish correlation between inputs and output in cassava production in Nigeria. Production data of energy inputs and crop yields were collected from 54 cassava farms in twelve cassava producing villages through site visits, interaction with the farmers and physical measurements for three production seasons (2013-2016). The data were analyzed statistically. Amount of inputs per hectare were calculated and multiplied by coefficients of energy equivalents. Total energy inputs in cassava production in this study was 36,482.8 MJha -1 while average output of cassava tubers was 32, 022.6 kgha -1 . Energy use ratio, energy productivity and specific energy of the surveyed farms were 4.9, 0.9 MJ kg -1 and 1.1 MJ kg -1 respectively. Shares of direct and indirect energy inputs were 5.7% and 94.2% respectively. Human labor, fertilizer, cassava stem, machinery and fuel had positive effects on output. Fertilizer, cass...
A soybean threshing machine was designed, fabricated and evaluated at Landmark University, Omu-Ar... more A soybean threshing machine was designed, fabricated and evaluated at Landmark University, Omu-Aran, Kwara State, Nigeria, to determine its performance and ease the drudgery problems associated with threshing of soybean by the small scale farmers. Evaluation was carried out with TGX 1448 soybean variety at different levels of moisture contents; 10%, 16% and 22% (wet basis) and at different drum speeds; 320 r/min, 385 r/min, 450 r/min, 515 r/min, with constant mass input of 600g and constant concave clearance of 23 mm. The overall mean results obtained for performance indicators in terms of threshing efficiency, cleaning efficiency, percentage of damage seed, percentage of blown seeds, percentage of seed loss and throughput capacity were 99.51%, 77.91%, 3.72%, 31.33%, 4.43%, and 35.44 kg/h, respectively. The evaluation results indicated threshing efficiencies of 98.96% to 99.88% for the range of the variable of drum speed between 320 r/min to 515 r/min and 99.73% to 99.29% for the...
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Papers by Timothy Adekanye