Abstract: Biogas is eco-friendly alternative renewable energy source produced through anaerobic digestion of organic compounds. In this study, biogas production was evaluated from Prosopis juliflora leaves(PJ) and cow manure (CM) co-digestion in five mix ratios under mesophilic conditions (38ºC) using batch digesters in the Botany Laboratory of Haramaya University to evaluate biogas production potential of Prosopis juliflora leaves through anaerobic digestion alone or in combination with co...
Abstract: Bio- ethanol is suggested as a sustainable fuel which can be produced from renewable resources and reduce the level of greenhouse gases. Therefore, this study was focused on producing bio ethanol fuel from teff (Eragrostis tef) straws in batch fermentation using yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae). Fifty grams of acid pretreated and untreated teff straw were incubated with10ml of 1% of yeast under three different temperature (20℃, 30℃ and 40℃) treatments and allowed to ferment o...
Abstract: Biogas is a clean and renewable form of energy and well substitute for conventional sources of energy especially in the rural sector. In response to the need for addressing the adverse impacts of the increasing trend in biomass energy consumption in Ethiopia, the last three recent decades development of more efficient cooking stove technologies and alternative sources of household energy had been realized. The aim of this study was to determine the optimal mix ratio for biogas prod...
Abstract: Biogas is an alternative renewable energy sources and a mixture of different gases, mainly methane and carbon dioxide, resulting from anaerobic digestion of organic matter. In this study, production of biogas from Vernonia amygdalina leaves co-digested with cow dung in anaerobic condition were evaluated under mesophilic condition at 38ºC using a batch mode digester. Biogas production was evaluated from treatments with different mix ratios A (100%VA) B (75%VA+25%CD), C (75%CD+25%VA...
Abstract: Biogas is a well-established fuel that can replace firewood and electricity as an energy source for cooking, lighting, heating and for other purposes in developing countries. Moreover, biogas is a clean, environmental friendly and renewable form of energy generated when micro-organisms degrade organic materials in the absence of oxygen. The aim of this study was to evaluate biogas production potential of avocado fruit peel wastes and goat manure in combination or separately under a...
Abstract: Production of biogas through anaerobic digestion of organic waste materials provides an alternative environmentally eco-friendly renewable energy. In this study, biogas production from co-digestion of cow manure (CM) and Datura stramonium leaves (DSL) in five mix ratios (100%CM, 60%CM:40%DSL, 50%CM:50%DSL, 40%CM:60%DSL and 100%DSL) were evaluated under mesophilic condition at 38ºC using a batch mode digester over 30 days fermentation. In all the treatments, physico-chemical parame...
Abstract: In this study, the effects of reduction ration on different mineral ores was investigated when using common size reduction equipment’s and also factors affecting the working efficiency during crushing. A laboratory model of a unified crushing operation was used as an estimate to account for performance at industrial level, how energy consumption in a treatment plant can be minimized. Prediction on breakage behavior and fracture energy was estimated for common crushers how chemica...
Abstract: Renewable eco-friendly options for crop protection are fundamental in achieving sustainable agriculture. Here, we demonstrate the use of a biodegradable lignocellulosic banana-paper matrix as a seed wrap for the protection of potato plants against potato cyst nematode (PCN), Globodera rostochiensis. Potato cyst nematodes are devastating quarantine pests of potato globally. In East Africa, G. rostochiensis has recently emerged as a serious threat to potato production. Wrapping seed ...
Abstract: There is tremendous growth of data generated from different industries, i.e., health, agriculture, engineering, etc. Consequently, there is demand for more processing power. Compared to computer processing units, general-purpose graphics processing units (GPUs) are rapidly emerging as a promising solution to achieving high performance and energy efficiency in various computing domains. Multiple forms of parallelism and complexity in memory access have posed a challenge in developin...
In this study, three distinct and unique modes of greenhouse drying are introduced: solar, solar-exhaust gas, and exhaust gas modes of drying. The effect of drying black nightshade seeds in the three modes was studied, using germinability as a measure of quality. In solar mode, seeds were dried from a moisture content of 89.34% (db) to 7.13% (db) with the greenhouse dryer room air temperature range of 14.82-58.46°C and relative humidity of 9.40-88.03%. In solar-exhaust gas mode drying was pe...
Abstract: The current study aimed to use, besides solar, waste heat from exhaust gas of a diesel engine operated for milling of grain, to dry black nightshade seeds. Assessment of thin layer models for simulating drying kinetics of black nightshade seeds was performed in a solar-exhaust gas greenhouse dryer operated on solar; solar-exhaust gas; and exhaust gas modes. In solar mode, seeds took 11 hours to reach a final moisture content of 7.13% (db) from an initial one of 89.34% (db). In solar...
Abstract: In this study, the use of supplemental heat energy from exhaust gas of a stationary diesel engine was assessed to explore a new method of drying black nightshade seeds in a solar-exhaust gas greenhouse dryer. The energy recovery potential of a hybrid recuperative heat exchanger (HRHE) was demonstrated with the objective of utilizing the recovered energy from an engine on milling operations to heat a fluid stream of drying air. The results show that 4.45 kW of thermal energy was avai...
Early sprouting of yam tuber is a typical problem during storage resulting into weight losses, deterioration, shrinkage and reduction in quality. This study investigated the application of vibration technique to control sprouting in yam tubers during storage. A mechanical yam vibrator having adjustable frequencies and amplitudes was developed with vibrating chamber of capacity size of 670 × 570 × 180 mm3 which can contain four tubers of yam at a time. The physical properties (length, n...
The soybean cyst nematode (SCN), Heterodera glycines, is the most damaging pathogen of soybeans in the United States. To assess the severity of nematode infestations in the field, SCN egg population densities are determined. Cysts (dead females) of the nematode must be extracted from soil samples and then ground to extract the eggs within. Sucrose centrifugation commonly is used to separate debris from suspensions of extracted nematode eggs. We present a method using OptiPrep as a density gra...
We describe a microfluidic platform that can be used to study the hydroponic growth of Arabidopsis plants with high-resolution visualization of root development and root-pathogen interactions. The platform comprises a set of parallel microchannels with individual input/output ports, where 1-day old germinated seedlings are initially placed. Under optimal conditions, a root system grows in each microchannel and its images are recorded over a 198-h period. Different concentrations of plant g...