Engineering and Technology Journal

Groundnut shells and sawdust are generated in vast quantities yearly but under-utilized. In developing countries, this situation leads to their disposal by unplanned landfilling, indiscriminate dumping, or open burning as ineffective solid waste management systems persist. Such practices constitute severe environmental problems that need to be urgently tackled. In this work, composite boards were fabricated from groundnut shell particles (GSP) and sawdust particles (SDP) at varying volumetric proportions of 0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100 % using Topbond as a binding agent. The boards were dried completely and then assessed for water absorption, bulk density, thermal conductivity, specific heat capacity, thermal diffusivity, thermal inertia, availability, and flexural strength. The results revealed improvement in the samples' thermal insulation performance as the SDP proportion increased from 0% to 100%. Though samples fabricated with 50 % each of the SDP and GSP exhibited a balance in the thermophysical and mechanical properties, all the samples could ensure better thermal insulation than conventional ceilings such as Isorel and plywood. Generally, the samples can be used as ceiling panels or partition elements in building design. This idea of utilizing groundnut shells and sawdust to develop composite panels for building purposes, as described herein, has been reported for the first time. It could help to ensure the construction of affordable and thermally safe buildings while solving the problems associated with their disposal.

This study was designed to investigate how some important physical properties of Plaster of Paris (POP) ceilings are affected by the utilization of untreated oil palm mesocarp fiber (UOPMF) and treated oil palm mesocarp fiber (TOPMF) as a modifier. Both fibers were utilized separately at various weight proportions (0, 10, 20, 30, and 40%) to fabricate the ceiling samples. The samples were dried completely and then tested for water absorption, porosity, bulk density, thermal conductivity, specific heat capacity, thermal diffusivity, heat flow time, and flakiness. All the samples could improve thermal insulation performance better than conventional ceilings like asbestos and polyvinyl chloride (PVC). However, the UOPMF enhanced a greater potential than the TOPMF over the control sample. Loading up to 30% of the fiber was optimum for a good blend, considering the resistance to wear offered by the samples.

Dialysis machines operate in an uncertain environment with several sources of disturbances; therefore, it is necessary to take account of the uncertainties during all their life phases. This paper presents a study of the random reliability of the dialysis machine in a stochastic environment through the two-parameter for Weibull distribution. The shape and scale parameters were estimated through analytical and graphical methods based on the failure history of the devices. The formulation of the analytical methods and their exploitation using numerical simulations was one of the objectives of this work. The uncertainties in the stochastic environment of the machines are related to variability in physical and geometric parameters, fluctuations in load conditions, stress boundary conditions, and also to physical laws and simplifying assumptions used in the modeling process. The Weibull parameters introduced these uncertainties, and their effect on the device's reliability was studied. The main contribution is the study of the effect of the uncertainties in Weibull parameters on the reliability of the dialysis machine. The question of the uncertainties in the Weibull parameters was treated. The involved parameters were considered a Gaussian variable, and their means and standard deviations were calculated in several configurations of the dialysis devices. The random failure rate and reliability were treated and discussed. The random systematic inspection period is studied to install an efficient preventive maintenance program.

This paper explores integrating Blockchain technology and WebSocket protocol to implement an E-government system. Blockchain is used to record correspondence between users and the government, while WebSocket is used to communicate among the distributed nodes of the blockchain network. This system leverages the inherent security and transparency of blockchain in addition to the real-time communication capabilities of WebSocket, which elevate the performance of the delivered services by the government. In this paper, users can submit transactions and track them in a way that allows them to follow up on all actions taken regarding their transactions. Information and framework transactions are stored in the MongoDB system and retrieved when needed. Also, previous transactions can be verified using the Merkle tree. This paper highlights the potential benefits of the proposed system. The system has been tested considering various factors related to end-user perception, such as transaction request, latency, and throughput. Furthermore, practical use cases are discussed to adopt the proposed system successfully. The proposed system ensures the active participation of all the nodes in the system without making an individual decision in favor of a particular node or the citizen\'s interest.

This research was designed to assess the yield and quality of ash prepared from different types of waste papers. Waste newspapers, writing papers, and cartons were selected for combustion to obtain the ashes and coded as WNPA, WWPA, and WCPA, respectively. The waste papers were incinerated simultaneously in separate but identical incinerators at 850 ℃. An experiment on the yield of the ashes was performed on two days before the ashes obtained were mixed based on the type of waste papers from which they were derived. The results showed that irrespective of the day and time, the WCPA was the most yielded (14.1%), followed by the WWPA (12.3%), and then the WNPA (11.9%). Also, it was found that all the ashes possessed flow properties acceptable for engineering applications. However, the WCPA would ensure the best performance if applied, especially as a partial replacement material for cement. While the WWPA was found to be richer than the WNPA, the WCPA was the richest in terms of the proportions of key oxides for strength development. In general, the percentages of various chemical components of each ash complied with the standard specifications for cement except in the case of losses on ignition of the WNPA and WWPA, which were about 0.53% and 0.02%, respectively, beyond the maximum stipulated value.