Abstract
As a way of wastes-to-voltage conversion, experimental benchtest trial of electricity generation from a blend of cocoa and kolanut harvest by-products is presented in this study. Bioethanol obtained from the blend, through a process of alcoholic fermentation, was mixed with gasoline at specific proportion and employed to fire a spark ignition engine that served as a prime-mover in driving a four-pole three-phase salient-pole synchronous machine. Performance of the driving machine, as the fuel-mix proportion and its speed of rotation varied, was studied. Likewise, the electric power output characteristic of the driven machine, when operated at its rated synchronous speed, was examined. It was found that the driving machine performed better on mixed fuel than pure gasoline. There were gradual increases in the torque and the power developed by the machine as the proportion of ethanol in the fuel-mix and the rotational speed increased. While the highest values of torque and power developed on using pure gasoline were 12.4 Nm and 2574 W respectively at 1900 rpm, 13.1 Nm torque and 2953 W power were obtained from the machine when ignited with 10%-bioethanol fuel-mix at the same speed. Also, with 90 Vdc excitation voltage and rotation at 1500 rpm synchronous speed, the driven machine continuously generated electricity at 207.6 Vrms (line-to-line), 1.169 A, 0.698 power factor, 48.17 Hz, 0.294 kW output. This study demonstrated the possibility of continuous generation of electric power from cocoa and kolanut wastes. Result obtained from the laboratory-based trial indicates that at such agricultural regions that are advantaged in the production of the two crops, harvest residues of the crops can be explored as a steady source of biofuel for off-grid microgrid electrification.
Highlights
With the cleanliness of the energy resources, as well as their abundance and accessibility across the world, renewable energy technology offers a great potential for sustainability in the global energy development
This was left for 24 h, after which water was added to the crystalized compound and the pH level of the sample was adjusted with NaOH until it came to 4.2 in order to create an optimal condition for the incoming fermenting agent
Other factors that might have been responsible for the increased yield, according to [43], is the varieties of cocoa and kolanut pods used in the study, which are Criollo and Cola Nitida respectively [46]
Summary
With the cleanliness of the energy resources, as well as their abundance and accessibility across the world, renewable energy technology offers a great potential for sustainability in the global energy development. Mathematicalor proximate-based potency modelling; characterization of physical, chemical and thermal properties; and materials blending are forms of pre-treatment that are in practice. In [4], pine sawdust obtained from Tanzania was modelled for its suitability for energy production through the use of steam explosion pre-treatment method. Authors in [7] presented an in-depth review on biomass gasification plants design technologies for electricity generation and concluded that there is possibility of changes in the initial design conditions that could lead to plant malfunctioning. In [9], thermal and physico-chemical properties of agro-pellets produced from blends of olive waste (olive mill by-product) with pine sawdust was investigated, and the results obtained from the study showed that the blends are capable of serving as fuel alternatives for domestic boilers. Negative effects of blending was investigated in [14] for mitigation and it was concluded that the limitations and problems caused by the negative effects could be summoned by conducting well-based pre-evaluation of the utilization options through the knowledge of ash compositions and melting temperatures of the blends
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