Plants In Nigeria Research Articles

Measurement of the Macro-Efficiency of Hydropower Plants in Nigeria Using Transfer Functions and Data Envelopment Analysis

Persistent power challenges plague Nigeria, with hydropower constituting a vital component of the country's energy mix. This study assessed the macro efficiency of three operational hydropower plants in Nigeria using three distinct methods: Constant Return to Scale Method of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA-CRS), Input-oriented Variable Return to Scale Method of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA-VRS), and System's Coefficient of Performance Methodology (SCOPM) employing transfer functions. Input factors included man-hours, plant capacity, and water flow, while energy generation was the output. DEA-VRS revealed Shiroro and Jebba as the most efficient, while Kainji was the least. DEA-CRS indicated Shiroro as the most efficient and Kainji as the least. SCOPM indicated Jebba as the most efficient and Shiroro as the least. SCOPM's higher standard deviation suggests better discrimination among plants. DEA-VRS result showed that the scale of the biggest power plant, Kainji, has some effects on its efficiency. The study recommends the adoption of SCOPM by electricity utility operators and regulators for performance improvement due to its robust results. The contributions of the research are significant because of the novel application of DEA and SCOPM to measure the efficiency of power plants in Nigeria, and SCOPM for measurement of macro efficiency of power plants.

Cytotoxic Flavonoids from Lannea egregia Engl. & K. Krause

Background: Lannea egregia Engl. & K. Krause (family: Anacardiaceae) is a well-known medicinal plant in Nigeria whose various parts have been shown to elicit several biological activities. This study specifically explored the leaf of L. egregia for potential cytotoxic compounds. Methods: n-Hexane, dichloromethane and methanolic extracts of the leaf were prepared using the Soxhlet apparatus and concentrated using the rotary evaporator. Compounds were isolated by reversed-phase preparative high-performance liquid chromatography, and the structures were determined by spectroscopic means. The methanolic extract and the isolated compounds were screened for cytotoxicity against HeLa and MCF-7 cancer cell lines, using the MTT assay. Results: Three flavonoids, myricetin (1), myricetin 3-O-α-L-rhamnoside (2) and quercetin 3-O-α-L-rhamnoside (3), were isolated from the methanolic extract of the leaf of L. egregia. The methanolic extract and compound 3 showed the most potent inhibition profiles against the cells, with IC50 values (Mean ± SEM) of 45.3 ± 1.5 µg/mL and 57.5 ± 0.4 µg/mL for the methanolic extract, and 36.5 ± 2.0 µM and 57.9 ± 10.1 µM for compound 3, against HeLa and MCF-7 cells, respectively. Conclusion: Conclusion: This work shows that L. egregia leaf is moderately cytotoxic, and rich in flavonoids, and the cytotoxicity of the extract is, at least partially, due to the presence of cytotoxic flavonoids. This is the first report on characterized isolated compounds from the leaf of L. egregia and the occurrence of flavonols in the leaf.

Assessing the Vulnerabilities: Cybersecurity Challenges in Power System Infrastructure in Nigeria

This study examined the Cyber security Challenges in Power System Infrastructure in Nigeria. Four research questions guided the study which employed a survey research design. The population of the study was 46 respondents comprising 23 Technical Units Heads and 23 Heads of Cyber security Units from the (23) power-generating plants in Nigeria. The entire population was used hence, there was no sampling. The instrument used for data collection was a structured questionnaire titled: Cyber security Challenges in Power System Infrastructure Questionnaire (CCPSIQ) developed by the researchers. A reliability index of 0.89 was obtained using the Cronbach Alpha reliability method. The mean statistic was used to answer the research questions. The findings of the study revealed that the primary cyber threats targeting power system infrastructure in Nigeria including network-based attacks, insider threats, supply chain vulnerabilities, advanced persistent threats (APTs), physical attacks, zero-day exploits, data breaches, and ransom ware/extortion; it further reveal that cyber-attacks on power grid infrastructure in Nigeria lead to significant service disruptions, financial losses, equipment damage, safety compromises, erosion of customer confidence, regulatory non-compliance, increased vulnerability to future incidents, reputation damage, and prolonged recovery periods, underscoring the multifaceted impact of cyber threats on operational efficiency. The study recommended that: Collaboration among stakeholders, including government agencies, industry partners, and cyber security experts, is paramount to effectively address emerging threats and enhance cyber security resilience. By implementing proactive measures and fostering a culture of cyber security awareness, Nigeria can strengthen its power system infrastructure against cyber threats, safeguarding the reliability and security of critical services for its citizens.

Assessment of Economic Viability of Conversion of Open Cycle to Combined Cycle Gas Power Plant

The paper identified the types of gas turbines available in the electric power generating system in Nigeria and assessed the economic viability of converting open cycle to combined cycle gas power plants in order to maximize the electricity generation output without further gaseous fuel consumption in the existing thermal plants in the country. Data were obtained through primary and secondary sources on all the operational power plants in Nigeria. These data were analyzed using engineering economy methods. The result showed that by using the average generation of each plant for a period of 3 years as a baseline for conversion, an additional 1142.1 MW would be obtained after conversion to combined cycle without increase in gas consumption. In addition, the result showed the NPV values and benefit-cost ratio were greater than zero and one respectively, indicating that the project is economically viable for each conversion process. The sensitivity analysis over a range of values from ±10 to ±30% of the investment cost did not affect the economic viability of the project. Furthermore, the result showed that the cost of generating electricity borne by the society is much lower for a combined cycle than for an open cycle. The study concluded that conversion of the gas turbine from open cycle to combined cycle is economically viable and an additional generation of 1142.1 MW can be obtained without increasing the gas consumption.

Multicriteria GIS-based assessment of biomass energy and hydropower potentials in Nigeria

The deployment of hybrid renewable energy systems remains the quickest way to salvage the dwindling grid supply in Nigeria and improve energy access. The assessment of biomass and hydro potentials across the geopolitical zones of the country to determine the optimal locations for a Biogas fired thermal plant for energy generation is thoroughly addressed in this paper. Multiple Geographical Information System (GIS) approaches were used to assess the energy potentials of crop and forest residues for biomass, as well as waterbodies, and waterlines for a hydrothermal power plant. The study applies the inverse distance weighting and weighted overlay multicriteria decision analysis. Forest areas, waterbodies, distance from water sources and road accessibility were considered for locating the biomass and hydrothermal facilities within multiple ring buffer distances of 200 m–2000 m from the combined biomass and hydropower resources. The result shows four states with potentials to host biomass-hydrothermal power plants in Nigeria; Niger, Kaduna, Bauchi and Taraba states with biomass potentials of 831.9 tonnes/yr, 1173.27 tonnes/yr, 322 tonnes/yr and 739.48 tonnes/yr, respectively and inland waterways. It further shows that these plants can be optimally located within 2000 m from the source of the biomass and hydro resources. This paper recommends the utilization of these results to carry out feasibility studies and make informed decisions on the exploration of these resources for power generation. It also advocates for a control in the commercialization of forest residues to sustain the production from these hybrid plants and supports the Nigerian bio-energy policy that proposes to effectively utilize the Nigeria's non-fuelwood as substitute to felling of trees.

Gas turbine modification: A review

Energy is a vital part of life today and it is utilized by humans to carry out work. Energy is required in different forms e.g. chemical, mechanical, electrical etc. Electricity is a secondary energy resource due to its dependence on other primary energy resources like coal, natural gas, wind, solar, hydro etc. and it is one of the most important energy source needed today because man relies on it for a lot of processes and activities. Electricity generated by renewable means have zero effect on the environment while electricity generated by non-renewable means generate pollution to the atmosphere and deplete energy resources. 51% of the electricity generated in the world today is derived from fossil fuel which is a nonrenewable energy resource. Natural gas power plants account for 23.1% of electricity generation in the world while gas turbines makes up a large percentage for natural gas plants in power generation. Gas turbines can be modified to increase their generation capacities with the aim of reducing pollution associated with combustion of fossil fuel. Nigeria relies mainly on gas turbine to supply electricity to the grid. 81% of power plants in Nigeria are thermal power plants while 17.59% are hydro-power plants. Gas turbine power plants make up 89% of the thermal plants in Nigeria today and they mostly operate using simple cycle. This data shows that there is a lot of potential to increase gas turbine efficiency in the Nigerian electricity space while reducing pollution and reducing fuel consumption.

THERMAL POWER PLANTS IN NIGERIA, LOCATION & CAPACITY, PERFORMANCE AND PRESENT STATUS (PART A)

This survey research paper, titled "Thermal Power Plants in Nigeria: Location, Capacity, Performance, and Present Status (Part A)" focuses on five major thermal power plants in Nigeria. Noticeably, electric power is a significant challenge for the industrial growth of a developing country. Rural areas often lack access to generated power. The major plants discussed include Egbin Thermal Power Plant (Lagos State), Alaoji Thermal Power Plant (Abia State), Afam Thermal Power Plant (Rivers State), Ughelli Delta Thermal Power Plant (Delta State), and Olorunsogo Power Plant (Ogun State), all located in the south-west part of Nigeria near gas pipelines. The article aims to extract data and information from various sources herein to provide insights into the generation capacity, location, and performance of these power plants. Ownership varies, with some power plants government-owned and others operating as public-private partnerships under NIPP, etc. The generation capacity may differ due to ongoing efforts to increase capacity as the case may be. Thus, the overview of these major thermal power plants in Nigeria is presented in tables, detailing installation year, commission, and current generation capacity. Subsequently, Part B will present other major thermal power plants in Nigeria, covering their status, ownership, and operational capacity.

Trends in botanical exploration in Nigeria forecast over 1000 yet undescribed vascular plant species.

Taxonomists are primary actors of biodiversity assessment. At the same time, there is awareness by the taxonomic community at large that the field is going through a crisis, sometimes referred to as the 'taxonomic impediment'. Coupled with the ongoing biodiversity crisis, or 6th mass extinction, this biodiversity impedance puts at risk the target set in the Convention on Biological Diversity's (CBD) Global Biodiversity Framework vision 2050, which calls for urgent action to '… put biodiversity on a path to recovery by 2030 for the benefit of planet and people'. This risk is particularly pronounced in tropical African countries where taxonomic studies are done on an ad hoc basis. In this study, our aim is to investigate the historical trends in botanical exploration of vascular plants in Nigeria and forecast the near-term (50-year) description of presently unknown species, which we use to discuss scenarios of taxonomic effort that may be necessary for a comprehensive biodiversity assessment in the country. The study is based on a dataset from the World Checklist of Vascular Plants, containing all vascular plant species reported to occur in Nigeria. We fit nested Bayesian time series regressions to estimate the long-term trend in the rate of description of vascular plant species in Nigeria. From these models, we use an ensemble forecast to estimate the number of species descriptions by the year 2070, and then evaluate the description rates per taxonomist required to meet this estimate under different totals of active taxonomists. We find a striking difference in species description between Nigerian botanists and their foreign counterparts, with the former contributing relatively small numbers. Additionally, only a fraction of the authors involved in describing Nigeria's vascular plants are of indigenous origin. Our study reveals that the number of new species described annually exhibits a long-term increasing trend, with an average of 19.5 species described per year. However, after taking into account year-to-year variability and the number of taxonomists active in a given year, the long-term trend in species descriptions credibly declines over time. While the number of authors involved in describing species has generally increased over time, it has remained stable since the 1950s. Predictions for the number of new species descriptions by 2070 vary by model, with an ensemble prediction estimating 1140 species descriptions, but ranging from 1004 to 2239 between individual models. The study estimates that current levels of taxonomic activity should lead to a 20 % increase in known species of vascular plants in Nigeria over the next 50 years, which is still probably an underestimate of the true, unknown species richness. Urgent action is needed to address the taxonomic impediment so that local taxonomic studies in tropical African countries can achieve the CBD's Global Biodiversity Framework vision 2050. Here, we outline some key pathways to achieving this goal.

Using remote sensing technique to assess biomass energy potentials and appropriate site locations in Nigeria

In a bid to promote clean energy usage and conserve the forests, the Nigerian bio-energy policy was recently constituted, to help tackle the energy insecurity in the country and help increase its carbon credit in line with the United Nations development goals. This paper presents a Geographical Information System (GIS)-based assessment of biomass energy potentials and appropriate siting of biomass plant in Nigeria using remote sensing technique. It promotes sustainable and clean energy penetration and conserve forest life, which supports the UN SDGs on; Clean and Affordable Energy (SDG 7), Climate Action (SDG 13) and Life on Land, including forest sustainability (SDG 15), and the Federal Government of Nigeria's net-zero emission commitment. The weighted overlay decision analysis was employed considering multicriteria approach. The various vegetation, forest, water bodies, lands, water source locations, accessibility to roads, aspect and topography were the criteria that were considered for locating the biomass facility. Efforts were made to quantify the biomass energy potentials of the six geopolitical zones in Nigeria, with the possibility of locating biomass plant; North East, North West, North Central, South East, South West and South South. The results obtained in this study reflect that the north eastern part of Nigeria has the highest theoretical, technical and economical energy potentials of crop residues (1163.32, 399.73 and 110.56 PJ/yr, respectively), while the south eastern part has the least energy potential (52.36, 17.99 and 4.98 PJ/yr, respectively). Also, the north western part of Nigeria has the highest theoretical, technical and economical energy potentials of forest residues (260.18, 156.11 and 43.18 PJ/yr, respectively), while the south eastern part has the least energy potential (1.79, 1.08 and 0.30 PJ/yr, respectively). The remote sensing technique employed in this study suggested that the northern part of Nigeria is most suitable for siting biomass plants in the country.

Study on Medicinal Forest Plants in Ifo, Ogun State, Nigeria, and Factors Shaping Usage Patterns

The utilization of medicinal plants in Nigeria is not solely associated with availability and accessibility but also reflects cultural heritage and local knowledge regarding natural resources. This research addresses the pressing issue of the medicinal utilization of selected forest plants in the Ifo Local Government Area of Ogun State, Nigeria. Commencing with a succinct presentation of the identified problem, the study aims to explore solutions to formulated research questions and test hypotheses at a significance level of 0.05 alpha. Employing a descriptive survey research design, the study involves one hundred respondents randomly selected from Ifo Local Government Area, including forest and herbal operators, civil servants, and farmers. Five communities, i.e., Alagbole, Lambe, Ibogun, Onihale, and Igbusi, were purposively sampled, with 20 randomly chosen respondents. Data collection utilized a self-structured questionnaire to gather pertinent responses on the variables central to the study. Analysis methods included simple percentages, tables, Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Coefficient (PPMCC), and independent Student's T-test statistics, applied to test hypotheses at a 0.05 significance level. The research findings highlight, among other insights, the frequent use of forest plant-derived herbs for treating or preventing various health issues in the study area. As a recommendation, the study suggests the need for effective legislation to regulate the harvesting and trade of medicinal plants.

Assessment of Off-Grid Power Plants in Nigeria: Location, Capacity, Performance and Current Status

The power sector in Nigeria still struggles with significant electricity challenges resulting from the unavailability of power supply and the unreliability of the conventional national grid. The total installed capacity of off-grid plants in Nigeria is approximately a meagre 52 MW, with a combination of 67 operational mini-grids and solar home systems across the country impacting only about one million households and around five million residents out of Nigeria’s population of over 200 million people. It has been reported that both urban and rural areas suffer the impact of power shortages and frequent blackouts. The unreliability of power supply in Nigeria has been identified as a significant problem affecting educational institutions in terms of productive learning, student residency and institutional operations, and also the overall operation of healthcare facilities as it limits access to quality healthcare services. The study examines the presence and potential of off-grid power solutions in Nigeria which present a more reliable approach to supplying electricity to users, as a deliberate response to the multiple and complex challenges in the Nigerian power systems to identify the present location, installed capacity, operational performance, and current status of off-grid power plants in Nigeria. The Geographic Information System and statistical approaches were employed. It was discovered that off-grid solutions are beginning to spread across the country on different scales. However, most rural areas in Nigeria still do not have access to electricity supply. The study encourages decentralized power generation in the country and emphasizes the need for the federal government through the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) to consider investing in off-grid solutions, particularly in the rural areas for socio-economic benefits.

Multicriteria GIS-based assessment of biomass energy potentials in Nigeria.

The understanding of the geographical variability of biomass energy is an essential requirement for the optimal location of biomass energy conversion plants. This research presents a multicriteria GIS-based assessment of biomass energy potentials and the appropriate siting of biomass plants in Nigeria. The study applies the weighted overlay multicriteria decision analysis method. Crop and forest areas, settlement (energy supply areas), shrub/grasslands, barren land, water bodies, distance from water sources, road accessibility, topography, and aspect are the criteria that were considered for locating a biomass facility in this study. The results suggest that the theoretical, technical, and economical energy potentials of crop residues are highest in the North-East region of Nigeria and estimated at 1,163.32, 399.73, and 110.56PJ/yr, respectively, and lowest in the South-East at 52.36, 17.99, and 4.98PJ/yr, respectively. The theoretical, technical, and economical energy potentials of forest residues are highest in the North-West, estimated at 260.18, 156.11, and 43.18PJ/yr, respectively, and lowest in the South-East at 1.79, 1.08, and 0.30PJ/yr, respectively. Although most areas were identified to be suitable for siting biomass plants across Nigeria, the most suitable areas are located in the northern part of the country and include Niger, Zamfara, the Federal Capital Territory, Nassarawa, Kano, Kebbi, Kaduna, and Borno State. The study supports the Nigerian bio-energy policy that proposes to effectively utilize Nigeria's non-fuelwood as a substitute for the felling of trees. This is very important to strengthen its commitment at the COP26 International Climate Conference, which is to conserve and restore its forest. Furthermore, this study will serve as a good reference for policymakers to make well-informed decisions on tackling the energy insecurity in Nigeria.

Assessment of safety climate perception of maintenance workers during major overhauls, outages, shutdowns or turnarounds (MoOSTs)

AbstractMaintenance activities are used to sustain the reliability of physical industrial assets. However, studies indicate that some of the most devastating industrial accidents are attributable to poor safety perceptions of maintenance workers, especially during major overhauls, outages, shutdowns or turnarounds (MoOSTs). Typical MoOSTs involve the harmonisation of regular maintenance endeavours on a large scale, which in turn heighten risks of accidents and costs. Furthermore, MoOSTs are performed over short durations thereby necessitating parallel high‐risk activities by different organisations that have different perceptions of safety and possess different safety cultures. Understanding safety climate can immensely benefit MoOSTs organisations by improving the understanding of attitudes and perceptions that alleviate workplace incidents. This study aimed to establish safety climate that would boost safety culture and positively impact perceived safety performance during MoOSTs. Safety climate questionnaire survey was deployed to MoOSTs workers of leading cement plants in Nigeria. Through exploratory factor analysis, three underlying safety climate factors were identified, which helped to determine that factors such as ‛training and learning from incidents’, ‛commitment of senior management towards ensuring safety and its protocol development process’ and ‛effectiveness of incident reporting systems during MoOSTs’ were significant predictors of workers’ perceptions of safety performance. The findings also pointed out that the inter‐relationship between perceived safety performance, MoOSTs safety training and organisational commitment were positively correlated.

A review of selected parasitic plants in Nigeria: converting harms to benefits

A review of selected parasitic plants in Nigeria: converting harms to benefits

Architectural Framework for Development of Fuzzy Integrated Data Repository (FIDR) for Medicinal Plants in Nigeria.

Nigeria is a tropical country known to be home to a vast array of plants, most of which are plants that have been found to be medicinal and have been used in traditional healthcare delivery for centuries. Traditional Medicine Practitioners (TMPs) have been the major custodians of the knowledge of herbal medicine in Nigeria. It is noted that there is lack of documentation of the practice of herbal medicine which has resulted in the loss of a vast majority of the knowledge. The absence of a centralized digital data repository on medicinal plants and their uses in Nigeria hampers the drive for standardization, scientific validation and quality control of herbal medicine products in Nigeria. This consequently undermines the health and wellbeing of those dependent on traditional herbal medicine for their primary health care needs. Much of the claims on the efficacy of herbal medicine are found to be based on traditional beliefs and myth and have not been subjected to scientific evaluation. This accounts for the introduction of fuzzy logic into the design of an architectural framework for design of Fuzzy Integrated Data Repository that will allow access to information using sharp and fuzzy queries. This will be a resource platform that will resolve the information impasse by providing adequate and correct information to all stakeholders in the traditional herbal medicine healthcare delivery as well as foster synergy between orthodox medicine and herbal medicine practitioners, improve research that will lead to standardization and quality control of herbal medicine products in Nigeria.

Analysis of physicochemical and tribological properties of nano alumina-based gear oil developed from effluent of lube oil blending plant

Industrial wastewater, also known as effluent has been identified as one of the leading sources of environmental pollutions worldwide. The establishment of lube oil blending plants in Nigeria has led to a continuous discharge of industrial effluent in densely populated areas. This threatens the well-being of humanity, plants, aquatic lives and construction soils. This research paper focused on developing a nano alumina-based effluent gear oil from effluent of lube oil blending plants as an alternative means of mitigating its threats on the environment. Nano lubricant are used in gearboxes for better thermal, friction and anti-wear properties. This is due to the small size and high specific surface area to volume ratio of the nanoparticles. Furthermore, due to their excellent mechanical and thermal properties, easy dispersal in most fluids, inexpensiveness, ease of manufacture, and aspect ratio, the Al2O3 nanoparticles are recently being used by researchers as an additive in gear oils to improve tribological properties, increase power efficiency, extend equipment lifetimes, and lower operating cost. In this work, the alumina nanoparticle was synthesized using co-precipitation method, after which it was characterized using Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) and X-ray Diffraction (XRD) analysers. After the development of Al2O3-based gear oil from the effluent, the physicochemical and tribological properties of the alumina-based effluent gear oil samples were investigated with varied weight percentages of Al2O3 nanoparticles. The Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) thermal analyses of nano alumina-based gear sample was investigated after obtaining the suitable sample among the sample blends developed. The dispersion of the nanoparticle in the effluent oil improved the specific gravity and pour point whereas a slight reduction was observed in kinematic viscosity at 100 °C, viscosity index and flash point. However, viscosity index and flash point values are conforming to the minimum requirements of API EP 85W90 and ISO 100 standard values. The anti-wear property was observed to significantly improved by 26.14%, at 0.4 wt% nanoparticles concentration. The results showed that, the pure effluent oil recovered is more thermally stable than the 0.4 wt% nano alumina-based effluent gear oil sample, whereas the nano gear oil sample has a higher thermo-oxidative stability than the pure effluent oil. Finally, temperature profiles from the simulation results also ensured a better performance of the 0.4 wt% alumina-based effluent gear oil developed, at 1500 rpm speed of rotation by 6.7% and 8.9% and at 4000 rpm is by 5.9% and 7.8% than the API EP 85W90 and pure effluent oil samples respectively. Hence, based on the results obtained, the study indicated that the effluent oil from lube oil blending plants can be used as gear oil with the dispersion of alumina nanoparticles.

Diversity, molecular phylogenetics, and antibiotic biosynthetic potential of endophytic Actinobacteria isolated from medicinal plants in Nigeria.

Actinobacteria that are found in nature have enormous promise for the growth of the pharmaceutical sector. There is a scarce report on the antimicrobial activities of endophytic Actinobacteria from Nigeria. As a result, this study evaluated the Actinobacteria isolated from Nigerian medicinal plants in terms of their biodiversity, phylogenetics, and ability to produce antimicrobial compounds. Following accepted practices, Actinobacteria were isolated from the surface-sterilized plant parts. They were identified using 16S rRNA sequencing, microscopic, and morphological methods. The cell-free broth of Actinobacteria isolates was subjected to antimicrobial assay by agar well diffusion. Molecular evolutionary and genetic analysis (MEGA) version X was used for phylogenetic analysis, and the interactive tree of life (iTOL) version 6.0 was used to view the neighbour-joining method-drawn tree. A total of 13 Actinobacteria were recovered, belonging to three genera including 10 strains of Streptomyces, 2 strains of Saccharomonospora, and only 1 strain of Saccharopolyspora. They showed inhibitory activity against several bacterial pathogens. The phylogenetic tree generated from the sequences showed that our isolates are divergent and distinct from other closely related strains on the database. Further, optimization of the antibiotic production by selected Saccharomonospora sp. PNSac2 was conducted. It showed that the optimal conditions were the ISP2 medium (1-2% w/v salt) adjusted to pH of 8 at 30-32℃ for 12-14days. In conclusion, endophytic Actinobacteria dwelling in Nigerian soils could be a promising source of new antibiotics. Future research is warranted because more genomic analysis and characterization of their metabolites could lead to the development of new antibacterial medicines.

Comparative Analysis of an Expandable Modular Plant and a Stick-Built TiO2 Plant.

Expandable modular plants (EMPs) can be the future of the chemical industry, especially in emerging markets. Using the relative position of points on alternative NPV-time curves from the period of 10-20 years, we compare the economics of an expandable modular TiO2 plant with that of a large-scale TiO2 plant constructed fully on site (stick-built) and present scenarios where the expandable modular approach is economically favorable over the stick-built approach. To simplify the assessment of economic viability between constructing an EMP and a stick-built plant, we introduce a measure known as the flexibility feasibility ratio-a certain ratio of unit installed capacity in an EMP to the nameplate capacity of a stick-built plant at which the NPVs are equal at all points on alternative NPV-time curves. We determine that a flexibility feasibility ratio of 0.25 is suitable to install an expandable modular TiO2 plant in Nigeria, relatively.

Developing improvement strategies for management of the Sisrè berry plant [Synsepalum dulcificum (Schumach & Thonn.) Daniell] based on end-users’ preferences in Southern Nigeria

Synsepalum dulcificum is a valuable horticultural and lesser-known crop, famous for the uniqueness of its taste modifying properties, which is candidate for genetic improvement in West Africa. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 100 respondents purposively selected to analyze the current production systems and constraints as well as to document the farmers’ and consumers’ preferences for breeding traits in Southern Nigeria. The results showed that none of the investigated farmers applied all required crop management practices to produce the species (land cleaning before establishment, pegging and lining, holing, base manure application, crop irrigation, weeding, pruning, fertilizers application, and pests and diseases control). Farmers were grouped into three clusters based on crop management practices. There was a strong and highly significant agreement among farmers (Kendall’s W = 0.8, p < 0.001) that bush fire, poor plant growth, drought, pests, and parasitic weed were the five most important constraints in Southwest Nigeria. In Southeast Nigeria, damage by insects and birds, poor seed germinability and poor knowledge of cultivation technics were the most important constraints challenging production. Farmers’ agreement around these constraints was moderate but highly significant (Kendall’s W = 0.6, p < 0.001). Overall, the top three desired breeding traits by farmers included: high growth rate, extended fruit shelf-life, and high fruits yield while the top three consumer’s preferences included: high miraculin potency (long lasting action of the miraculin), fruit glossiness, and high metabolites content. However, cultural specificities were detected in these preferences with a higher agreement in Yoruba farmers’ preferences compared with their counterparts Igbo. The Igbo consumers showed a higher concordance in their traits’ preferences than the Yoruba consumers. These findings pave the way for an informed cultivar development for the Sisrè berry plant in Nigeria and expand knowledge on end-users’ preferences for the species in West Africa.

Alien flora of Nigeria: taxonomy, biogeography, habitats, and ecological impacts

Biological invasions remain one of the greatest threats to biodiversity and livelihoods, and are predicted to increase due to climate change and globalization. In this study, we produced a comprehensive checklist of alien plants in Nigeria from online flora databases, herbarium records, published field surveys, and questionnaires administered to botanical gardens. The resulting alien flora was classified into naturalized, invasive, and cultivated plants. We then fitted a random forest model to identify the attributes which facilitate the naturalization of alien plants in Nigeria. We also used separate chi-squared tests to investigate if the frequency of these attributes is significantly different between the naturalized and invasive plants. The results include 1,381 alien plant taxa, comprising 238 naturalized, 190 invasive, and 953 cultivated species. The naturalized and invasive plants (428 species) are from 91 families, with Fabaceae and Poaceae having the highest representations. The random forest model showed that life forms and local economic uses were the most important drivers of alien plant naturalization in Nigeria. Chi-squared tests revealed a non-random distribution of life forms, higher frequencies of naturalized plants from the Indomalaya and the Neotropics, greater introductions during the British colonial rule, and that naturalized species are mostly used for medicinal, ornamental, food, or animal fodder purposes. Naturalized and invasive plants were recorded in all regions of Nigeria and are mostly found in urban and agricultural landscapes. This baseline information can support further ecological studies and conservation actions in Nigeria.