Browsing by Author "Ajewole TO"

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    Agro-residues for clean electricity: in-lab trial of power generation from blended cocoa-kolanut wastes
    (2022) Ajewole TO; Aworinde AK; Okedere OB; Somefun TE
    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.
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    Use of experimental test systems in the application of electric microgrid technology across the sub-Saharan Africa: A review
    (2020) Ajewole TO; Olabode OE; Babalola OS; Omoigui MO
    Electric microgrid is counted with the emerging technologies recently identified as being required for revolutionizing Africa within the space of one decade. The place of innovative research and development on various components of microgrid systems is also found pivotal and indispensable to the envisioned massive deployment of the technology across the sub-Saharan region of the continent. It has, however, become a global practice to employ specially developed experimental microgrid test systems as dedicated research tools for establishing design criteria and evaluating operational performances of microgrids in efficient way. This study therefore presents a survey on the availability and deployment of microgrid test systems across the nations of the sub-Saharan Africa. Available literatures published on the concept, though very scanty and not readily accessible, are thoroughly reviewed and reported in this survey. It is found that while there are few instances of works done on development and application of on-the-site demonstration microgrid as experimental facilities, laboratory-based microgrid emulators as test systems does not have much popularity despite being comparatively cost effective in design and development. This discovery could influence researchers, utility providers, national governments, regional organizations, research funders, as well as other stakeholders across the region into embracing the deployment of microgrid test systems in order to enhance seamlessness in the adaptation of the technology to the African context for its efficient application across the African sub-Sahara.