The mathematical model for temperature regime thermal analysis evaluation of convective heat dryer has been done. Control volume analysis was adopted in this work while taking note of all the feasible heat transfer mechanisms around the system. Mathematical expressions for the energy, exergy, entropy generation as well as destroyed exergy were derived using the control volume. The consumed energy, exergy, entropy generation and exergy destruction of the dryer were computed. The system temperature gradually increased from its initial room temperature of 270˚C to 720˚C at approximately 2700 secs. The temperature thereafter dropped and stabilized to about 670˚C at 4600 secs while the element dried gradually. The moisture removal curve followed the same trend as that of the temperature with gradual variation from 0.5 to 13.2g/mol. The peak energy from the system is approximately 958J against the useful exergy of 443J which shows that 46.24% of the expended energy was actually useful for the drying purpose and about 10.23% was lost. The energy and exergy efficiencies were also computed and results showed that the efficiencies are functions of temperature just like other influencing parameters which has to be technically controlled. Peak energy efficiency of approximately 54.6% was recorded in the dryer with the peak exergy efficiency of 23.4%. The dryer also yielded a better dried product as compared with the traditional means of drying.

The design, fabrication and testing of a power availability recorder (PAR) to track the duration of electricity supply in facilities is presented. The design was executed with C-Language encoded in a microcontroller which served as the central processing unit of the device. Proteus software was, subsequently, used to simulate the real-life practicability of the device before the prototype was constructed. This device is designed to record power availability in seconds which can be converted to hours while energy consumption is recorded in kWh. Thereafter, the device was functionally tested and installed in a customers' premises for a period of three (3) months. Energy Consumed was plotted against Availability using GraphPad Prism Software and it could be seen that Availability and Energy Consumption are directly proportional to each other. This forms a sound basis for discrediting the outrageous bills issued by the utility companies for months when there were few hours or no power availability. It follows therefore that if installed in unmetered households, this device could go a long way in curbing the excesses and checking the inefficiency of the utility companies in terms of unjustifiable estimated bills issued to their customers.

Background: Thermal analysis was performed on a conventional 6.5 m high dome with a 0.65 m diameter at Nigeria Railway Corporation. Energy and thermal analyses were performed on the furnace to improve efficiency and minimize energy losses in the system. Results: The energy efficiency recorded was 55%. The losses in the furnace amount to 45%, the highest value being the heat loss to the combustion gas at 34%. A parametric study was examined to see the effect of some design and operational parameters on furnace efficiency through energy savings and the study found a positive trend. The parameters include the flue gas temperature, the combustion air inlet temperature, the thickness, and the emissivity of the refractory wall. A decrease in the temperature of the flue gases increased the efficiency of the furnace to 73%, an increase in the air inlet temperature increased the efficiency of the furnace to 61%, and an increase in the thickness of the refractory wall increased the efficiency of the furnace. Oven to 56% and a decrease in emissivity of the refractory wall increased the efficiency of the furnace to 56%. Conclusions: The studied parameters were further combined and their net effect showed a possible increase in furnace efficiency from 55% to 78%. The maximum efficiency of 78% was determined with respect to the minimum/maximum estimated values of the parameters studied, as more metals are melted with the combined energy saved from a variation of these parameters. This implies that cupola furnace or similar furnace designers or operators should be guided on the preheating conditions, thickness, and emissivity of the refractory wall to be used with other parametric combinations to be adopted to ensure energy efficiency and improvement in such furnaces.