The study estimated the amount of energy required for grinding palm kernel shell and groundnut shell using laboratory hammer mill and also characterize their ground physical properties. The material type and hammer mill screen aperture significantly influenced the energy requirement for grinding the two materials. For a given screen aperture size, groundnut shell consumed more energy than palm kernel shell. The energy relationship with hammer mill screen exhibited a second order polynomial form. Within the same hammer mill screen aperture range, the energy requirements for palm kernel and groundnut shell were considerably lower than most grass based biomass or straw. The bulk and particle density of groundnut shell decreased with increased geometric mean diameter while that of palm kernel shell increased with geometric mean. The two materials ground exhibited a lognormal particle size distribution at hammer mill screen of 5 and 3 mm, while 0.8 mm screen aperture exhibited a normal size distribution. The total particle and surface area estimate in a charge was sensitive to the screen sizes. Energy equations: Ratzinger's, Kicks and Bond's were used to investigate the results of the biomass comminution with Ratzinger's equations showing a higher R 2 value for palm kernel shell while Kick's equation showed a higher R 2 value for groundnut shell.

This research aimed at computing peak flow discharge using state-of-theart technology for watershed analysis to design a suitable open channel to minimize the effects of flood hazard during and after rainfall in an environment. A comprehensive topographical survey data obtained by Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission was employed in this study. The result of the survey shows that both the maximum and minimum elevation at 61.9 m and 51.1 m, respectively, and the mean slope of the area was 0.012. Watershed analysis of the study area was carried out using the Global Mapper15.0. The result shows that the parameters obtained such as the mean area of the sub-catchments is 1.43 ha, the mean length of channel flow is 99.33 m, the mean length of overland flow is 111.81 m, mean upstream elevation for overland flow is 63.30 m, mean downstream elevation for overland flow is 62.37 m and mean downstream elevation for channel flow is 61.12 m. The intensity duration frequency curve of the catchment was developed and a return period of 25 years was used to obtain an average rainfall intensity of 218.81 mm/hr. The peak discharge was obtained as 2.01 m3 /s using rational formula due to the area of the watershed being less than 80 hectares. Finally, several design parameters for the modeled rectangular channel were calculated. The result indicated that the width of the channel is 0.80 m and the depth of the channel is 1.0 m. The developed modeled channel has a design capacity of 2.03 m3 /s which is greater than watershed peak discharge 2.01 m3 /s. The size of the modeled channel was compared with the size of the existing channel and the result revealed that the existing drain was insufficient to carry the discharge from the catchment area due to its design capacity of 0.91m3 /s. It is recommended that the dimension of the existing drain should be increased to meet with the dimension of the modeled drain and a discharge point (safe outlet) should be provided.

The drying kinetics and determination of thermodynamic properties of sliced tomato samples during hot air drying in a hybrid solar-electric crop dryer were presented. One kilogram batch of freshly harvested tomato samples were sliced to 10 mm thickness and dried at varying air velocities (1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 ms-1) and temperatures (50, 55, 60, 65, and 70 o C) using the hybrid mode. In order to choose the best drying model, eight thin-layer mathematical models were fitted to the experimental data. The high values of coefficient of determination, R 2 and the low values of reduced sum of squares error (SSE) and root mean square error (RMSE) indicated that the Midilli et al. model adequately described the drying process of tomato slices, with its highest R 2 (0.9999), lowest SSE (0.1136) and lowest value of RMSE (0.0212) at 70 o C temperature and 2.0 ms-1 air velocity. Arrhenius model was used to represent the drying constant as a function of temperature. The effective moisture diffusivity increased with increase in temperature and air velocity; with the highest value obtained at air velocity of 2.0 ms-1 and temperature of 70 o C, whereas it was lowest at air velocity of 1.0 ms-1 and temperature of 50 o C. The mean activation energy required to dry 1kg batch of 10 mm sliced tomato samples was 39.34 kJmol-1. Enthalpy and Gibbs free energy values were found to decrease with increasing drying temperature as well as the entropy which also exothermically decreased with temperature. Recommendations for further studies were stated.

The study examines the microbiological properties of cheese from soy milk as influenced by heat treatment durations and biological coagulant types. The soy milk was pasteurized at 65°C and subjected to further heat treatment for 15, 20, and 25 minutes with the addition of coagulants (lime juice, tamarind pulp and moringa seed paste) to respective samples and allowed to cool for 30 minutes before pressing out the whey. The initial properties of raw soy milk were determined to serve as control and the nine produced soy cheese samples were determined using a 3x3 factorial treatment design. The microbiological properties of the cheese were determined using standard methods. Results obtained were analyzed statistically to determine the influence of heat treatment duration and coagulant sample. The microbial analysis revealed that there was Coliform in soy cheese samples which were all less than 1.0 x 102 cfu/g except in F15, F20, and E25 which had 4.2 × 102 , 4.3 × 102 , and 2.1 × 102 cfu/g which are within the permissible limit of consumption. There were no Coliform bacteria in all samples except E15, F20, and F25 which had 1.6x103 , 1.4 x103 , and 4.0 x102 cfu/g, respectively which are also within the permissible limit of consumption. There was no yeast and mould growth on all the samples except E25 which is <1.0x102 cfu/g. This study is initiated to determine the effect of heat treatment and local coagulants on the microbial properties of Nigerian soft soy cheese. Hence, investigating the hygienic quality and safety of consuming the food product.