In this study, the performance of groundnut oil as an alternate cutting fluid was compared with that of soluble oil during machining of stainless steel. The temperature at the cutting zone, surface roughness and the chip formation were monitored under the two cutting conditions (soluble oil and vegetable oil). The machining parameters used were cutting speed (75 – 135 rev/min), feed rate (0.01 – 0.05 mm3/mm) and depth of cut (0.01 – 0.08 mm). The experiment was designed using Taguchi orthogonal array of Minitab 18 which generated a 9 run machining parameter mix for the experimentation. The Physiochemical properties of the various fluids were also analyzed to determine the properties and constituent elements of the cutting fluids. The actual machining of the stainless steel bar was done using a Colchester mastiff lathe machine. Results show that feed rate and cutting speed had the most significant effect on surface roughness during machining of stainless steel both with groundnut oil and soluble oil. Soluble oil was a better coolant but poorer in lubrication as vegetable oil reduced surface roughness more when used. Surface roughness value improved from 9.21μm during machining with soluble oil to 3.84μm during machining with groundnut oil which represented a 58.3% improvement. Hence, vegetable oil is therefore recommended as good alternative cutting fluid to soluble oil during machining of stainless steel.

Due to the alarming rate in public awareness on environmental issues, there has been growing demand for biodegradable materials which has opened an avenue for using vegetable and animal oils as alternatives to petroleumbased polymeric materials in the market, most especially in machining operations. Thus, research on biodegradable functional fluids has emerged as one of the top priorities in lubrication, due to their applicability in many diverse areas. In this quest, there is need to conduct machining trials to determine the suitability of these oils in metal cutting (turning) operations of plain carbon steels. This study investigate the effect of the selected cutting fluids on certain parameters like machine removal rate (MRR), machining time, tool wear and spindle power consumption, etc. under different machining combination in turning operations of plain carbon steels obtained from universal steel Ikeja, Nigeria, using 150 x 10 HSS cutting tool. The selected oils purchased from Ogunpa market in Ibadan, Nigeria, were sieved to remove any foreign particles or dirt. The solution; water, based-oil, and emulsifier (to allow thorough mixing of water and oil without separation), were mix at an elevated temperature of 55 0 C in a proportion 4:1:3. Experimental results clearly showed that Conventional cutting fluid might be replaced with Non-conventional cutting fluids (vegetable and animal based) as they give better performance. With slight modifications and deliberate but careful alterations in some of the components of such oils, even better performing cutting fluids could be obtained.

The demand for alternative water pumping mechamism needed to overcome the challenges facing people in the remote areas is on the increase. The conventional manually operated hand pump requires a large amount of energy before quality water can be pumped for domestic and irrigation purposes. This limits its usage by the average persons, the elderly and the disabled. This study presents the development of a solar-powered slider crank mechanism, a more energy friendly drive system. Slider crank mechanism with connecting rod 70 mm, radius of crank 14.8 mm and a frame with width, breadth and height of 70 mm, 70 mm, 134 mm, respectively was fabricated using mild steel. Solar panel, charge controller, battery and low speed motor were used to power the mechanism. The performance of the solar powered slider-crank aided system for pumping water was evaluated in terms of actual and theoretical discharge, as well as volumetric and pumps efficiencies with values of 0.01693 m3/s, 0.01302 m3/s, 76.905%, 73.26%, respectively. Conclusively, the solar powered slider-crank aided water pumping system is about 24% better in terms of performance compared to the conventional manually operated hand pump.