Innocent Joseph

Biodiesel Production from Neem Seed ( Azadirachta indica ) Oil Using Calcium Oxide as Heterogeneous Catalyst

Biofuel is an alternative and environment friendly source of energy, originated by the use of fossil fuels and have led to a notable growing demand from the last few decades. As biodiesel are usually acquired from renewable sources like vegetable and animal oils, for example coconut oil is extracted from the coconut and then characterized for further usage. The aim of this study is to investigate the production of biodiesel from neem oil and to characterize the parameters that affect biodiesel performance. The Biodiesel was produced using trans-esterification process resulting in the values of saponification 191 mg KOH/g, iodine 10 mgl2/g, acid 14.0 mg KOH/g, density 0.91 g, viscosity 23 mm2/s and flash point 266°C. The biodiesel was also characterized and showed that the it has density of 820 kg/m3, viscosity 3.5 mm2/s, saponification value 91 mg KOH/g, iodine value 8.9 mgl2/g, acid content 30.8 mg KOH/g and flash point 110°C. The physicochemical properties obtained were also compared to standard biodiesel in the range of ASTM specifications.

Analytic Spin and Pseudospin Solutions to the Dirac Equation for the Quadratic Exponential-Type Potential Plus Eckart Potential and Yukawa-Like Tensor Interaction

We solve the Dirac equation for the quadratic exponential-type potential plus Eckart potential including a Yukawa-like tensor potential with arbitrary spin–orbit coupling quantum number κ. In the framework of the spin and pseudospin (pspin) symmetry, we obtain the energy eigenvalue equation and the corresponding eigenfunctions in closed form by using the Nikiforov–Uvarov method. Also Special cases of the potential as been considered and their energy eigen values as well as their corresponding eigen functions are obtained for both relativistic and non-relativistic scope.

Evaluation of Heavy Metals Concentration in Selected Medicinal Plants (Sterculia setigera Del. and Sclerocarya birrea (A. rich.) Hochst) Collected from Bwabul Spring, Bambuka and Jalingo Low-lands, Taraba State

Analytical study was conducted on some selected medicinal plants (Sterculia setigera Del. and Sclerocarya birrea (A. rich.) Hochst) collected from Bwabul Spring, Bambuka, and Jalingo Low-Lands in order to determine the presence and levels of some selected heavy metals (Cd, Mn, Fe Pb and Zn) and also to compare the concentrations of these metals from the two locations. Results obtained from this study revealed that the concentration of elements Cadmium, Iron and Lead (0.03 ± 0.06, 4.84 ± 0.08 and 0.06 ± 0.02) mg/kg from Bwabul were lower compared to those from Jalingo Low-lands (0.21 ± 0.07, 6.03 ± 0.05 and 0.36 ± 0.02) mg/kg. On the other hand, the concentration of Zinc and Manganese (5.69 ± 0.08 and 1.87 ± 0.10) mg/kg are higher from Bwabul as compared to Jalingo Low-lands (4.29 ± 0.10 and 1.45 ± 0.00) mg/kg. However, despite the high concentrations of these elements from the two locations, they were found to be within the permissible limit set by WHO/FAO as at the time of determination.