PORT HARCOURT SOOT: DON’T FEAR THAT BLACK STUFF THERE. BE AFRAID OF THE ONES YOU CANNOT SEE

By Idongesit F. Oduok Soot in Port Harcourt has been a cause for serious concern of recent. This is suspected to be from activities of those producing illegal fuels (bunker kerosene) at the creeks. I suppose the soot is as a result of them burning a portion of crude oil to generate energy to cook the crude to obtain kerosene etc. In industrial setting this is done in well designed furnaces to control the release of pollutants. But these folks at the creek are using crude method to distill crude oil to obtain crude kerosene, hence you see these pollutants in addition to the loss of lives of the masses from explosion of this their crude kerosene. Adverse air pollution may be divided into two classes – acute and chronic effects. Acute effects manifest themselves immediately upon short term exposure to air pollutants at high concentrations, and chronic effects become evident only after continuous exposure to low levels of air pollution. The chronic effects are very difficult to demonstrate and are consequently less obvious. Soot is classified as particulate. It is carbon released from the crude oil molecule due to incomplete combustion. Its effect is acute, as you can see and experience its presence almost immediately. The effect include general physical discomfort, skin irritation, damage to paint and aesthetic of both built and natural environment. Other effect includes upper respiratory tract infection. On the positive side, if you can lay hold on a good quantity of this soot you can use it to produce printer ink, paint, and other products that require carbon as feedstock. What should be our greatest fear? That black stuff you see there is a lesser evil compared to several other invisible pollutants you cannot see. In the midst of that black smoke are hundreds of unseen pollutants – they are colourless. These include volatile organic compounds (VOCs) like benzene and formaldehyde as well as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). These unseen pollutants are highly carcinogenic. How bad can things be? In future Port Harcourt may turn out to be the cancer headquarters of the world if nothing is done urgently to address this mayhem. And the right time for action is now. (Idongesit Oduok works on achieving a pollution free environment. This he does by designing reactors that efficiently obtain energy and material resources from waste. 07037263653. odfidservices@gmail.com. odfidtechnicalworld.blogspot.com)

FOOD SAFETY: WHY YOU SHOULD DRINK SUGAR DRINKS AND NOT "NO SUGARS"

When you drink "no sugar" products they still taste sweet and even sweeter than sugars. Why? What is added there are sweeteners e.g. Aspartame or Saccharin. When you hear "no sugar" it is more of marketing term than safety. If you consume sugar in excess, worse that will happen is diabetes mellitus but if you consume sweeteners in excess you stand a chance of having cancer - a bigger devil. We need sugar in our body but I doubt if we need sweeteners. Sugars are natural chemicals while sweeteners are man-made. A small dose of sugar is good for you as it will be a primary source of energy. Good news is that you can burn it off completely if you are a hustlers - children are experts on this. Are you scared of diabetes? Only sugars that you can't burn off give diabetes. Meaning you consumed more than you needed. Mind you there are people that do not consume sugar but still have diabetes. Why? This type is due to imbalance of Antidiuretic hormone (ADH). In summary: Consume sugar not sweeteners. Do not take excess sugar. Honey, glucose are awesome for you.

LET ME COACH YOU ON HIGH SCHOOL CHEMISTRY

I will be online to assist senior secondary school students on Chemistry. Go to comment, type or snap your questions. I am here to assist. Share with other kids

HOW IT WORKS: KEROSENE STOVE

This is kerosene stove. How do you use it? You put kerosene in the tank and leave space above the kerosene so you fill air. You lock the kerosene inlet. Pour little amount of spirit (alcohol, methylated spirit, or little amount of kerosene) around the lower part of the burner, light it and allow some time for the burner to heat up. Pump air into the kerosene champers, with the help of pump attached - Pump there work like that of bicycle. The air/kerosene mixture will burn to give flame without smoke. Anyone that has the stove should advertise in the comment section here. Whoever needs the stove should indicate interest. Ask any question you have on the technical aspect of this product.

SUCCESSFUL: BIOMASS WASTE TO ALCOHOL

Alcohol has many applications in the industry – as fuel, in producing diethyl ether, for sterilization etc. Two major methods of producing alcohol are hydrolysis of ethene and fermentation of glucose. Glucose is an expensive feedstock hence other carbohydrates are used. The good news is we can now produce alcohol from biomass wastes such as sugarcane bagasse and sawdust. In a research that I provided Technical Assistance at my Center, we were able to breakdown the lignin that hindered access to cellulose in these wastes, did chemical hydrolysis and then fermented the reducing sugar to alcohol. Physico-chemical analysis as well as GC-MS/FTIR result confirmed the claim. At Odfid Technical Center we conduct trial experiments at our lab, develop research proposal before a study is advanced to specialized laboratories for analysis, then we analyze results using Excel and MATLAB. Ongoing environmental researches we are assisting include converting biomass waste to biogas and biopolymer, development of adsorbent, design of batch reactor, combustor, and adsorber. “Odfid … Ensuring competence.” 07037263653

MY HIGH SCHOOL CHEMISTRY KIDS MADE THIS SALT

 

The attached picture made my day.

A group of SS2 students in one of the schools I visit to teach Chemistry came excitedly, "Sir, we have produced our own salt. We would not buy salt again in the market."

 

I taught them in SS1 SEPARATION TECHNIQUES that you can obtain salt (NaCl) by evaporating sea water to dryness.

 

The students now secretly arranged for one of them to visit Ibeno water and get sample of the seawater which they evaporated to dryness and here comes our locally made salt.

Qualitative Analysis: The salt produced on exposure to air was found to be deliquescent - attracts water from the atmosphere to dissolve itself. It dissolves completely in water. The solution of the salt gave white precipitate when tested with solution of silver nitrate, the precipitate was insoluble in nitric acid (confirmatory test for chlorides)

This indeed is very rewarding as it has been my expectation to help this young minds to begin now to figure out ways of harnessing our natural resources.

While I will continue with the work of purifying the product at my private technical center, I have advised them that the salt need to be purified to remove carbonates and other non-sodium halides etc.

We would in the present state use the salt as preservative for our emulsion paint, we would use it for laboratory test for chlorides and to demonstrate removal of hardness of water (water softening by ion exchange).

My philosophy of high school chemistry is to let them understand the theory, carry out the laboratory practicals, and apply the knowledge to do mini projects.

 

CURRENT JOBS: APPLY IMMEDIATELY

 

1. DANGOTE JOB

2. NAMPAK NIGERIA LIMITED - Chemical and Electrical Engineers (Degree/HND)

Nampak Nigeria Limited - We are a frontline multinational manufacturing company with clientele cutting across the major sector of the economy.

Applications are invited for:

Title: 2022 Graduate Trainee Program

Location: Nigeria

Requirements

BSc - 2nd Class Upper or HND - distinction

Chemical or Electrical Engineering

0 year work experience

Not older than 25 years of age by January 2022

Application Closing Date

15th October, 2021.

How to Apply

Interested and qualified candidates should send their CV to: bevcan.hr@nampak.com using the Job Title as the subject of the mail.

3. GRACECO LIMITED

Technical Operator (Functional Trainee)

Company: Graceco Limited

Location: Lagos

Job Summary

We are searching for a smart and well-focused Engineering graduate to join our team as a Functional trainee who will be in charge of specific machine on the production.

The person will operate the machine and ensure it is working optimally.

To be successful as a trainee engineer, you should always be expanding your engineering knowledge and sharpening your communication skills.

Requirements

Graduate of Electrical Engineering, 2.1 or better

0 - 2 years work experience.

Post degree training from Institute like IIT would be added advantage

Applicants under age of 30 are preferred.

Applicant who resides within Ikeja, Agege, Ipaja, Otta, Alagbado and environs will have added advantage.

Applicant must be knowledgeable about basic TPM knowledge, autonomous maintenance step 1,2,3 is preferable.

Basic computer skills (windows, excel) is preferable to enter performance results in the related database.

HACCP & Hygiene oriented.

Apply here:

https://lnkd.in/esPrvXKe