ABU Convocation Series:
Technological Impacts and Opportunities IV
The contributions of the three prominent
ABU Agricultural Research Institutes (IAR, NAPRI and NAERLS) to the university’s
technological impacts on the agriculture were highlighted in the last two parts
of this article. Recently (19 and 20/1/2018), the University played host to the
Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh who toured the
three Institutes on a 2-day working visit. The Minister was shown the
achievements recorded by the three Institutes since their establishments. IAR showed
a number of different seed varieties, which were released. They included 54
varieties of maize, 48 varieties of sorghum, 17 cowpea, 13 cotton and four
sunflower varieties among others. NAPRI presented livestock production
technologies while NAERLS reported significant achievement in advancing the
frontiers agricultural extension services through use of ICT. The minister expressed
satisfaction and saluted the courage and efforts of the Institutes toward
making Nigeria proud in the area of agriculture. Earlier, the Minister launched
the donation of 370 motorcycles to extension agents in the State’s Agricultural
Development Programmes in all the 36 states of the federation and FCT. The
donation by the Federal Government was aimed at re-engineering extension service
delivery in the country.
So far, much has been said about ABU’s
breakthroughs in Agriculture. Although, it is generally accepted among the
academia in Africa and beyond that ABU is a pacesetter in the field of
agricultural research and innovations, however, the university has also
performed excellently in other areas. Engineering is one of such areas. Department
of Mechanical Engineering, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria (ABU) had made a
giant stride in the areas of automobile engineering by producing two Marathon
cars namely
‘Abufeng’ and ‘Abucar II’. The block
bursting ‘Abucar II’ participated in the Road Show, organized by the Shell
Petroleum Development Company, Nigeria in Lagos in March 2015 and came out top
by passing all the technical tests. The tests included safety, ergonomics,
energy efficient, body and interior design as well as overall weight. The
special innovations in ‘Abucar II’ range from a Rear-View Camera System, a
Soft-Touch gear selection system and a Rain Sensitive Wiper System. Over a
relatively short time, the university was able to improve the design of Abucar
II and thus, produced Zazzau III, an energy efficient car. Zazzau III
participated in the Shell African Eco-Marathon Championship in South Africa in
2016. The competition was hosted by School of Electrical Engineering,
University of Johannesburg and took place at the Zwartkops Raceway with twelve
participating teams. ABU Team won the Team Award for perseverance and a 3rd
place award for efficiency of engine design. Another ABU’s achievement in
engineering is the
development of ABU Research Mini-Refinery. This project was initiated by the
Department of Chemical Engineering in 2001/2002 Academic Season but couldn’t
continue due to paucity of funds. In 2011, Prof. Mohammed Dabo dusted the
proposal, reviewed and forwarded it to the University Management for funding. Through
a combination of TETFund grant and the university’s support over a period of
five years the Mini - Refinery project
became a reality. Today, the refinery has a capacity of refining one barrel per
day with good refining qualities of the Petroleum products comparable with
conventional refineries worldwide. Still in the field of engineering, a 15KW
Solar Upgrades System was developed. The project was commissioned in February,
2015. This is a power system that is completely driven by solar panels and
independent of the national grid. It powers all lecture theatres, classroom,
libraries, and offices. The idea for the project came from ABU graduate and
staff, Dr. Tajudeen Humble Sikiru, who took his PhD from Tswane University
Centre for Renewable Energy and Power system, South Africa. The project
provides manpower training for undergraduate and postgraduate students. A local
capacity was built in, especially the postgraduate researchers who participated
in the project. The students and staff of the Faculty of Engineering of the
University did all the installations. So, those who did not have first-hand
experience on solar energy got the opportunity to participate and acquire such knowledge
and experience.
Still
in engineering, ABU recorded yet another success story; the development of
Zeolite Catalyst from Kankara Kaolin.
Zeolite, a technical name of a solid mineral coined by Swedish geologist Axel
Cronstedt (1722-1765). Zeolites are
solids, three – dimensional crystal structure made up of molecules of aluminum,
oxygen, silicon and sodium with water molecules trapped between them. Zeolites
are useful in pharmaceutical and petrochemical industries. They are used in
catalytic crackers to break large hydrocarbon molecules into gasoline, diesel,
kerosene, waxes and all kinds of other petroleum products. The many pores in a Zeolite
structure are like tiny test tubes where atoms and molecules become trapped and
chemical reactions readily take place. Like all catalysts, Zeolites are
reusable over and over again. In Nigeria, the Zeolite catalysts are commonly
used in the petroleum refining and petrochemical industry for a variety of
applications, ranging from catalytic cracking of heavy fuels to isomerization
and aromatization of petrochemical feedstock. Zeolite Y was first synthesized
in the sixties and introduced to the fluid catalytic cracking of heavy fuels in
the seventies. At that time, the zeolite Y was produced by partial de-alumination
of kaolin. Currently, higher quality zeolite Y is produced either by incorporation
method from high purity chemicals or by the patented Engelhard method from
kaolin and high purity chemicals.
The
Petroleum Trust Development Fund (PTDF) Professorial Chair in Chemical
Engineering at Ahmadu Belo University, Zaria Prof. Abdulkarim S. Ahmed was able
to develop new process routes through which high quality zeolites (zeolite Y
and ZSM-5) were produced. His work was a
result of many years of quality research work with his team of researchers. The
work involves the production of zeolite Y and ZSM-5 from kaolin massively
available in Kankara town of Katsina State, Nigeria. The ZSM-5 prepared also
had shorter crystallization time of 4 days when compared to 7 days for
conventional methods. This is certainly an outstanding performance. The
zeolites were blended and compounded into catalysts and tested both within and
outside the country. The
characterization and performance tests carried out revealed that a blend of the
two catalysts prepared locally outperformed the commercial catalyst presently
used at Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company.
Pilot plant units have been designed and
fabricated to produce the catalysts. The units were commissioned on 26th
August, 2015. Development studies were continued at the plant to improve the
qualities of the products to those achieved at the bench scale. Already,
Nigerian Patent Office, a body responsible for granting patents had granted a
patent to the university for this giant feat. This development has many
positive implications for Nigeria in general and for Kankara town, Katsina
State and the environs in particular, in terms of employment generation,
revenue generation and conservation of foreign exchange earnings. The drive to
increase the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP) along the development and
application of our natural mineral resources has over the years led to the
intensification of national research efforts with the aim of adding value to
the country’s vast mineral deposits. One of such minerals that has received
attention is kaolin with an estimated over 3 billion metric tons deposits
according to the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC) and the
Ministry of Solid Minerals Development (2003). In addition to zeolite catalyst
production, kaolin has other applications in alum, alumina and ceramic
production and as filler in paper and plastics, and as adsorbents for heavy
metals, to mention a few
Kankara kaolin has been reported to be one
of the best China clays in the country. It is presently mined on a small scale
by local miners for sale to non-manufacturing users. A pharmaceutical grade
kaolin beneficiation plant established in the town is yet to take off. This
research work on kaolin is a golden opportunity for the Federal and Katsina
state governments to support the exploitation and utilization of kaolin and
other natural resources for economic diversification in the state.
In conclusion, ABU has demonstrated its
capabilities in research and innovations with unquantifiable technological
impacts to the Nigerian society and beyond. Yet, the university has not reached
its zenith, more need to be done by the university and the society at large.
The university must exploit the opportunities provided by the vast and highly
influential members of its Alumni. A deliberate and concerted campaign “Time
for Payback” has to be mounted to sensitize all those who passed through this
citadel of learning. Every alumnus should provide his/her widow’s mite on
continuous basis to raise ABU to a greater height. States and Federal governments
have to increase support to convert the research results and innovations achieved
by ABU and other research centres for commercialization. The time is now,
tomorrow may be late, the world is already a global village and someone,
somewhere can take advantage at the expense of Nigerian society.
