THISDAY
Monday, 18 February 2013
Thursday, 14 February 2013
Urine Generator: Four Nigerian Students Generate Electricity From Urine
Copied from the Vanguard:
Nothing is really a waste in the real sense of the word.
Almost anything one can think of is reusable. Everything has some value one way
or the other. This was what four teenage secondary school girls in Lagos set
out to prove.
Disturbed by the incessant deaths of Nigerians, most of the
time, an entire family, from carbon monoxide poisoning from fossil-fuel
generator, the yo-yo movement of petroleum products prices, environmental degradation
and the recent fuel subsidy scam, four Senior Secondary School II students of
Doregos Private Academy, Ipaja, Lagos, decided to find solution to the problem.
In a chat with Vanguard Learning, the girls – Duro-Aina Adebola, Bello Eniola,
Akindele Abiola and Faleke Oluwatoyin, shed some some light on the project and
what they hope to achieve. Excerpts:
An idea is born:
Said Duro-Aina Adebola, leader of the group; “I read on the
internet that a family of five died of carbon monoxide poisoning so I asked
myself what could be done to reduce these incessant deaths from carbon monoxide
poisoning?
“We were always encouraged to bring up ideas to help solve
human problems so one day, we were in the Guest Room of our school; we thought
of what could be done to solve this problem. We thought of what we could use to
power the generator instead of using the conventional fuel, something that can
replace conventional fuels and that will not release any obnoxious substance
like carbon monoxide into the environment; something that will also be cheap
for Nigerians. You know that when the issue of fuel subsidy removal came up,
there was hike in prices of petroleum products,” she said.
‘A problem well stated is a problem half solved,’ according
to Charles Kettering, so having identified the problem, the girls moved on to
seek solution.
“We started looking at various materials. We looked at water
but we felt that the amount of voltage it will take to break the water molecule
is large and we wanted something small so we can have a larger output. We
decided to look at waste products because Nigerians always opt for something
they won’t have to spend their money on. So we started looking at different
materials, one of which was urine. We were looking for something that is
liquid, something that has hydrogen molecules in it. We also observed that the
amount of voltage it takes to break a urine molecule is less than the amount it
takes to break the hydrogen molecule in water. So we opted for urine since we
have a higher output,” she said.
The generator:
“The generator is a conventional fuel-based generator. It
combusts slower than the hydrogen gas so we had to retard the ignition of the
generator. We actually retarded the back-timing on the generator by 11
degrees.”
Components:
“We have an electrolytic cell, water filter, an empty gas
can, borax and our retarded generator. The electrolytic cell is an old
battery cell we got from the junk yard; we removed the contents of the cell and
then used perforated stainless steel mesh as the electrodes so urine is placed
in the electrolytic cell, where it is electrolysed, releasing hydrogen-oxygen
gas mixture. This mixture then goes into the water filter. The water filter is
to remove any impurities that might have come in with the gas and then it goes
into an empty gas cylinder which serves as the gas storage.
“The gas cylinder pushes hydrogen into a cylinder of liquid
borax, which is used to remove the moisture from the hydrogen gas. Borax serves
as a drying agent and this is because we do not want lots of moisture going
into the generator. Also, borax helps to remove any other impurities that might
have come in with the gas. The purified hydrogen gas is then pushed into the
generator,” she explained.
Asked how much it will cost to acquire a unit, she said;
“It’s something we are still working on because this is a prototype which cost
us about N4,000 apart from the generator. We are working on improving this so
it can just be our own generator, a Nigeria-made generator that works based on
urine.
Advantages: For this generator, the exhaust gas is the water
vapour. It does not emit carbon monoxide like the normal fuel-based generator
so this ensures clean environment for Nigerians. Again, one litre of urine can
give you six hours of electricity.
Appeal:
“We are appealing to people to build up on what we have
done. They should take up the idea and help us to improve on it so that it can
be something that can be in every Nigerian home because this was not made to be
lying around; it was made to be used by Nigerians. All we need is support so we
can take it to the next level. We want a situation where every home can have
this. We also want to make it compact so you don’t have to have different compartments,
they can all be in a single unit that can just be attached to a generator.”
Other projects:
The students are currently working on other projects like
bomb detecting radar, motor bike safety device and also paper from maize straw
(agricultural waste), to save our trees and environment.
Wednesday, 13 February 2013
NEWS HEADLINES: 2/13/2013
NATIONAL NEWSPAPER HEADLINES
• Jonathan
Showers Gifts, Honours on Super Eagles
• Dana Air Plane
Crash Blamed on Human Error
• Chime: I Was
Treated for Cancer of the Nose
• Police
Establish Communication between Salami, ACN Leaders
• FG Mulls
Alternative Funding Structures for Transmission Network
• Lamorde,
Otedola to Testify against Lawan
• SURE-P
Received N180bn in 2012
• Power: We Have
Enormous Problems, But We Shall Overcome, Says Minister
• Maku: Cross
River Becoming Manufacturing Hub
• JTF Impounds
Two Vessels, Destroys 23 Illegal Refineries
• Arepo Pipeline
Suspects in Prison
• FG Urged to
Fund NIFOR
• Sultan Wants
Violence Treated as Criminal Offence
• FG Expresses
Fear over Delivery of Calabar Power Plant
• Resignation:
Jonathan Hails Pope’s Courage
• Ex-Naval
Officer, 2 Others Arrested for Navy Recruitment Scam
• Pay Your Debt,
AMCON Tells Babalakin
• Naval Officer
Kills Policeman with Dagger
• 2015:
Opposition Parties’ Govs Mobilise for APC
• Ekweremadu:
Outcome of Referendum Will Decide State Creation
• Presidency,
National Assembly Reach Truce on 2013 Budget
• PDP Crisis
Deepens, as Party Opposes Oyinlola’s Application to Stop
Judgment
• House Demands
Urgent Rehabilitation of Niger Bridge
• Oyo Asks EFCC
to Refund Ladoja's ‘Stolen’ Money
• PDP Lauds
Jonathan over Developments in FCT
• Ekweremadu
Seeks Equal Opportunities for Women
• Audacious
el-Rufai
• PDP Losing Its
Lustre
• Opposition
Politics Changes
• A New PDM
Births
• Bank Charges
to Drop in 2013, Says Bankers' Committee
• Non-oil Export
Earnings Rise to $987m
• Nigeria’s
Eurobond Yields Hit Two-Month High
• Tax Evasion:
Tribunal Indicts AMBA MFB
• Cement Firms
Disrupt Stock Market Rally
• NASD Gets
Final Approval, Commences Operations Q2
• Secondary
Trading Will Boost Nigerian Bonds Market, Says Rencap
• PETAN Demands
Penal Measures against Skills Drain
• Holdco
Listings: Were Shareholders Cheated?
• UPDC REIT: A
New Investment Window
• Disquiet over
Non-remittance of FG’s Revenue
• Contributory
Pension, Life Annuities and Retirees’ Benefits
• Bayelsa
Invests N4bn in Power Sector
• Retirees Pay
N12.09bn Premium for Life Annuity
• Institute
Boosts MFBs, MFIs on Micro-insurance Services
• Institute
Boosts MFBs, MFIs on Micro-insurance Services
• STI Adopts
Enterprise Risk Management Framework
• Pension
Operators Eye 20m RSA Holders in 2017
• PETAN Demands
Penal Measures against Skills Drain
• Southern Sun
Fetes Customers at Valentine
• Ogun Plans to
End Multiple Taxation
• Survey Scores
TV Ads Low on Credibility
• FCMB: Free
Visa Cards Will Serve Customers Better
• Fayrouz
Partners Darey to Celebrate Valentine
PUNCH
• Keshi,
players get national honours, cash, plots of land
• NFF
pressured Keshi to accept foreign boss —Mark
• Babalakin
owes AMCON N60bn – Agbakoba • AMCON misleading the public
–Bi-Courtney
• I
underwent treatment for cancer – Chime
• Buhari not
dropping out of 2015 race –CPC • Ambition will tear
APC apart–Tukur
• Jonathan lauds Pope for voluntarily
relinquishing power
•
Aregbesola, Omisore disagree over governance in Osun
• PDP
opposes Oyinlola’s bid for reinstatement
• League:
Glo, Total Promotions disagree again
• President
will not sign budget this week – Minister
• Banks
slash current account charge to N3 …plan to reduce other
charges
•
Housewife’s corpse for autopsy, husband moved to SCID
THE GUARDIAN
• Tumultuous
reception for heroic Super Eagles
• Chime
admits taking nose cancer treatment abroad
• Police
indict MTN over suppression of evidence in Salami case
• Court
remands two journalists in Kano
• 10 APC
govs meet, say no going back on merger
• Path to
religious harmony, by SCIA, CAN
• Human
error may have caused Dana plane crash
• Mobile
Number Portability: Panacea for improved telecoms services?
• Report
foresees robust growth in Nigeria’s telecoms sector
• Lagos
drums support for software development in Nigeria
• Indian IT
training centre commissioned in Lagos
• Signal
Alliance fetes customers
VANGUARD
• Gunmen
kill 6 persons in Plateau
• JTF
impounds two oil vessels, barges in Bayelsa
• Former Rep
escapes assassination
• Afcon:
Super Eagles get cash, national awards
• Six cops,
LASTMA official arrested over extortion
• Crime
fighting: Police raise bar for college entrants
• Anxiety as
Senators, Reps refuse Jonathan’s request to alter budget
• My cancer
story – Chime
• Pope’s
resignation: There’s no crisis in the church – CSN
• Reps call
for construction of 2nd Niger Bridge
• Keshi was
bold – Rufai
• Monarchs
accuse Abia House of Assembly of extortion
• What
Valentine’s Day Means to Us
• Uduaghan
orders demolition of illegal structures in Asaba
•
Constitution amendment: We’ll not be intimidated – Ekweremadu
• Edo lawyer
sues DSS for alleged illegal arrest, detention
• And now
for the hard part
NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
• Pope
benedict suffers memory loss •Had heart surgery 3 months ago
• APC: Govs
list programme priorities for 2015
• Intrigues
that forced Keshi to resign
• ENUGU: I
went abroad to treat nose cancer - Chime
• Vitamin C
supplements, hot food in plastic plates may cause
kidney stones - Studies
• Alleged
ban of CRS in Osun schools: Media report not true - CAN
•Published communique issued last year
• Jaji
bombing: Indicted military officers to face court martial
• UN
condemns killing of foreign doctors, health workers in Nigeria
• I have no
interest in CBN job - Kaduna gov
• N160bn
estate: Residents want minister, EFCC to probe land
allocation
•
Restriction order: Truck owners, drivers protest in Ogun
• Man docked
for defrauding US citizen of N3.9m
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