Computer Aided Process Equipment Design (CAPED)

The project was aimed at developing simulation software packages that would lead to the design of industrial equipment.

The application of simulation software in industry in Nigeria was observed to be low. This was attributed to the high cost of software and the dearth of relevant manpower, hence the need for indigenous technical expertise to harness the simulation software of interest to the local manufacturing sector of the economy.

The technical committee constituted by the Council in May, 2002 to develop process equipment design and simulation software was therefore mandated to revisit an earlier work on cyclone. The team focused on gas cyclones, which are used for removing dry products from gas streams and classification.

The software developed was tested using literature data. The results obtained showed that the output from the software compared favourably with literature values.

Design and Development of Cassava Pelleting Mill

The apparent under-utilisation of natural resources in which Nigeria has comparative advantage has led the Council to embark on a technical programme that would add-value to local raw materials for process industries. Cassava is one of the crops that Nigeria is the largest producer in the world, it is yet to economically add-value to cassava as an industrial raw material other than for ‘gari’ production.

The Council commisioned two universities, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi and University of Nigeria Nsukka to design a cassava pelleting mill of 5 tonnes/hour output. The two designs have been produced out of which one would be utilized for the fabrication of the pelletizing mill.