This study aims at establishing if climate change exists in the Niger Delta environment using non-stationary rainfall Intensity-Duration-Frequency (IDF) modelling incorporating time-variant parameters. To compute the ...This study aims at establishing if climate change exists in the Niger Delta environment using non-stationary rainfall Intensity-Duration-Frequency (IDF) modelling incorporating time-variant parameters. To compute the intensity levels, the open-access R-studio software was used based on the General Extreme Value (GEV) distribution function. Among the four linear parameter models adopted for integrating time as a covariate, the fourth linear model incorporating scale and location with the shape function constant produced the least corrected Akaike Information Criteria (AICc), varying between 306.191 to 101.497 for 15 and 1440 minutes, respectively, selected for calibration of the GEV distribution equation. The non-stationary intensities yielded higher values above those of stationary models, proving that the assumption of stationary IDF models underestimated extreme events. The difference of 13.71 mm/hr (22.71%) to 14.26 mm/hr (17.0%) intensities implies an underestimation of the peak flood from a stationary IDF curve. The statistical difference at a 95% confidence level between stationary and non-stationary models was significant, confirming evidence of climatic change influenced by time-variant parameters. Consequently, emphasis should be on applying shorter-duration storms for design purposes occurring with higher intensities to help reduce the flood risk and resultant infrastructural failures.展开更多
The use of geotextiles as a reinforcement material for improving the factor of safety against slope failure in embankments built on soft clay is becoming a common practice. This work is intended to help understand the...The use of geotextiles as a reinforcement material for improving the factor of safety against slope failure in embankments built on soft clay is becoming a common practice. This work is intended to help understand the effect of the geotextile reinforcement has on such embankments and to provide a design aid for civil engineers that enables them to quickly estimate the factor of safety against slope failure. Seventy four different cases were modelled and analyzed using a finite element software, GeoStudio 2018 R2. The results showed that the optimum improvement was achieved when using a single layer of geotextile reinforcement placed at the base of the embankment, by which the factor of safety increased by up to 40%. Adding a second layer, a third layer and a fourth layer, increases the safety factor by 2.5%, 1% and 0.5% respectively. Different charts for different heights of embankments were presented to aid in finding the most suitable slope angle and number of reinforcement layers required to achieve a certain safety factor.展开更多
The aim of this study was to model the Undrained Shear Strength (USS) of soil found in the coastal region of the Niger Delta in Nigeria with some soil properties. The undrained shear strength (USS) is a key parameter ...The aim of this study was to model the Undrained Shear Strength (USS) of soil found in the coastal region of the Niger Delta in Nigeria with some soil properties. The undrained shear strength (USS) is a key parameter needed for most geotechnical/structural designs. Accurate determination of the USS of soft clays can be challenging to obtain in the laboratory due to the difficulty in remoulding the clay to its in-situ conditions before testing and more accurate test such as Cone Penetration test (CPT) can be quite expensive. This study was carried out at Escravos site which is located in Delta state, Nigeria. Three Boreholes were drilled and soil samples were collected at 0.75 m intervals up to a depth of 45 m. Laboratory tests were used to obtain the moisture content, bulk unit weight, liquid and plastic limit, while CPT was used in obtaining the undrained shear strength. Classification of the soil samples was done by adopting the Unified Soil Classification System and various models relating the USS with the soil properties were developed. The result showed that most of the soils at Escravos site were predominately inorganic clay of high plasticity which are problematic due to the expansion and shrinking nature of this type of soil. The model developed showed that the soil properties that gave the best fit with the USS were the moisture content and effective stress of the soil. The coefficient of determination (R<sup>2</sup>) and the root mean square error (RMSE) obtained for this model were 0.805 and 6.37 KN/m<sup>2</sup>, respectively.展开更多
The aim of this study is to establish the prevailing conditions of changing climatic trends and change point dates in four selected meteorological stations of Uyo, Benin, Port Harcourt, and Warri in the Niger Delta re...The aim of this study is to establish the prevailing conditions of changing climatic trends and change point dates in four selected meteorological stations of Uyo, Benin, Port Harcourt, and Warri in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. Using daily or 24-hourly annual maximum series (AMS) data with the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) and the modified Chowdury Indian Meteorological Department (MCIMD) models were adopted to downscale the time series data. Mann-Kendall (MK) trend and Sen’s Slope Estimator (SSE) test showed a statistically significant trend for Uyo and Benin, while Port Harcourt and Warri showed mild trends. The Sen’s Slope magnitude and variation rate were 21.6, 10.8, 6.00 and 4.4 mm/decade, respectively. The trend change-point analysis showed the initial rainfall change-point dates as 2002, 2005, 1988, and 2000 for Uyo, Benin, Port Harcourt, and Warri, respectively. These prove positive changing climatic conditions for rainfall in the study area. Erosion and flood control facilities analysis and design in the Niger Delta will require the application of Non-stationary IDF modelling.展开更多
The study focused on the detection of indicators of climate change in 24-hourly annual maximum series (AMS) rainfall data collected for 36 years (1982-2017) for Warri Township, using different statistical methods yiel...The study focused on the detection of indicators of climate change in 24-hourly annual maximum series (AMS) rainfall data collected for 36 years (1982-2017) for Warri Township, using different statistical methods yielded a statistically insignificant positive mild trend. The IMD and MCIMD downscaled model’s time series data respectively produced MK statistics varying from 1.403 to 1.4729, and 1.403 to 1.463 which were less than the critical Z-value of 1.96. Also, the slope magnitude obtained showed a mild increasing trend in variation from 0.0189 to 0.3713, and 0.0175 to 0.5426, with the rate of change in rainfall intensity at 24 hours duration as 0.4536 and 0.42 mm/hr.year (4.536 and 4.2 mm/decade) for the IMD and the MCIMD time series data, respectively. The trend change point date occurred in the year 2000 from the distribution-free CUSUM test with the trend maintaining a significant and steady increase from 2010 to 2015. Thus, this study established the existence of a trend, which is an indication of a changing climate, and satisfied the condition for rainfall Non-stationary intensity-duration-frequency (NS-IDF) modeling required for infrastructural design for combating flooding events.展开更多
In view of the challenges posed by the nature of expansive soil to structural stability which makes it necessary in some cases to improve the soils before structures can be placed on them, there is a need to investiga...In view of the challenges posed by the nature of expansive soil to structural stability which makes it necessary in some cases to improve the soils before structures can be placed on them, there is a need to investigate modern trends in ground improvement techniques in order to determine their reliability. This study is thus aimed at using the reliability based approach to analyze the use of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) in combination with 1,2,3,4 Butane-tetracarboxylic acid (BTCA) for ground improvement. This study is necessary given the challenges posed by the nature of expansive soil to structural stability which makes it necessary in some cases to improve the soils before structures can be placed on them. Simplex lattice design was employed to build the design of experiment before experimental investigations were carried out on the PVA-BTCA treated soft soils. Reliability indices were computed on the basis of the 28<sup>th</sup> day unconfined compressive strength (UCS) of the treated soil. Reliability index models were developed using the Scheffe’s technique and optimized using excel solver. From analysis of results, reliability model developed proved adequate at 5% level of significance. PVA-BTCA combination provided a potential reliability or probability of success of 99.936% at components combination of: 98.4256% for soil, 1.2352% for PVA, 0.3392% for BTCA and 15.9934% for water. It was therefore recommended that financial implications of using PVA-BTCA for stabilization be compared to those of conventional methods, in order to compare their performance-cost ratio.展开更多
This study investigated the use of microbial analysis as a bioremediation option for remediating petroleum sludge, which is part of the waste stream generated in the petroleum industry. The aim is to reduce environmen...This study investigated the use of microbial analysis as a bioremediation option for remediating petroleum sludge, which is part of the waste stream generated in the petroleum industry. The aim is to reduce environmental burden caused by the discharge of untreated sludge. Sludge sample was cultured in other to isolate microorganisms for the sludge treatment. The selected strain of the organisms after screening were Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus niger, Verticillus sp, Penicillum sp, and Microsporium audouinii. Bioreactors (labeled A, B, C, D and O) were designed for the treatment of petroleum sludge. These reactors contain 2.0 × 10<sup>-2</sup> m<sup>3</sup> of the diluted sludge samples and the isolated organisms for the treatment process. On a weekly basis, the control reactors received 1.5 × 10<sup>-3</sup> m<sup>3</sup> of fresh and saline water respectively. After 12 weeks of treatment, sludge physicochemical characteristics showed distinct variations. From the result, reactor D was the best in terms of remediating the sludge as compared to other reactors. Friedman non-parametric test was performed to check if the weeks of treatment affected the reduction of the total hydrocarbon content (THC) in the five reactors and also checked for significant differences in the THC after treatments. The drop in the THC of the treated sludge ranged from 56.0% to 67.3%. These results showed the possibility of enhanced biodegradation of petroleum sludge by hydrocarbon utilizing microorganisms (fungi).展开更多
This paper mainly investigated the basic information about non-stationary trend change point patterns. After performing the investigation, the corresponding results show the existence of a trend, its magnitude, and ch...This paper mainly investigated the basic information about non-stationary trend change point patterns. After performing the investigation, the corresponding results show the existence of a trend, its magnitude, and change points in 24-hourly annual maximum series (AMS) extracted from monthly maximum series (MMS) data for thirty years (1986-2015) rainfall data for Uyo metropolis. Trend analysis was performed using Mann-Kendall (MK) test and Sen’s slope estimator (SSE) used to obtain the trend magnitude, while the trend change point analysis was conducted using the distribution-free cumulative sum test (CUSUM) and the sequential Mann-Kendall test (SQMK). A free CUSUM plot date of change point of rainfall trend as 2002 at 90% confidence interval was obtained from where the increasing trend started and became more pronounced in the year 2011, another change point year from the SQMK plot with the trend intensifying. The SSE gave an average rate of change in rainfall as 2.1288 and 2.16 mm/year for AMS and MMS time series data respectively. Invariably, the condition for Non-stationary concept application is met for intensity-duration-frequency modeling.展开更多
The study is a cross-sectional design assessment of the likelihood, frequency and severity of hazards associated with underwater operations in the Niger Delta. Five oil and gas companies were used for this study selec...The study is a cross-sectional design assessment of the likelihood, frequency and severity of hazards associated with underwater operations in the Niger Delta. Five oil and gas companies were used for this study selected by a purposive method given that they had the highest number of workers involved in underwater operations. A sample size of 418 was computed to which the questionnaires were administered with response rate of 95.93%. Data analyses were carried out to cover descriptive statistics, analysis of variance and Pearsonal correlation coefficients. The 4 by 4 risk assessment matrix for the likelihood and consequences showed that 8 out of 20 underwater hazards were categorized as having very high risk according to their risk ratings. The eight hazards categorized based on their risk IDs were H01, H03, H04, H08, H10, H11, H12, and H15. The 4 by 4 risk matrix for frequency and consequences revealed that two hazards (Piracy & bandit attack/kidnapping (H01) and Other main vessels/heavy object dropping or falling load/collision (H08)) were identified to be of very high risk.展开更多
This study was aimed at assessing the locational compliance status of petroleum handling facilities in the Niger Delta to the specifications of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) locational ...This study was aimed at assessing the locational compliance status of petroleum handling facilities in the Niger Delta to the specifications of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) locational standards. A cross-sectional research design was employed using a Standard checklist of seventeen compliance specifications of NUPRC. A walk-through survey was carried out in 118 identified facilities in three locations: Eket in Akwa-Ibom State, Port Harcourt in Rivers State and Warri in Delta State, respectively. The data obtained were analyzed using inferential and descriptive statistics, Kendall Tau-B and Principal Component analyses. The results indicate that the Petroleum Product facilities complied with 6 (35.29%) out of 17 specifications while 11 (64.70%) specifications were violated. Locations compliance of stations in the Niger Delta region is generally poor, but Stations in Port Harcourt recorded a higher compliance rate compared to Eket and Warri. Results of Kendall’s tau-b and Principal Component analysis indicated positive association between all the land space locational compliances. This study attributes the poor compliance rate to rapid urbanization, overpopulation, proliferation of filling stations and poor monitoring by regulatory agencies. It is recommended that, NUPRC should improve its monitoring and enforce regulatory operational specifications.展开更多
In this study, the impact of soil-cement stabilization on the index properties of the subgrade of roads was investigated. Efforts were on the means of improving the bearing capacity of the subgrade of a flexible pavem...In this study, the impact of soil-cement stabilization on the index properties of the subgrade of roads was investigated. Efforts were on the means of improving the bearing capacity of the subgrade of a flexible pavement structure. Three selected roads (Ogbia-Nembe, section of the East-West Road and section of Port Harcourt-Aba Road) in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria were examined to determine the effect of sand-cement stabilization on the compaction index property of their undisturbed subgrade and the optimal ratio of soil-cement on the expansive soils at which the California Bearing Ratio (CBR) is optimized. Disturbed soil samples were collected from twenty trial pits on each of the three study roads using a hand ulger and tested for their respective compaction index properties. It was discovered that their California Bearing Ratio (CBR) was very low. Some of the collected specimen materials were stabilized with varying percentages of soil-cement contents ranging from 6% - 14% in order to ascertain its effects on the compaction index properties of the sample soils. Results of the various stabilization test procedures show that: Stabilization of the soil using Soil-Cement Stabilization affected the Compaction Index properties of the soil and further improved the California Bearing Ratio (CBR). On the Ogbia-Nembe Road;Soil-Cement stabilization improved the CBR and is optimized at a 10% sand-cement ratio with optimum moisture content ranging from 6.2% - 14%, maximum dry density ranges from 1700 - 1780 kg/m<sup>3</sup>, yielding an average CBR of 42.7% for soaked samples. On the section of East-West Road from Eleme Junction to Etteh Junction;Soil-Cement stabilization improved the CBR and is optimized at a 14% sand-cement ratio with optimum moisture content ranging from 6.2% - 14.2%, maximum dry density ranges from 1660 - 1800 kg/m<sup>3</sup>, yielding an average CBR of 43.9% for soaked samples. On the section of Port Harcourt-Aba Express Road from Eleme Junction to Osisioma Junction;Soil-Cement stabilization improved the CBR and is optimized at a 12% sand-cement ratio having an optimum moisture content ranging from 5.4% - 17.3%, maximum dry density ranges from 1610 - 1740 kg/m<sup>3</sup>, and an average California Bearing Ratio for soaked samples at 40%.展开更多
This article investigates the comparative analysis of the facility present condition (FPC) of selected health and educational buildings in Rivers State. State funded hospitals and schools (14 functional out of 23 gene...This article investigates the comparative analysis of the facility present condition (FPC) of selected health and educational buildings in Rivers State. State funded hospitals and schools (14 functional out of 23 general hospitals and 2 out of 3 tertiary schools) were selected for the study. The general hospital is a secondary health facility designed to bring health care services close to citizens especially those in rural communities. These facilities were inherited from the colonial masters in 1960. An assessment visit in2016 found the 23 general hospitals completely dilapidated and abandoned. However, rehabilitation intervention was carried out by the government in 2020. This scenario was quite different with the schools. Thus, this study is to increase the awareness of facility operators on building maintenance. A purposive sampling technique was used in selecting the hospitals and schools, while simple random sampling was adopted for questionnaire distribution to 300 respondents. The instrument reliability and validity were ascertained using Cronbach Alpha and face validity. The instrument obtained information about the status of the facility present condition. SPSS and Microsoft Xlstat were used to obtain the mean and frequency distribution of the responses. Comparative analysis was conducted to understand the FPC of the schools and hospitals. Z-test was deployed to ascertain if there was a significant difference in the FPC between the two institutions. Checklist was adopted to confirm the findings. The result from the survey showed that schools have better FPC than hospitals.展开更多
This study developed empirical-mathematical models to predict the California Bearing Ratio (CBR) using soil index properties in Ogbia-Nembe road in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. The determination of CBR of soil i...This study developed empirical-mathematical models to predict the California Bearing Ratio (CBR) using soil index properties in Ogbia-Nembe road in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. The determination of CBR of soil is a laborious operation that requires a longer time and materials leading to increased cost and schedule;this can be reduced by adopting an empirical-mathematical model that can predict the CBR using other simpler soil index properties such as Plastic Limit (PL), the Liquid Limit (LL), the Plasticity Index (PI) and the Moisture Content (MC), which are less laborious and take lesser time to obtain. Thirteen models were developed to understand the relationship between these soil index properties: the independent variable and the California Bearing Ratio (CBR): the dependent variable;Six linear, Six quadratic and One multiple linear regression models were developed for this relationship. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) on the thirteen models showed that the Optimum Moisture Content (OMC) and the Maximum Dry Density (MDD) are better independent variables for the prediction of the CBR value of Ogbia-Nembe soil generating a quadratic model and a multiple linear regression model having a better coefficient of determination R<sup>2</sup> = 0.96 and 0.94 respectively, mean square error (MSE) of 0.74 and 1.152 respectively with Root mean square errors of 0.861 and 1.073 accordingly. These models were used to predict the CBR of the soil. The CBR values predicted by the model were further compared with those of the actual experimental test and found to be relatively consistent with minimal variance. This establishes that CBR of any soil can be predicted from the Index Property of the soil and this is more economical and takes lesser time and can be universally adopted for soil investigation.展开更多
文摘This study aims at establishing if climate change exists in the Niger Delta environment using non-stationary rainfall Intensity-Duration-Frequency (IDF) modelling incorporating time-variant parameters. To compute the intensity levels, the open-access R-studio software was used based on the General Extreme Value (GEV) distribution function. Among the four linear parameter models adopted for integrating time as a covariate, the fourth linear model incorporating scale and location with the shape function constant produced the least corrected Akaike Information Criteria (AICc), varying between 306.191 to 101.497 for 15 and 1440 minutes, respectively, selected for calibration of the GEV distribution equation. The non-stationary intensities yielded higher values above those of stationary models, proving that the assumption of stationary IDF models underestimated extreme events. The difference of 13.71 mm/hr (22.71%) to 14.26 mm/hr (17.0%) intensities implies an underestimation of the peak flood from a stationary IDF curve. The statistical difference at a 95% confidence level between stationary and non-stationary models was significant, confirming evidence of climatic change influenced by time-variant parameters. Consequently, emphasis should be on applying shorter-duration storms for design purposes occurring with higher intensities to help reduce the flood risk and resultant infrastructural failures.
文摘The use of geotextiles as a reinforcement material for improving the factor of safety against slope failure in embankments built on soft clay is becoming a common practice. This work is intended to help understand the effect of the geotextile reinforcement has on such embankments and to provide a design aid for civil engineers that enables them to quickly estimate the factor of safety against slope failure. Seventy four different cases were modelled and analyzed using a finite element software, GeoStudio 2018 R2. The results showed that the optimum improvement was achieved when using a single layer of geotextile reinforcement placed at the base of the embankment, by which the factor of safety increased by up to 40%. Adding a second layer, a third layer and a fourth layer, increases the safety factor by 2.5%, 1% and 0.5% respectively. Different charts for different heights of embankments were presented to aid in finding the most suitable slope angle and number of reinforcement layers required to achieve a certain safety factor.
文摘The aim of this study was to model the Undrained Shear Strength (USS) of soil found in the coastal region of the Niger Delta in Nigeria with some soil properties. The undrained shear strength (USS) is a key parameter needed for most geotechnical/structural designs. Accurate determination of the USS of soft clays can be challenging to obtain in the laboratory due to the difficulty in remoulding the clay to its in-situ conditions before testing and more accurate test such as Cone Penetration test (CPT) can be quite expensive. This study was carried out at Escravos site which is located in Delta state, Nigeria. Three Boreholes were drilled and soil samples were collected at 0.75 m intervals up to a depth of 45 m. Laboratory tests were used to obtain the moisture content, bulk unit weight, liquid and plastic limit, while CPT was used in obtaining the undrained shear strength. Classification of the soil samples was done by adopting the Unified Soil Classification System and various models relating the USS with the soil properties were developed. The result showed that most of the soils at Escravos site were predominately inorganic clay of high plasticity which are problematic due to the expansion and shrinking nature of this type of soil. The model developed showed that the soil properties that gave the best fit with the USS were the moisture content and effective stress of the soil. The coefficient of determination (R<sup>2</sup>) and the root mean square error (RMSE) obtained for this model were 0.805 and 6.37 KN/m<sup>2</sup>, respectively.
文摘The aim of this study is to establish the prevailing conditions of changing climatic trends and change point dates in four selected meteorological stations of Uyo, Benin, Port Harcourt, and Warri in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. Using daily or 24-hourly annual maximum series (AMS) data with the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) and the modified Chowdury Indian Meteorological Department (MCIMD) models were adopted to downscale the time series data. Mann-Kendall (MK) trend and Sen’s Slope Estimator (SSE) test showed a statistically significant trend for Uyo and Benin, while Port Harcourt and Warri showed mild trends. The Sen’s Slope magnitude and variation rate were 21.6, 10.8, 6.00 and 4.4 mm/decade, respectively. The trend change-point analysis showed the initial rainfall change-point dates as 2002, 2005, 1988, and 2000 for Uyo, Benin, Port Harcourt, and Warri, respectively. These prove positive changing climatic conditions for rainfall in the study area. Erosion and flood control facilities analysis and design in the Niger Delta will require the application of Non-stationary IDF modelling.
文摘The study focused on the detection of indicators of climate change in 24-hourly annual maximum series (AMS) rainfall data collected for 36 years (1982-2017) for Warri Township, using different statistical methods yielded a statistically insignificant positive mild trend. The IMD and MCIMD downscaled model’s time series data respectively produced MK statistics varying from 1.403 to 1.4729, and 1.403 to 1.463 which were less than the critical Z-value of 1.96. Also, the slope magnitude obtained showed a mild increasing trend in variation from 0.0189 to 0.3713, and 0.0175 to 0.5426, with the rate of change in rainfall intensity at 24 hours duration as 0.4536 and 0.42 mm/hr.year (4.536 and 4.2 mm/decade) for the IMD and the MCIMD time series data, respectively. The trend change point date occurred in the year 2000 from the distribution-free CUSUM test with the trend maintaining a significant and steady increase from 2010 to 2015. Thus, this study established the existence of a trend, which is an indication of a changing climate, and satisfied the condition for rainfall Non-stationary intensity-duration-frequency (NS-IDF) modeling required for infrastructural design for combating flooding events.
文摘In view of the challenges posed by the nature of expansive soil to structural stability which makes it necessary in some cases to improve the soils before structures can be placed on them, there is a need to investigate modern trends in ground improvement techniques in order to determine their reliability. This study is thus aimed at using the reliability based approach to analyze the use of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) in combination with 1,2,3,4 Butane-tetracarboxylic acid (BTCA) for ground improvement. This study is necessary given the challenges posed by the nature of expansive soil to structural stability which makes it necessary in some cases to improve the soils before structures can be placed on them. Simplex lattice design was employed to build the design of experiment before experimental investigations were carried out on the PVA-BTCA treated soft soils. Reliability indices were computed on the basis of the 28<sup>th</sup> day unconfined compressive strength (UCS) of the treated soil. Reliability index models were developed using the Scheffe’s technique and optimized using excel solver. From analysis of results, reliability model developed proved adequate at 5% level of significance. PVA-BTCA combination provided a potential reliability or probability of success of 99.936% at components combination of: 98.4256% for soil, 1.2352% for PVA, 0.3392% for BTCA and 15.9934% for water. It was therefore recommended that financial implications of using PVA-BTCA for stabilization be compared to those of conventional methods, in order to compare their performance-cost ratio.
文摘This study investigated the use of microbial analysis as a bioremediation option for remediating petroleum sludge, which is part of the waste stream generated in the petroleum industry. The aim is to reduce environmental burden caused by the discharge of untreated sludge. Sludge sample was cultured in other to isolate microorganisms for the sludge treatment. The selected strain of the organisms after screening were Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus niger, Verticillus sp, Penicillum sp, and Microsporium audouinii. Bioreactors (labeled A, B, C, D and O) were designed for the treatment of petroleum sludge. These reactors contain 2.0 × 10<sup>-2</sup> m<sup>3</sup> of the diluted sludge samples and the isolated organisms for the treatment process. On a weekly basis, the control reactors received 1.5 × 10<sup>-3</sup> m<sup>3</sup> of fresh and saline water respectively. After 12 weeks of treatment, sludge physicochemical characteristics showed distinct variations. From the result, reactor D was the best in terms of remediating the sludge as compared to other reactors. Friedman non-parametric test was performed to check if the weeks of treatment affected the reduction of the total hydrocarbon content (THC) in the five reactors and also checked for significant differences in the THC after treatments. The drop in the THC of the treated sludge ranged from 56.0% to 67.3%. These results showed the possibility of enhanced biodegradation of petroleum sludge by hydrocarbon utilizing microorganisms (fungi).
文摘This paper mainly investigated the basic information about non-stationary trend change point patterns. After performing the investigation, the corresponding results show the existence of a trend, its magnitude, and change points in 24-hourly annual maximum series (AMS) extracted from monthly maximum series (MMS) data for thirty years (1986-2015) rainfall data for Uyo metropolis. Trend analysis was performed using Mann-Kendall (MK) test and Sen’s slope estimator (SSE) used to obtain the trend magnitude, while the trend change point analysis was conducted using the distribution-free cumulative sum test (CUSUM) and the sequential Mann-Kendall test (SQMK). A free CUSUM plot date of change point of rainfall trend as 2002 at 90% confidence interval was obtained from where the increasing trend started and became more pronounced in the year 2011, another change point year from the SQMK plot with the trend intensifying. The SSE gave an average rate of change in rainfall as 2.1288 and 2.16 mm/year for AMS and MMS time series data respectively. Invariably, the condition for Non-stationary concept application is met for intensity-duration-frequency modeling.
文摘The study is a cross-sectional design assessment of the likelihood, frequency and severity of hazards associated with underwater operations in the Niger Delta. Five oil and gas companies were used for this study selected by a purposive method given that they had the highest number of workers involved in underwater operations. A sample size of 418 was computed to which the questionnaires were administered with response rate of 95.93%. Data analyses were carried out to cover descriptive statistics, analysis of variance and Pearsonal correlation coefficients. The 4 by 4 risk assessment matrix for the likelihood and consequences showed that 8 out of 20 underwater hazards were categorized as having very high risk according to their risk ratings. The eight hazards categorized based on their risk IDs were H01, H03, H04, H08, H10, H11, H12, and H15. The 4 by 4 risk matrix for frequency and consequences revealed that two hazards (Piracy & bandit attack/kidnapping (H01) and Other main vessels/heavy object dropping or falling load/collision (H08)) were identified to be of very high risk.
文摘This study was aimed at assessing the locational compliance status of petroleum handling facilities in the Niger Delta to the specifications of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) locational standards. A cross-sectional research design was employed using a Standard checklist of seventeen compliance specifications of NUPRC. A walk-through survey was carried out in 118 identified facilities in three locations: Eket in Akwa-Ibom State, Port Harcourt in Rivers State and Warri in Delta State, respectively. The data obtained were analyzed using inferential and descriptive statistics, Kendall Tau-B and Principal Component analyses. The results indicate that the Petroleum Product facilities complied with 6 (35.29%) out of 17 specifications while 11 (64.70%) specifications were violated. Locations compliance of stations in the Niger Delta region is generally poor, but Stations in Port Harcourt recorded a higher compliance rate compared to Eket and Warri. Results of Kendall’s tau-b and Principal Component analysis indicated positive association between all the land space locational compliances. This study attributes the poor compliance rate to rapid urbanization, overpopulation, proliferation of filling stations and poor monitoring by regulatory agencies. It is recommended that, NUPRC should improve its monitoring and enforce regulatory operational specifications.
文摘In this study, the impact of soil-cement stabilization on the index properties of the subgrade of roads was investigated. Efforts were on the means of improving the bearing capacity of the subgrade of a flexible pavement structure. Three selected roads (Ogbia-Nembe, section of the East-West Road and section of Port Harcourt-Aba Road) in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria were examined to determine the effect of sand-cement stabilization on the compaction index property of their undisturbed subgrade and the optimal ratio of soil-cement on the expansive soils at which the California Bearing Ratio (CBR) is optimized. Disturbed soil samples were collected from twenty trial pits on each of the three study roads using a hand ulger and tested for their respective compaction index properties. It was discovered that their California Bearing Ratio (CBR) was very low. Some of the collected specimen materials were stabilized with varying percentages of soil-cement contents ranging from 6% - 14% in order to ascertain its effects on the compaction index properties of the sample soils. Results of the various stabilization test procedures show that: Stabilization of the soil using Soil-Cement Stabilization affected the Compaction Index properties of the soil and further improved the California Bearing Ratio (CBR). On the Ogbia-Nembe Road;Soil-Cement stabilization improved the CBR and is optimized at a 10% sand-cement ratio with optimum moisture content ranging from 6.2% - 14%, maximum dry density ranges from 1700 - 1780 kg/m<sup>3</sup>, yielding an average CBR of 42.7% for soaked samples. On the section of East-West Road from Eleme Junction to Etteh Junction;Soil-Cement stabilization improved the CBR and is optimized at a 14% sand-cement ratio with optimum moisture content ranging from 6.2% - 14.2%, maximum dry density ranges from 1660 - 1800 kg/m<sup>3</sup>, yielding an average CBR of 43.9% for soaked samples. On the section of Port Harcourt-Aba Express Road from Eleme Junction to Osisioma Junction;Soil-Cement stabilization improved the CBR and is optimized at a 12% sand-cement ratio having an optimum moisture content ranging from 5.4% - 17.3%, maximum dry density ranges from 1610 - 1740 kg/m<sup>3</sup>, and an average California Bearing Ratio for soaked samples at 40%.
文摘This article investigates the comparative analysis of the facility present condition (FPC) of selected health and educational buildings in Rivers State. State funded hospitals and schools (14 functional out of 23 general hospitals and 2 out of 3 tertiary schools) were selected for the study. The general hospital is a secondary health facility designed to bring health care services close to citizens especially those in rural communities. These facilities were inherited from the colonial masters in 1960. An assessment visit in2016 found the 23 general hospitals completely dilapidated and abandoned. However, rehabilitation intervention was carried out by the government in 2020. This scenario was quite different with the schools. Thus, this study is to increase the awareness of facility operators on building maintenance. A purposive sampling technique was used in selecting the hospitals and schools, while simple random sampling was adopted for questionnaire distribution to 300 respondents. The instrument reliability and validity were ascertained using Cronbach Alpha and face validity. The instrument obtained information about the status of the facility present condition. SPSS and Microsoft Xlstat were used to obtain the mean and frequency distribution of the responses. Comparative analysis was conducted to understand the FPC of the schools and hospitals. Z-test was deployed to ascertain if there was a significant difference in the FPC between the two institutions. Checklist was adopted to confirm the findings. The result from the survey showed that schools have better FPC than hospitals.
文摘This study developed empirical-mathematical models to predict the California Bearing Ratio (CBR) using soil index properties in Ogbia-Nembe road in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. The determination of CBR of soil is a laborious operation that requires a longer time and materials leading to increased cost and schedule;this can be reduced by adopting an empirical-mathematical model that can predict the CBR using other simpler soil index properties such as Plastic Limit (PL), the Liquid Limit (LL), the Plasticity Index (PI) and the Moisture Content (MC), which are less laborious and take lesser time to obtain. Thirteen models were developed to understand the relationship between these soil index properties: the independent variable and the California Bearing Ratio (CBR): the dependent variable;Six linear, Six quadratic and One multiple linear regression models were developed for this relationship. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) on the thirteen models showed that the Optimum Moisture Content (OMC) and the Maximum Dry Density (MDD) are better independent variables for the prediction of the CBR value of Ogbia-Nembe soil generating a quadratic model and a multiple linear regression model having a better coefficient of determination R<sup>2</sup> = 0.96 and 0.94 respectively, mean square error (MSE) of 0.74 and 1.152 respectively with Root mean square errors of 0.861 and 1.073 accordingly. These models were used to predict the CBR of the soil. The CBR values predicted by the model were further compared with those of the actual experimental test and found to be relatively consistent with minimal variance. This establishes that CBR of any soil can be predicted from the Index Property of the soil and this is more economical and takes lesser time and can be universally adopted for soil investigation.
