My Research: Energy and Safety

This page is for me to demonstrate the work I have been involved in as a researcher in energy systems and the safety aspects that come with them.

In 2008, I did research in Biofuels focusing on biodiesel and briquettes as project interests. It involved harvesting seeds of candle nut, Castor and Jatropha as well as buying them from outgrowers. The seeds would then be dried to reduce moisture. Dry and cleaned seeds would be crushed to remove the shells. The karnel would be squesed using screw press to obtain crude oil and seed cake. The shells were carbonised and conditioned to make briquettes; crude oil was processed using trans-esterification to form biodiesel while the seed cake would be used for animal feeds. Several other products would be obtained like glycerine from oil processing;- this would be sold to soap and vaseline manufacturers. I did all these at African Power Initiative. By the time I completed my contract, I had achieved the following: 

• Researched and developed feedstock for biodiesel production in Uganda.
• Developed recipes for production of smokeless charcoal briquettes 
• Set up a fully functional chemistry laboratory
• Monitored environmental impacts of the company operation

In 2016, I started working on a project that involved characterisation, combustion and emission properties of Coal, Charcoal and Wood sawdust. The main aim of this project is to minimise human exposure to carbon monoxide through a series of safety products and procedures. This project is part of the continuous CO research initiatives by Cranfield University  - Shrivenham including the CO+ impact study that was completed in July 2016. It is hoped that it will yield the following among others: 

• An understanding of the chemistry of CO and other emissions released from Coal, Charcoal and Wood sawdust 
• Development of better conversion and detection technologies for CO and other emissions from solid fuel comustion

To achieve the aims and objectives, techniques like TGA, DSC, Bomb calorimetry, FTIR, Electron Spin Resonance, Electrochemical and Infrared sensors, tube furnaces, XRD, SEM, XRF among others are used. It is hoped that this project will yield several publications all aimed at enhancing knowledge and improving technologies for safe use of solid fuels.