ABU develops prototype refinery
The Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, Kaduna state, has developed a prototype refinery with a capacity of refining one barrel of crude oil per day.
The Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof. Ibrahim Garba, disclosed this on Tuesday while addressing newsmen at the main Campus in Samaru, Zaria.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the briefing was part of series of activities toward the 38th Convocation Ceremony slated for Saturday, Jan. 30.
“This is a prototype refinery that runs on one barrel a day. It is a very long term project, we started it then Raw Materials Development Council came in to support.
“The project being built in stages, so far we can produce petrol (PMS) and diesel. We need more support from potential supporters and investors to take it to the next level,” said the vice chancellor.
He said the university had signed an agreement with Kaduna Refinery and Petrol Chemical Company (KRPC) on supply of crude oil but they were yet to fulfil their obligation.
Garba said the institution had repositioned itself to address some of the national challenges through research and development in its postgraduate school.
He identified inadequate accommodation as one of the pressing challenges facing the institution with more than 40,000 student population apart from lack of fund.
The vice chancellor called for public-private partnership to address the accommodation problem. He recalled that the Mechanical Engineering Department had recently designed and produced a car called ABU Car.
Garba said Alhaji Aliko Dangote, the Chairman and Chief Executive, Dangote Group, was expected to deliver a pre-convocation lecture on Friday evening, while Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi II , would chair the occasion.
Related
Get the latest news delivered straight to your inbox every day of the week. Stay informed with the Guardian’s leading coverage of Nigerian and world news, business, technology and sports.
6 Comments
What is the meaning of one barrel per day. This is not a unit of measurement in refining. So it will take 1,200 years to refine the PPMC allocation of 445,000 bpd to Nigerian refineries. Pathetic my almamata.
1 barrel contains 42 gallons of crude oil and by refining standard, it produces about 19.6 gallons of gasoline. Therefore 1 bpd = 42 gallons-per-day being processed in the prototype refinery and 19.6 gallons of petrol produced per day. Cityfied Fulani, PhD
while i think that this is not necessarily a laudable feat, except its operation is based on some novel technology that improves yield. your analogy is rather pathetic, except you have not heard of scale up…Its my alma mater too 🙂
Disappointed with your comment! So it is pathetic to do something that is probably not done by any other university in Nigeria (correct me if I am wrong please!). Research grants and investments can only be made if shown the capacity, so ABU has shown it can, what’s so pathetic about that?
Besides, unless you are thinking that the university is gonna use its allocation for maintenance or/and the school fees it gets from students to fund a scaled up refinery, I don’t know what exactly you are criticizing her about. 1 bpd is a good model.
That is good they are doing some kind of research and building prototype. The one advantage that Africa countries have and especially Nigeria, is that all our problems both physical and technical has already being solved. technology and processes have already being produced, tested both physically and economically. All Nigeria needs is to import the technology and process, slight adaptation and begin using it. most western countries, had to develop the technology, spend money testing it and implementing it, deal with some of the negative effects. That is billions on dollars spend on those things, now Nigeria just pays millions to get it. Like I said, it is good to train our student with practical things. There are modular refineries that can be purchase and imported for moderate price, installed and online in less than 9 months.
I am a staff of Chemical Engineering department ABU Zaria in which the refinery was produced. Please, the Guardian should properly investigate the work
before putting this to the public. How and who designed it? Is it
operational as being said? Are the
right human resources available on the work? Why is Kaduna refinery not involved? Let investors not be misled
into putting their money in wrong hands.
We will review and take appropriate action.