The influence of alkaline aqueous solution treatment of groundnut shell-high density polyethylene composites consist of magnesium hydroxide as flame-retardant additives was investigated. FTT daul cone calorimetry and PerkinElmer Diamond differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) were used to characterize flammability and thermal properties of the fabricated composites. Quanta 200ESEM was used to investigate the effect of alkaline aqueous solution treatment on the microstructure of the composites. The result obtained revealed that the alkaline treatment of the shell enhanced filler-matrix compatibility. The cone calorimetry result revealed that Mg(OH) 2 has good fire retardancy characteristics on the fabricated composites as properties such as heat release rate, effective heat of combustion, mass loss rate, total smoke produced, and specific extinction area were enhanced. DSC results suggested that the additives had little impact on the melting temperature of the composite.KEY WORDS: high-density polyethylene (HDPE), flame retardant, melting point, heat of fusion, flame zone, flame poisoning, system A(unfilled sample), system B(untreated groundnut shell À HDPE þ Mg(OH) 2 ), system C(treated groundnut shell À HDPE þ Mg(OH) 2 )

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

Oil shales have unstable mechanical and chemical properties, which makes their extraction for characterization and conventional mechanical testing uneasy and complex. Most often, mechanical property measurements are usually taken from core samples that are costly to extract and test using conventional testing methods. This paper presents a focused study carried out on oil shale cuttings obtained from the sidewalls of two different wellbore depths in the Niger Delta area of Nigeria. Using the X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) characterization techniques, the morphology of these shales was studied. The results obtained clearly showed the composition, bonding and variations in the morphology of the studied shale samples. Furthermore, the heterogeneity associated with these shales across varied depths were revealed. An efficient and less expensive technique compared to conventional testing methods, instrumented indentation testing (IIT) was carried out to obtain essential mechanical parameters of the shale specimen. These properties are important parameters in determining the hydrocarbon storage space of shale formations, wellbore stability, and optimization of hydraulic fracturing which is necessary for efficient drilling operations.