A friend required an AC to DC converter to power a light circuit for a water fountain.
I have decided to design a circuit on his behalf.
Below is the required circuit diagram. I couldn't scan it because we currently experiencing high voltage electricity in my area; my bulbs and my scanner power adapter are gone; thus you have to manage a snap shot from my phone.
I hope this picture is clear enough.
Let me explain the circuit.
First, the 220V AC is stepped down to 12V AC using a transformer of appropriate wattage, the 12 V AC is rectified to DC using a bridge rectifier of appropriate wattage. Note, the DC voltage has ripples and these ripples have a low of 0V and a peak 16.97V - swinging from 0V to 16.97V.
A capacitor is connected in parallel to make the DC voltage eliminate ripples and the resistor across the capacitor is called the bleeding resistor. The capacitor should eliminate about 80% of the ripples. The resistor is used to discharge the capacitor whenever the the circuit is not powered up. Contact me for the calculation on values of the capacitor and resistor.
The voltage regulator 7812 is used to flatten the DC circuit completely on 12V. Since, it comes in different capacity; thus, I recommend that you use as many as possible in parallel to achieve the desired power requirement.
If you would like to have these lights switched ON and OFF automatically, don't hesitate to post comments below - it will come with a price though; we are all entrepreneurs.
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Friday, 10 July 2015
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Sunday, 24 May 2015
Petroleum Products Scarcity
Petroleum
Products Scarcity
Since the downturn of oil price in the middle of 2014,
petroleum products have drop in price worldwide except in Nigeria. The official
pump price is ₦87 per litre for PMS; however, today it goes for a minimum of ₦150.
People queuing for petroleum products. |
There has been accusations and counter-accusation
between the FG and Petroleum Product Marketers. The minister of Finance Ngozi
Okonjo-Iweala has accused the Petroleum product marketers is blackmailing the
FG, and ganging to stop the selling of petroleum products to consumers within
the federation. She claimed barely a week after reaching an agreement to pay
marketers over ₦200billion of claims, that the marketers are yet to be selling
petroleum products to consumers; furthermore, that the marketers are demanding
that she sign to pay another ₦159billion which is meant to be payment for
differential due to the changes in exchange rate.[1]
Nigerians need petrol, diesel, etc to run their
vehicles, to power their homes and to run their businesses. It is really biting
hard on all Nigerian citizens and residents alike, individuals and companies.
Some foreigners have joined to hustle for the search and purchase of the scarce
commodity.[2]
Furthermore, this petroleum product scarcity has forced aviation companies like
Arik Air to suspend operation, Virgin Atlantic to divert to Ghana for purchase
of aviation fuels. Not left out are telecommunication companies Airtel, MTN,
etc; they are finding it difficult to power their equipments in order to
provide efficient services due to this scarcity of petroleum products.
|
Why are we at the mercy of petroleum products
marketers? Nigeria ranks the sixth largest exporter of oil, yet we import
refined petroleum products for our consumption. We have four refineries in
Nigeria, yet we are not feeling the impact of refineries in our economy;
instead, we are being dependent on a group of petroleum marketers.
Back in 2012, most International Oil Companies IOC
claimed that building refineries in Nigeria and the world at large was not
profitable. This statement can be attributed to Mr Malcolm Brinded, the
outgoing Executive Director of Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC). He
based his claims on the information that there are surplus of refineries in the
world; consequently, additional refineries in Nigeria will be at a loss to any
entity venturing into the business. Furthermore, he claimed that it will be
better to import refined products and pay the differentials in transport and
exchange rates than to refine oil here in Nigeria.[3]
A petroleum refinery |
Now we see the results of not developing our
refineries. If the FG made plans to build new refineries or at least maintain
the old ones so that they run at optimum capacity, we would not be in this
problem we have found ourselves. Let us look at the advantages and
disadvantages of refining our crude oil in Nigeria.
Advantages
- Capacity
building and development of locality.
- Job creation for citizens and residents.
- Savings on logistics of importing refined
petroleum products.
- Potential export of excess refined petroleum
products.
- More business
opportunities for entrepreneurs.
- Elimination of petroleum subsidy.
- Elimination of
round-tripping (making claims on locally refined product with the
assumption that they are imported).
Disadvantages
- Long-term
business plan.
- Huge investment.
- Lack of quick
returns.
Merely looking at advantages and disadvantages, we
will realise that if we really want this country to move forward, then we need
to stop looking at only short-term solutions, stop patronising conmen
pretending to be businessmen.
On another note, Nigeria needs alternatives to these
petroleum products. The demand for petroleum products in Nigeria is mostly for
electricity generation. Our refineries are not working; we are not generating
enough electricity to power the nation. Solar power is a very viable solution
if we must develop and grow.
References
http://dreamingnigeria.blogspot.com/2015/05/petroleum-products-scarcity.html
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