Journal of Progress in Engineering and Physical Science

The Eﬀect of Relative Humidity and Sunshine Duration in Microclimate of Port Harcourt

2026-09-18T01:51:57+00:00

This study aims to investigate the intricate relationship between relative humidity, sunshine duration, and the microclimate of Port Harcourt, Nigeria, to inform sustainable urban planning, architectural design, and public health strategies in tropical regions. Utilizing historical meteorological data, this research analyzes the seasonal and diurnal variations of relative humidity and sunshine hours. The methodology involves data acquisition from reputable online archives, data cleaning and validation, descriptive statistics, temporal analysis, and correlation analysis to establish patterns and relationships between these climatic variables. The analysis reveals consistently high relative humidity in Port Harcourt throughout the year, signiﬁcantly impacting thermal comfort. Sunshine duration exhibits pronounced seasonal variations, with a peak in the dry season and a considerable reduction during the rainy season. An inverse relationship between relative humidity and sunshine duration is observed, where high humidity often coincides with reduced solar radiation. This interplay creates a dynamic microclimatic environment, posing challenges for human comfort and urban energy management. The ﬁndings underscore the critical need for climate-responsive urban planning and design strategies. Recommendations include prioritizing passive design, promoting green infrastructure, utilizing cool materials, and enhancing pedestrian environments. This study concludes that a holistic approach integrating these strategies is essential for mitigating adverse microclimatic conditions and fostering a more resilient, comfortable, and sustainable urban future for Port Harcourt.

Crude-Quality Drift and Flexible CDU Operation: Nile Blend Case Study

2026-09-18T02:03:33+00:00

Atmospheric crude distillation units are often designed for a bounded crude quality envelope, yet mature-field production and blend variability can progressively shift feed properties and degrade yield performance. This study develops an integrated assay-simulation-plant-evidence framework to quantify the impact of Nile Blend crude quality drift on atmospheric crude distillation and to identify practical operating-flexibility levers. Multi-year assays show a decline from 34.81 to 30.58°API between 2006 and 2011, accompanied by a density increase from 850.4 to 872.3 kg/m³, an 80% endpoint increase in measured salt content, and a maximum TAN of 0.59 mg KOH/g. Product-yield variability was operationally significant: naphtha varied by 6.64 percentage points, diesel by 4.15 percentage points, and atmospheric residue by 8.89 percentage points. The Aspen HYSYS model reproduced benchmark product flows with maximum error of 5.32 × 10⁻⁵% and matched TBP-derived yield patterns with MAE of 0.39 vol% and RMSE of 0.74 vol%. Plant comparison revealed average naphtha and kerosene shortfalls of 0.70 and 3.86 wt%, respectively, relative to assay potential. Feed-entry strategy was the strongest modeled lever, increasing naphtha by 15.3 percentage points and reducing residue by 15.3 percentage points across the tested range. Reflux adjustment provided a smaller but field-accessible control lever. The results establish an assay-driven, model-updated surveillance workflow for managing crude quality drift without premature hardware retrofit.

Response to “Reinterpretation of the Michelson-Morley Experiment and Its Consequences for Cosmology” by V. Vavryčuk

2026-09-18T02:06:13+00:00

The paper “Reinterpretation of the Michelson-Morley experiment and its consequences for cosmology” by Vaclav Vavryčuk claims that the Lorentz transformation’s physical interpretation is flawed and advocates for a “Doppler metric” instead of the standard Minkowski metric as a better description of spacetime distortion, an idea that contradicts the well-established foundation of Einstein’s Special Relativity and is not supported by mainstream physics.