Dr Muyiwa Oyinlola

Job: Associate Professor in Engineering for Sustainable Development

Faculty: Technology

School/department: School of Engineering and Sustainable Development

Research group(s): Institute of Energy & Sustainable Development (IESD)

Address: De Montfort University, The Gateway, Leicester, LE1 9BH

T: +44 (0) 116 257 7162

E: muyiwa.oyinlola@dmu.ac.uk

W: www.dmu.ac.uk/mao

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Personal profile

Dr. Muyiwa Oyinlola is an Associate Professor (Engineering for Sustainable Development) and Chartered Engineer who is committed to engineering sustainable solutions for low and middle income countries. He holds a B.Eng in Mechanical Engineering, MSc in Renewable Energy Engineering and a PhD in Sustainable Thermal Energy.

One of the main areas of his research focusses on building capacity of local skills to engineer and use local materials for tackling global challenges. His work places particular emphasis on identifying and integrating socio-cultural considerations required for the long-term success of engineering projects. Some of his recent research projects in this area include building capacity for sustainable homes and developing processes and products that promote upcycling and recycling of plastics in low income communities.

Another strand of Muyiwa's research is focussed on advancing low carbon technologies that will contribute to sustainably bridging the wide global energy gap. He works on optimising and developing clean and affordable energy technologies for low income communities. Some of his work in this area include investigating opportunities for renewables to support weak grids, improving the energy performance of buildings, thermal energy storage and waste heat recovery.

Dr Oyinlola has led multi-institutional, multi-disciplinary, international consortia in writing, wining and successfully executing research bids. Muyiwa often works with transdisciplinary teams, that include social scientist, user centred designers as well as field practitioners, to ensure that project outcomes are interdisciplinary and cover both technical and social factors. He has worked with partners from several countries including Nigeria, India, Kenya, Ghana, South Africa and the United States of America.

Research group affiliations

Institute of Energy and Sustainable Development

Publications and outputs

Experimental study of a domestic solar assisted ground source heat pump with seasonal underground thermal storage through shallow boreholes
Experimental study of a domestic solar assisted ground source heat pump with seasonal underground thermal storage through shallow boreholes Greenough, Richard; Naranjo-Mendoza, Carlos; Oyinlola, M. A.; Wright, A. J. With the current need to reduce carbon emissions, new technologies have been developed in recent years to satisfy building thermal demands. Among others, ground-source heat pumps (GSHP) have been implemented, in both commercial and residential applications, to meet heating and cooling needs in a cleaner and more energy efficient way. Likewise, solar thermal systems have been integrated into conventional GSHP systems to reduce the size of the ground heat exchanger and provide seasonal heat storage. So far, this technology has been used in large commercial or residential buildings, mainly due to its high installation costs. This paper describes a study of an experimental Solar Assisted Ground Source Heat Pump (SAGSHP) system for domestic heating applications. The system uses an array of shallow (1.5-metre deep) vertical boreholes to store heat seasonally in an underground ‘earth energy bank’. The results show that after 19 months of operation the system was able to show a good performance in order to cover the space heating requirements of the building in winter. Likewise, it was evidenced that the solar energy injected in the ground is useful not only to recover the soil from the thermal imbalance but also to store heat. Results also highlighted the need to improve the control strategy, mainly to avoid excessive inlet fluid temperatures at the evaporator. The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.
Behaviour of sand-filled plastic bottled clay panels for sustainable homes
Behaviour of sand-filled plastic bottled clay panels for sustainable homes Kim, Boksun; Wisniewski, Josef; Baker, Toby; Oyinlola, M. A. Adequate shelter is a basic necessity for human existence and mankind has continuously improved the quality of shelter. It is estimated that about 1.6 billion people still lack adequate housing. There is a cogent need for developing new methods of delivering housing that can be accessible to low-income communities who have little or no access to finances. Plastic bottles have been suggested as a candidate material for constructing low-cost, environmentally friendly homes in developing countries. Although some research on the use of plastic bottles for housing was found, the existing literature shows considerable discrepancies in the strength of plastic bottles and bottled cubes. Furthermore, the literature is limited to cement cubes and no research has been carried out using locally sustainable materials such as soils. As part of the ‘Bottle House’ project for developing low-cost sustainable homes in Nigeria, this paper seeks to fill this gap by reporting the results of two series of experimental work carried out at the University of Plymouth. A total of eight-four 500 ml PET bottles and twelve wall and floor panels with and without sand-filled plastic bottles were prepared and tested to investigate their strength and failure behaviour. The test results have shown that in-filled sands made a significant contribution to the strength of the bottles and the bottles tested vertically resisted better than those tested horizontally. They have also shown that the panels with sand-filled bottles have about a quarter of the strength of the daub only panels due to a lack of cohesion between bottles and daub, but they are found to be more ductile than the latter. The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link. Research conducted in collaboration with School of Engineering, The University of Plymouth
Recycling of plastics for low cost construction
Recycling of plastics for low cost construction Oyinlola, M. A.; Whitehead, Timothy The impact of waste plastics has been a key part of the environmental discourse in recent years and prominent environmentalists/sustainable development scholars have called for urgent action. This article discusses some of the innovative ways plastics have been used in low cost construction in Low and Middle Income Countries (LMICs). It highlights the main benefits of using plastics in construction as well as identifies current gaps in the literature. Utilising plastics for low cost construction has implications for sustainable waste management and adequate housing in Low and Middle Income Communities of LMICs.
Bottle House: A case study of Transdisciplinary research for tackling global challenges
Bottle House: A case study of Transdisciplinary research for tackling global challenges Whitehead, Timothy; Abuzeinab, Amal; Adefila, Arinola; Akinola, Yewande; Anafi, Fatai; Farukh, Farukh; Jegede, Oluyemi; Kandan, K.; Kim, Boksun; Mosugu, Emmanuel; Oyinlola, M. A. Globalisation has brought a number of challenges to the fore, particularly those problems which require collaboration, innovation and capability development between nations. There are some complex issues piquing the attention of researchers with respect to sustainable development, such as, waste management, climate change, and access to amenities, housing or education. Non-Governmental Organisations, Institutions, governments and others working in the field of international development have been grappling with these difficulties for decades. However, it is becoming apparent that many of these difficulties require multifaceted solutions, particularly in Low and Middle Income countries (LMIC) where it is difficult to consolidate gains and fund schemes. Development work can sometimes be disjointed and inefficient, impairing the capability of local communities and inhibiting sustainable and innovative approaches. Transdisciplinary collaboration is reliably a more efficient way of tackling some of the most pertinacious challenges. This paper presents findings from a transdisciplinary research project focussed on developing resources and capacity for the construction of affordable homes in a low income community in Nigeria. The project explored the suitability of using upcycled materials such as plastic bottles and agricultural waste in construction. Using a user-centred, co-creation methodology, a team of experts from the UK and Nigeria worked with local entrepreneurs to build a prototype home. The study explores the functionality of the home and the sustainability of project. The findings demonstrate the benefits of tackling global challenges from a transdisciplinary perspective. This has implications for researchers focused on developing technical solutions for low-income communities. This work was done in collaboration with colleagues from the institute of Engineering sciences and Architecture Research Institute The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.
A comparison of analytical and numerical model predictions of shallow soil temperature variation with experimental measurements
A comparison of analytical and numerical model predictions of shallow soil temperature variation with experimental measurements Naranjo-Mendoza, C.; Wright, A. J.; Oyinlola, M. A.; Greenough, R. M. In several fields of enquiry such as geothermal energy, geology and agriculture, it is of interest to study the thermal behaviour of shallow soils. For this, several analytical and numerical methodologies have been proposed to analyse the temperature variation of the soil in the short and long term. In this paper, a comparative study of different models (sinusoidal, semi-infinite and finite difference method) is conducted to estimate the shallow soil temperature variation in the short and long term. The models were compared with hourly experimental measured data of soil temperature in Leicester, UK, at depths between 0.75 and 2.75 m. The results show that the sinusoidal model is not appropriate to evaluate the short-term temperature variations, such as hourly or daily fluctuations. Likewise, this model is highly affected by the undisturbed ground temperature and can lead to very high errors. Regarding the semi-infinite model, it is accurate enough to predict the short-term temperature variation. However, it is useless to predict the long-term variation at depths greater than 1 m. The finite difference method (FDM) considering the air temperature as a boundary condition for the soil surface is the most accurate approach for estimating both short and long-term temperature variations while the FDM with heat flux as boundary condition is the least accurate approach due to the uncertainty of the assumed parameters. The ranges of errors for the sinusoidal, semi-infinite and FDM are found to be from 76.09 to 142.13%, 12.11 to 104.88% and 1.82 to 28.14% respectively. The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.
Characterizing Micro-channel Absorber Plates for Building Integrated Solar Thermal Collectors
Characterizing Micro-channel Absorber Plates for Building Integrated Solar Thermal Collectors Oyinlola, M. A.; Shire, G.S.F This paper discusses the characterisation of micro-channel absorber plates for Compact Flat Plate solar thermal collectors, which are suitable for Building Integration. Experimental and computational studies were carried out at typical operating conditions for flat plate solar collectors. Three-dimensional numerical analysis using commercial CFD package, Ansys CFX, showed that heat transfer occurred on only three surfaces of the channel and there was a peripheral variation of the heat flux density. It was also observed that axial thermal conduction could modify the surface boundary at the inlet and outlet, however, the middle section of the channel could be approximated as a rectangular channel with three walls transferring heat under a H1 boundary condition. Experimental studies were used to estimate the standard parameters for predicting performance of the flat plate collectors, which indicated promising performance results. The collector flow factor F” and the heat removal factor could be improved by increasing the collector capacitance rate; this can be achieved by increasing the mass flow rate per collector area m ̇/A_c, as well as reducing the overall heat loss, UL . This analysis is important for optimizing design and operating parameters, especially to minimize temperature gradient in the transverse and longitudinal directions. The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.
Heat Transfer in Low Reynolds Number Flows Through Miniaturized Channels.
Heat Transfer in Low Reynolds Number Flows Through Miniaturized Channels. Oyinlola, M. A.; Shire, G. S. F. The use of miniaturized channels as heat sinks/ heat exchangers is of great importance due to advantages of compact size and high heat sinking capabilities. The small hydraulic diameters of these miniaturized channels imply a higher pressure drop and consequently higher pumping power. Therefore, where possible, the pumping power required may be reduced by running applications at low flow velocities. This paper therefore investigates the heat transfer in low Reynolds number flow through miniaturized channels. Forced convection experiments were performed on 2 instrumented metal plates with 0.5 mm and 0.25 mm deep channels respectively. The channels were 2 mm wide and 270 mm long. A propylene glycol-based heat transfer fluid for solar collectors, Tyfocor® LS, was used as the working fluid. Reynolds numbers were in the range 10 – 100 and fluid inlet temperatures ranged from 5 – 60 °C. The measured Nusselt numbers were observed to depend more on the Peclet number and less on the geometry. Peclet number dependent Nusselt numbers was attributed to miniaturization scaling effects. A correlation for estimating the Nusselt number in terms of the Peclet number and hydraulic diameter was proposed. The results are significant in predicting the heat sinking performance in applications having low Reynolds number flows through miniaturized channels such as compact solar thermal collectors.
The Significance of Scaling Effects in a Solar Absorber Plate with Micro-Channels
The Significance of Scaling Effects in a Solar Absorber Plate with Micro-Channels Oyinlola, M. A.; Shire, G. S. F.; Moss, R. W. This paper investigates the significance of some micro scaling effects in micro-channel absorber plates. These plates are to be used in a proposed compact (thin and light-weight) solar thermal flat plate collector (FPC). Forced convection experiments were performed on an instrumented metal plate with micro-channels. Reynolds numbers were in the range 10–100 and fluid inlet temperatures ranged from 5 to 40 °C. Scaling effects such as viscous dissipation and entrance effects had insignificant impact on the measured average Nusselt number. However, conjugate heat transfer and measurement uncertainties were significant. Conjugate heat transfer was found to reduce the Nusselt number which agrees with the literature, this also resulted in a Peclet number dependent Nusselt number. The local Nusselt number was observed to vary axially despite satisfying the criteria for neglecting entrance effects; this variation increased with the Graetz number. It was observed that the position of the thermocouples can result in an under-estimation of the Nusselt number. The results are beneficial for the design and operation of micro-channel absorber plates. The file attached to this record is the authors final peer reviewed version. The publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.
Investigating the Effects of Geometry in Solar Thermal Absorber Plates with Micro-Channels
Investigating the Effects of Geometry in Solar Thermal Absorber Plates with Micro-Channels Oyinlola, M. A.; Shire, G. S. F.; Moss, R. W. Experimental studies were carried out to investigate the effects of micro-channel geometry on the thermal and hydraulic performance of absorber plates for compact (thin and light-weight) solar thermal collectors. Three plates with channel depths 0.25 mm, 0.5 mm and 1 mm were studied. Each plate had sixty channels which were 270 mm long and 2 mm wide. Experiments were run at typical operating conditions for flat plate solar collectors. The results showed a Reynolds number dependent Nusselt number; this was due to axial thermal conduction. The Nusselt number was observed to increase as the aspect ratio approached unity. Measured friction factors were similar in trend to the predictions for rectangular channels, although the overall rise in fluid temperature resulted in slightly lower friction factors. The plate with 0.25 mm deep channels was found to have best thermo-hydraulic performance; thermo-hydraulic performance reduced slightly with increase in hydraulic diameter. The results showed that thermal improvement can be achieved by increasing the fluid velocity, however, pumping the thermal fluid above a pump power per plate area of 0.3 W/m2 resulted in marginal improvement. The results are beneficial for the design of micro-channel absorber plates. Research conducted at the University of Warwick The file attached to this record is the authors final peer reviewed version. The publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link below.
Thermal analysis of a solar collector absorber plate with microchannels
Thermal analysis of a solar collector absorber plate with microchannels Oyinlola, M. A.; Shire, G. S. F.; Moss, R. W. Experimental and theoretical analyses were carried out to investigate the absorber plate temperature distribution for compact (thin and light-weight) solar thermal collectors. An analytic model combining convective heat transfer with axial conduction in the metal plate was developed. Forced convection experiments were then performed on an instrumented metal plate with micro-channels 0.5 mm × 2 mm × 270 mm long, at various flow rates; the heat transfer fluid was Tyfocor® LS. Reynolds numbers were in the range 10–100 and fluid inlet temperatures ranged from 5 to 60 °C. The predicted plate temperature profiles from the analytic model were in close agreement with the measured profiles. Thermal entry lengths were found to be significant and resulted in slight variations at the entry portion of the plate at higher flow rates. The model was used to study the effects of varying design/operating parameters and showed that axial conduction can significantly alter the temperature profile in the plate. The file attached to this record is th authors final peer reviewed version. The publishers version can be found by following the DOI link below.

Click for full list of Muyiwa Oyinlola research outputs.

Research interests/expertise

Thermal energy storage
Thermal energy transformation
Heat transfer
Energy in emerging economies
Sustainable energy
Engineering for sustainable development
Circular Economy
Transdisicplinary for International Development

Areas of teaching

Thermodynamics
Heat transfer
Fluid dynamics
Renewable energy

Qualifications

PhD Heat Transfer in Solar Absorber Plates with Micro-Channels, University of Warwick, 2012-2015

MSc Renewable Energy Engineering, Kingston University, London, 2010-2011

BEng Mechanical Engineering, Ahmadu Bello Univeristy, Zaria, 2002-2008

Courses taught

ENGD2005 Theory of Machines and Thermodynamics

ENGT5141 Advanced Thermodynamics and Heat Transfer

Membership of professional associations and societies

Institution of Mechanical Engineers

Energy Institute

Professional licences and certificates

Chartered Engineer

Projects

Wealth from Waste: Value added products for Chennai Waste Pickers

The aim of the project is to assess the feasibility of using local skills and materials to transform waste plastics into filaments for 3D printing, which is identified as a high value item. This study will document the current waste materials available, and current applications for processing waste plastic and creating 3D print material. This research would set the groundwork for future studies and enable the development of new circular economy business models, underpinned with novel technological innovation.

Low Cost Sustainable Housing Research

The project explores utilizing up-cycled and locally engineered materials to design affordable, self-sufficient homes for low income communities. The research aims to establish scientific methods to co-design a self-sufficient home, integrated with inhouse-electricity generation, in-house-water-purification system, earthquake resistant foundation and walls as well as ensuring it is socially acceptable within the community. Therefore the project addresses 3 of the United Nations goals for sustainable development.

Goal 6- clean water and sanitation

Goal 7- Affordable and clean energy

Goal 11- sustainable cities and communities,

Conference attendance

1. Oyinlola , M.A. and Shire, G.S.F. (2016) Heat Transfer in Low Reynolds Number Flows Through Miniaturized Channels. The 12th International Conference on Heat Transfer, Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics (HEFAT2016), Malaga, Spain

2. The 5th international conference on Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow in Microscale (HTFFM V), 22-26 April 2014, Marseille, France. Analysis of temperature distribution in absorber plates with microchannels. Oyinlola, M.A., Shire, G.S.F. and Moss, R. W. (2014) Oral Presentation (Peer Reviewed)

3. The 10th International Conference on Heat Transfer, Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics (HEFAT2014), 14 - 16 July 2014, Orlando, USA. Investigating the effects of channel aspect ratio on fluid flow and heat transfer in absorber plates with minichannels. Oyinlola , M.A., Shire, G.S.F. , Moss, R. W. and Khaliji Oskouei, M (2014). Oral Presentation (Peer Reviewed)

4. The 13th UK Heat Transfer Conference (UKHTC), 2- 3 September 2013, London, UK. Investigating Heat transfer in Absorber plates with mini channels. Oyinlola, M.A. and Shire, G.S.F. (2013). Oral presentation (Peer Reviewed).

Current research students

Bilal Messahel - Investigating the potential of waste materials to construct low energy, thermally comfortable dwellings for low income communities. October 2018 – date. 1^st Supervisor
Salisu Isihak - Technology Options for Improving Access to Energy Services in Areas With Low Electricity Access Rate: A Geographic Information System (GIS) Based Approach to Electricity Planning in Nigeria. April 2018 – date 2^nd Supervisor
Tunmise Timothy Ayodele - A Framework for Low carbon retrofitting of Residential Buildings in Nigeria. January 2017 – date, 2^nd Supervisor
Longinus Ogugua - Application of Terahertz Spectroscopy in In-Process Monitoring of Freeze-Drying Process: An Optimization Study of Process Analytical Technology. January 2017 – date, 2^nd Supervisor
Evangelos Sakellariou - Feasibility study and parametric analyses of Solar Assisted Ground Sourced Heat Pump systems for different European climate zones. January 2017 – date, 2^nd Supervisor

Externally funded research grants information

Principal Investigator: Wealth from Waste: Value added products for Chennai Waste Pickers (Royal Academy of Engineering Frontiers of Engineering for Development Seed funding, 29/06/18 - 28/06/19). Collaborators : Siddharth Hande (Kabadiwalla Connect), Anna Lowe (Kumasi Hive & MakerNet), Dr Timothy Whitehead (Aston University), Dr Mark Prince (Aston University), Dr. Laura Leslie(Aston University), Dr. Reza Baserinia(DMU)

Principal Investigator: Developing local capacity for building affordable self-sufficient homes (Royal Academy of Engineering Frontiers of Engineering for Development Seed funding, 19/12/16 - 31/08/17). Collaborators : Dr Boksun Kim (Plymouth University), Dr Yewande Akinola (Laing O'Rourke), Dr Tim Whitehead (Aston University), Dr Fatai Anafi (Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria), Dr Amal Abuzeinab (DMU), Dr Farukh Farukh (DMU), Dr Karthikeyan Kandan (DMU)

Co Investigator: Blackout-Chasing: Tapping Peri-Urban Energy Perspectives, Preferences and Prospects. Collaborators: Dr Barry Gordon Rawn (Brunel University) Dr Anh Tran (Coventry University) Dr Akintunde Babatunde (University of Leeds) Dr Leanne Townshend (University of Aberdeen), Dr Victor Odumuyiwa (University of Lagos) Dr Oliver Dzobo (University of Johannesburg), Dr Prabal Dutta, (University of California Berkeley) Dr Dénes Csala, (Lancaster University)

Internally funded research project information

Principal Investigator: Low Cost Sustainable Home Prototype for Developing Countries (RIF Round 8, 01/08/16 - 31/07/17).Collaborators: Dr Tim Whitehead , Dr Amal Abuzeinab(DMU), Dr Farukh Farukh, Dr Karthikeyan Kandan

Principal Investigator: Low Cost Sustainable Housing in Ahmedabad. Collaborators: Dr Tim Whitehead , Dr Amal Abuzeinab(DMU), Dr Farukh Farukh, Dr Karthikeyan Kandan

Co Investigator: A perfect gap for SMILE: Smart Last-MILE Vaccine Cooling & Delivery System.Collaborators: Dr Karthikeyan Kandan, Dr Farukh Farukh

Co Investigator: Application of Terahertz Spectroscopy for In-Process Monitoring of Freeze-Drying of Pharmaceutical Products. Collaborators: Professor Geoff Smith, Dr.Ahmet Orun,

MSc Student projects Supervision

Experimental study of a high performance solar flat plate collector

Characterising a lab scale thermal energy store for concentrated solar thermal collectors

Characterising the thermal performance of sustainable building components

Developing a low cost parabolic trough collector for process heat

Clean energy solution for powering and cooling off grid telecom shelters.

CFD optimization of a solar Flat plate collector

Heat and mass transfer analysis of a sustainable membrane distillation system

Awards

DMU PhD high flyers Scholarship - Investigating the potential of waste materials to construct low energy, thermally comfortable dwellings for low income communities - October 2018
Vice Chancellors Future Research Leaders programme - September 2018
British Council Researcher Links travel grant to attend the workshop on Closed Loop Green Technologies for Rural Communities in Delhi India between 10-13 September 2017
British Council Researcher Links travel grant to attend the UK-China workshop on shaping low carbon energy future between 28-31 August
British Council Researcher Links travel grant to attend the workshop on Water, Sanitation and Energy Nexus Research Initiative, between13-16 September 2016.
European Institute of Innovation and Technology Climate – KIC Pioneers into Practice programme. €8000 grant to contribute to a low carbon product/service development in two European region April – October 2013

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