Date: 2018-04-10

A lecturer at the University of Ilorin, Kamoldeen Ajijolakewu, has fabricated a low-temperature refrigerator that works at -45 oC, a bulletin by the university states.

The product, which is the first of its kind in the history of the university, has capacity to freeze water or any liquid kept in it within three minutes. The refrigerator is one of the products presented for exhibition by the university at the on-going 7th Trade Fair, holding at the Baseball Field, Adewole area, Ilorin.

Mr Ajijolakewu lectures at the Department of Microbiology in the University's Faculty of Life Sciences.

According to Unilorin Bulletin, the locally fabricated refrigerator is more powerful than the conventional refrigerators as it works at -45 oC while the conventional ones work between the range of -10 oC and -20 oC.

The refrigerator is a product of a research by Mr Ajijolakewu in conjunction with Musbau Babatunde, also of the Department of Microbiology, University of Ilorin.

Mr Ajijolakewu said that research is ongoing on the need to further reduce the refrigerator's effective temperature, saying that the target is to come up with a refrigerator that works at -79oC or -80oC.

Giving a synopsis of his research effort, Mr Ajijolakewu, who is also the Imam of Sanrab Central Mosque, Tanke, Ilorin, pointed out that "this locally designed low temperature refrigerator will be very useful in laboratories, restaurants and in the business of preservation of items or organisms.

According to him, research in biomedical and life sciences is imperfect without appropriate preservative systems.

"Lyophilised industrial or medically important organisms, cell lines and plant and animal cell tissue cultures require a negative-range low temperature refrigeration system to maintain them for a longer time," he said.

"From this system, they can be accessed and rejuvenated for subsequent use in the laboratory while maintaining all their characteristics."

The researcher, however, called for support from the University of Ilorin and other relevant agencies as well as the enactment of good policies for researchers to achieve their set goals.

He said that the local design and fabrication of the low-temperature (-45 ?C) refrigeration system was part of the University 's core mandate of providing community service to members and non-members of the University community.

Apart from the low temperature refrigerator, other products exhibited at the Trade Fair that are invented and produced by other staff of the university include: egg value added product, locally fabricated fermentor, Unilorin automobile speed limiter, single-cell protein supplement, value added food stuff, candy sweets made of 100 per cent sugarcane and ginger spiced Kulikuli (a local delicacy).