Open Access

ARTICLE

Assessment of the Rural Water Supply Potential by Mechanical Wind Pumping Around the Floodplains of Lake Chad

Dieudonné Kaoga Kidmo^1,*, Bachirou Bogno^1,2,3, Kodji Deli¹, Michel Aillerie^2,3

1 University of Maroua, Maroua, Cameroon
2 Université de Lorraine, LMOPS-EA 4423, Metz, 57070, France
3 CentraleSupélec, LMOPS, Metz, 57070, France

* Corresponding Author: Dieudonné Kaoga Kidmo. Email:

(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Wind Energy Development and Utilization)

Energy Engineering 2021, 118(4), 931-945. https://doi.org/10.32604/EE.2021.015574

Received 28 December 2020; Accepted 21 April 2021; Issue published 31 May 2021

Abstract

In the present work, an assessment of the rural water supply potential by mechanical wind pumping around the floodplains of Lake Chad has been considered. Inside the floodplains around Lake Chad, available surface water is largely contaminated and represents health hazards to populations. Access to underground and clean water has increasingly become rare. Moreover, clean water scarcity has led to conflict and territorial pressures, which are contributing factors to poverty in the considered area. Four localities, Baga, Baga-Sola, Makari and Nguigmi, respectively, in Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and Niger have been selected inside the floodplains around Lake Chad, to evaluate the potential of wind power and prospects of windmills development to provide safe drinking-water supply, livestock watering and small-scale irrigation. Long-term satellite-derived data, obtained through the Prediction of Worldwide renewable Energy Resources have been considered suitable and viable alternative to missing site-specific data from ground stations. Windmill of Multi-blade driven piston pump is the preferred water pumping option for this study because of its higher overall system efficiency. The results of this study indicate that mean wind speeds, at 10 m height above ground level, are 4.64 m/s for Baga, 4.76 m/s for Baga-Sola, 4.32 m/s for Makari and 4.44 m/s for Nguigmi. In addition, wind speeds for Baga, for instance, are in the range of 2.5–10 m (working range of a wind pump), at 10, 15, 20 and 25 m height agl, for 79.64, 82.80, 84.79, and 86.19 per cent of the time. Corresponding values for Baga-Sola, Makari and Nguigmi are in the range of 80.50–87.76 per cent, 76.86–85, 58 per cent, 77.92–86.21 per cent, respectively. For a Windmill with a 2 m-blade, a 25 m-height tower and considering a total dynamic head of 30 m, average monthly discharges for the dry season are 1,330, 1,374, 1,200 and 1,199 m³, respectively for Baga, Baga-Sola, Makari and Nguigmi. Furthermore, corresponding costs of water are 9.53, 9.23, 10.56 and 10.57 XAF/m³, for Baga, Baga-Sola, Makari and Nguigmi, in that order.

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Keywords

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