Small Earth Dams in Nigeria: Prospects and Challenges

The study investigates the challenges and prospects of earth dams in Nigeria with emphasis on dams owned by the River Basin Development Authorities of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Water resources using Cham dam in Gombe State as case study. The general causes of earth dam failure were considered with emphasis on failures due to engineering factors. The dam water provides raw water for the supply of potable wholesome water to the community all year round and some for irrigated agriculture that not only boost the local economy and reduces poverty but also support a viable livestock management. Cham dam failed in September 1998 after commissioning in December 1992 as a result of poor planning, inadequate study, inconsistent design, un-engineered construction and lack of dam safety monitoring team at site. Based on the findings, suggestions were given on how some earth dam failures in Nigeria can be minimized in terms of adequate feasibility studies, good design, appropriate construction and an improved maintenance culture. Keywords: Small earth dams, un-engineered construction, environmental management, prospects SED, hydraulic failure. DOI: 10.7176/JETP/9-5-02 Publication date:June 30th 201

SIMULATION AND OPTIMIZATION OF PHOTOVOLTAIC/BIOMASS STAND-ALONE HYBRID POWER GENERATING SYSTEM FOR MAKURDI USING HOMER SOFTWARE

The simulation and optimization of a hybrid photovoltaic/biomass stand-alone system for a residential building in Makurdi was carried out using HOMER software model 2.81. The lifetime of the project is 25 years and a real interest rate of 6% per annum was assumed. The average hourly electrical load demand/consumption data for a three bedroom residential building in Makurdi was measured for a week using digital Owl metre model CM199 and the values inputted into HOMER in order to simulate the power consumption for a twelve month (12) period. The solar resource data with an annual average insolation of 4.48kWh/m2/d for Makurdi location was obtained from the NASA Langley Research Centre website in order to calculate daily radiation and monthly average values of clearness index. The sizes of the different components were determined to make sure their sizes suit the load demand. The optimal system obtained from the simulation is the configuration consisting of 2kW PV array, 1kW biomass generator, 1kW converter and 12 LP16trojan. Its NPC is $20,184 with initial capital requirement of$8,990, annual operation cost of $873. The system has a yearly excess electricity of 3.36 kWh/yr (0.074%) and unmet load of 0.256 kWh/yr (0.0063%). The results obtained show that the PV/biomass hybrid system is technically and economically feasible for the location of choice