TRANS AFRICA PIPELINE (TAP)

1 Copyright Property of TRANS - AFRICA PIPELINE Inc. 1 TRANS AFRICA PIPELINE : Sustainable water for Sub Sahara AFRICA Rod Tennyson, PhD, PEng Professor Emeritus, University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies 614-99 Harbour Sq., Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5J2H2 ABSTRACT This paper provides an overview of the technical and economic feasibility for constructing a TRANS AFRICA PIPELINE (TAP) across the sub-Saharan region of AFRICA for the delivery of fresh clean water . To provide a sustainable supply of fresh water from unlimited ocean resources, desalination technology can deliver the necessary quantity of clean water and allow fertile farm oases to be created adjacent to TAP. As the population s health improves, and the number of farm oases increases, export of food products will reduce poverty. Desalination is the only source of sustainable fresh water available for the sub-Sahara countries if this water crisis is to be solved.

2 Based on population statistics for the countries in the sub-Sahara region, the number of people who will directly benefit from TAP is estimated to be over 20 million. Keywords: water supply and delivery, desalination, pipelines, storage tanks, AFRICA NOMENCLATURE B billion (109) d day gal US gallons h hours k kilo (103) kW kilowatts kWh/d kilowatt hours per day l liters l/p/d liters per person per day mg milligram M million (106) m meter MW megawatts SCADA supervisory control and data acquisition software tds total dissolved solids USD US dollars yr year Copyright Property of TRANS - AFRICA PIPELINE Inc. 2 INTRODUCTION water is the single most important factor that will ensure the survival of millions of Africans scattered across the many countries adjacent to the encroaching desertification of AFRICA . The objective of this paper is to demonstrate the feasibility of building a water PIPELINE across the sub-Sahara region of AFRICA to begin to alleviate human dehydration, reduce diseases caused by infected water and poor sanitation, eliminate agricultural drought, and begin the transformation of this region back to a self-sustaining existence.

3 Recent United Nations studies state that over 2 billion people will suffer severe water shortages by 2050. In the next 10 years, all of the countries predicted to be water scarce are in AFRICA in the sub-Sahara region. The expected doubling of this area s population in the next 40 years will exacerbate this problem. Regional conflicts over water supplies are also predicted to increase in this time frame, particularly in those countries that have access to rivers flowing across their boundaries. However, the sub-Saharan countries have no access to sustainable water supplies. It is well documented that most of these countries, numbering about 14 in total, are the driest regions in AFRICA , frequently suffering severe drought conditions year after year. A sustainable supply of fresh water from unlimited ocean resources using current desalination technology can alleviate annual drought and death tolls, and provide for the creation of local farm oases along the TAP route.

4 As the population s health improves, and the number of farm oases increases, export of food products will reduce poverty. Desalination is the only source of sustainable fresh water available for the sub-Sahara countries if this water crisis is to be solved. THE TAP CONCEPT The TAP concept is envisaged as an east-west PIPELINE , approximately 6000 km long, originating from coastal nuclear powered desalination plants. Desalination plants will be built at each ocean terminus to provide security of supply, and redundancy when Copyright Property of TRANS - AFRICA PIPELINE Inc. 3 plant downtimes are required for repair and maintenance. water will flow in both directions simultaneously to fill massive water storage tank farms strategically located along the path of TAP to service local populations. TAP consists of a primary Grand Trunk PIPELINE (GTP) connected to the desalination plants, with north-south distribution pipelines branching off the GTP to supply distributed tank farms to service local population centres.

5 Pumping stations will be located as required along the TAP route to maintain water flow rates and supply the storage tank farms. Solar energy combined with wind power are the energy sources of choice where no access to electrical power off a grid is available. The nuclear powered desalination plants will be located in areas adjacent to ocean harbours or bays. The pump stations will also serve as monitoring sites employing PIPELINE sensor systems for detection of pipe leaks, third party intrusion and system integrity. using standard SCADA systems, the data will be relayed via satellite to central monitoring stations located in each country that will be responsible for TAP security and maintenance. HUMAN water REQUIREMENTS The major purpose of TAP is to provide potable water for the populations of the sub-Saharan countries. The basic human survival requirement for drinking water in a hot climate is about 3 to 5 litres/day.

6 Taking into account additional human needs for sanitation, bathing and cooking, this figure grows to about 30 to 50 litres/person/day (l/p/d). (Gleick,1996). Applying this criterion for a population of 20 M people yields a minimum required production capacity of 600 million litres/day . This corresponds to 600,000 m3 per day production from desalination plants, which is equivalent to about 160M US gal/day (1m3 = 260 US gal; throughout the paper, all gallons are US). CREATING FARMING OASES BY IRRIGATION Although there are irrigated regions located in many of these sub-Sahara countries, they are insufficient to alleviate the massive droughts that plague most of Copyright Property of TRANS - AFRICA PIPELINE Inc. 4 these regions and devastate their populations. Modern irrigation technology can be employed to ensure efficient use of water supplied from the TAP project.

7 Turning desert areas into arable land is now common. Irrigated agriculture is usually sustained by tapping into underground reservoirs and rivers, which is not feasible in these areas. Because of the costs involved, the use of water from desalination plants must be carefully monitored if this system is to be viable economically. The following tables illustrate the water requirements to sustain a variety of crops and livestock. Table 1 Crop Inches of water /ton crop** Millet acre inches* Sorghum Corn Sugar beet Sudan grass Potatoes Barley Wheat Oats Soybeans Flax Alfalfa Note: * 12 acre inches of water = 325,850 US gallons ** Ref: Crops and water Use, North Dakota State University Based on the data in Table 1, a plot of the nominal total water required over a year is shown in as a function of the crop yield, assuming an average water supply of 125,000 gal/ton is available for irrigation.

8 To achieve this capacity, water storage using reservoirs or tank farms will be necessary. Table 2 Livestock water consumption (litres/day)* Poultry 5 to 7 Dairy Cattle 26 to 75 Horses 40 to 55 Swine 4 to 11 Copyright Property of TRANS - AFRICA PIPELINE Inc. 5 Note: * 1 litre = US gallons Ref: water Requirements for Livestock, Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Fig. 1 Cumulative water requirements (B gal/yr) for different crop yields (kilo tons/yr) Fig. 2 Daily water requirements for poultry and dairy cattle Figure 2 presents the daily water requirements for poultry and dairy cattle as a function of the number of livestock that can be serviced, based on the data in Table 2. For example, it can be seen that for 4M gal/d, one can provide sufficient water for M poultry, and about M dairy cattle. If 100 Mgal/d were available for crop irrigation, this would provide an annual yield of about 300 kilo tons of food.

9 ANNUAL CROP YIELDS AS A FUNCTION OF water SUPPLY (based on average crop requirement of 125,000 USg/ton) required (Bg/yr)Annual crop yield (ktons/yr) water REQUIREMENTS FOR MIXED water (Mg/d)Number of livestock (millions)PoultryDairy cattleCopyright Property of TRANS - AFRICA PIPELINE Inc. 6 DESALINATION TECHNOLOGY Desalination is the only source of sustainable fresh water available for the sub-Sahara countries if this water crisis is to be solved. The International Desalination Association estimates that there are about 100 countries employing desalination technology, with half of the fresh water output located in the Middle East and North AFRICA . Desalination plants are growing at a rapid pace to meet the demands for clean water throughout the world, with an estimated 15,000 plants in operation (or under construction) at the present time.

10 Although there are several methods used in desalination plants, the most common method is reverse osmosis using specially designed synthetic membranes. This method forces water to travel through the membrane under the action of high pressure, rejecting about 99% of the salt. The major problem associated with this technology is fouling of the membrane by contaminants, which requires cleaning and regular maintenance. Even though ocean salinity varies from 35,000 ~ 44,900 mg/l, desalination can reduce this value to about 25 ~ 50 mg/l. The WHO standard for drinking water is 1000mg of total dissolved solids (tds)/l. However, this process could present some environmental issues, such as returning the sea brine back into the ocean and the disposal of solid waste. The TAP project, as described later, directs the brine to salt ponds to create a source of high quality salt that can be sold to offset the operational costs of the desalination plants.