Macro-engineering Design for an Artificial Lake in

Southeastern Jordan

OSAMA M. AL-HABAHBEH1, ROMIL S. AL-ADWAN1, MUSTAFA A. AL-KHAWALDEH2

1Mechatronics Engineering Department, The University of Jordan, Amman 11942, JORDAN

2Mechatronics Engineering Department, Philadelphia University, Amman-Jarash Road, JORDAN

Abstract: - Water situation in Jordan has become very critical. A feasible solution is to desalinate water drawn

from Gulf of Aqaba (GoA). Another problem that Jordan faces is the very short coastline. These two problems

can be solved by developing an artificial lake in south Jordan. The water from the lake can be desalinated while

the lake itself provides a badly needed coastline. This work presents a macro-engineering design for the

proposed lake; The proposed project is named "Red Sea-Jafer Basin Conduit (RSJBC)"; it involves a pipeline

connecting GoA at the Red Sea with Jafer Basin (JB) in the south-eastern desert, where the topography of the

region is exploited to develop an artificial Lake. Using multiple pumping stations, seawater will be pumped

from GoA to JB though a 220 km long pipeline. After constructing the project, it will take three years to fill-up

the Lake. Once it is filled, the pumping rate is reduced from 51 to 30 m3/s. However, based on fresh water

needs, a volume of up to 21 m3/s can be desalinated. The suggested pipeline route has a curved path (CP) to

avoid the mountains if it were to go straight path (SP). A comparison is conducted between CP and SP, where it

was found that CP offers the lowest development cost for RSJBC, given fabric pipe is used. More specifically,

a pipe diameter of 6 m enables total development cost of 2.74 B$, with corresponding annual operating cost of

306 M$.

Key-Words: - Artificial Lake, Jordan desert, Gulf of Aqaba, Jafer Basin, Water transport, Pumping station,

Gravity flow, Seawater pipeline, Seawater pumping, Tourist attraction development.

Received: July 18, 2021. Revised: May 13, 2022. Accepted: June 4, 2022. Published: June 21, 2022.

1 Introduction

One of the major challenges facing Jordan is the

insufficient water resources. A clear solution for this

problem is desalination of seawater brought from

GoA at the Red Sea. Another major challenge is the

very short coastline, as it hinders the potential for

growth of domestic tourism. These two challenges

together can be overcome using Macro-engineering

method, which is defined as the implementation of

very large-scale engineering designs. This method is

used to develop a design for an artificial lake in

south Jordan, where part of the water from the lake

can be desalinated and transported to cities, while

the lake itself provides Jordan with extra coastline.

The proposed design exploits JB, which is a unique

but overlooked natural resource that contributes

very little to the national economy. However, if the

basin is converted into a lake, it will become a tool

to attract investors, where many activities can be

done to generate revenue. The cost of the project

includes seawater pumping from GoA to JB as well

as pipes and installation. The total cost of

construction and operation will be estimated.

Large-scale water projects are important

infrastructure elements. Since antiquity, these

projects have been vital for development; Megdiche

et al. [1] highlighted seven examples of historic

hydraulic structures. Al-Saqarat et al. [2] indicated

that a network of freshwater sites in Jordan had been

visited by early humans. On the other hand, natural

rivers and lakes are the main sources of fresh

surface water. Therefore, they have received

considerable attention in the literature; Bonacci et

al. [3] studied the fluctuations in water levels at

Baćina Lakes. Goodwin et al. [4] investigated the

formation of Lakes in Antarctica from Ocean flood

events. Lukman et al. [5] studied the pollution in

Lake Toba in Indonesia. Abd Aziz et al. [6]

identified water contamination in Cempaka Lake.

The phenomenon of inter-basin water transfers was

studied by Gupta and Zaag [7]. The restored

ecosystem of Chilika lake in India was studied by

Mohanty et al. [8]. Badescu and Cathcart [9]

proposed a macro-engineering solution to raise the

Aral Sea level by importing water from Caspian

Sea. Stone [10] discussed the hydrolofical collapse

of Lake Urmia in Iran.

Many water transport studies have been

presented in the literature; an artificial lake design

was presented by Badescu et al. [11]; where they

proposed to bring seawater to lake Eyre in South

Australia. In an effort to solve the sand dunes

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problem in the African desert, Badescu et al. [12]

suggested conveying seawater from the ocean to the

desert to fix the dunes by spraying them with water.

Gomaa et al. [13] evaluated the degree to which

pumping wells at Moghra aquifer in the Egypt

western desert will attract seawater to the aquifer

system.

Alleviating water shortage is an area of active

research; Yazdandoost et al. [14] suggested

lowering water consumption in arid regions as a

more sustainable approach than

seawater conveyance. However, due to the high

water demand, this option is not feasible. Instead,

desalination of seawater is often proposed as a

practical solution; Greenbaum [15] explained how

the growing demand for water in the south Levant

region could be met by seawater desalination as well

as water recycling for agriculture. In Jordan,

desalination can be done using seawater from GoA,

which is the only seaport in the country. Therefore,

many researchers were interested in the environment

at GoA; Al-Taani et al. [16] investigated marine

ecosystem and water quality at GoA. Al Hseinat et

al. [17] evaluated the role of zero discharge policy at

GoA in improving environmental conditions. Al-

Absi et al. [18] investigated the levels of 16 trace

and heavy elements in seawater in the northern Gulf

of Aqaba.

In Jordan, many water projects have been

proposed, especially the idea of conveying seawater

from GoA; this was planned in the Red Sea-Dead

Sea conveyance (RSDSC) project [19]. Quba'a et al.

[20] studied alternatives to increase water supply in

Jordan River Basin including the Red Sea–Dead Sea

Conveyance and pipeline from Turkey. Al-Maabreh

et al. [21] tested scale mitigation in Disi-Amman

water pipeline using nanofiltration and chemical

addition. Akash et al. [22] proposed hydropower

desalination system using energy generated by

flowing water from Disi to Aqaba [23]. However,

despite being a sound proposal, this idea relies on

transporting fossil water, which is non-renewable;

therefore, the proposal is unsustainable. The

potential for laying a straight pipeline from the Red

Sea to Jafer Basin in order to create an artificial lake

was investigated by Al-Habahbeh [24]; however,

this work proposes a more feasible solution, which

is to construct a minimum gradient pipeline for

water conveyance. Furthermore, the potential for

excavating a descending tunnel to flow water by

gravity from the Red Sea to Jafer Basin in order to

create a sustainable lake was proposed by Al-

Habahbeh [25]; however, the current proposal is

much more affordable.

Among the benefits of artificial lake

development is the flourishing agriculture. Holguin

et al. [26] reviewed the potential of growing saline

crops in desert areas for food and biofuel

production. AbuDalo et al. [27] assessed the

characteristics of an artificial lake containing a

mixture of treated wastewater and rainwater to

examine whether the nutrient loading is sufficient

for fish culture.

From the above discussions, it is clear that the

proposed artificial lake would solve two problems;

firstly, it will expand the available coastline by

multiple folds. Secondly, it will provide seawater

for possible desalination in a location closer to the

center of the country. The artificial lake design

process starts with formulating the problem as

shown in section 2. The problem solution is

presented in secion-3; it consists of the reservoir

design as well as water pumping and transporting.

The cost of the project is estimated in the economic

assessment section. Finally, a comparison between

the curved and the straight paths of the pipeline is

conducted.

2 Problem Formulation

The general plan of the RSJBC project is shown in

Fig. 1. It consists of two major components; the first

one is seawater transportation system, which

includes pipes and pumps, with the intake installed

at GoA (Point A) and the discharge installed at JB

(Point B). The length of the pipeline is 220 km. The

second component is the artificial lake that will be

developed inside JB (The blue region above Point

B). The proposed area of the Lake is 250 km2.

It is noted in Fig. 1 that the pipeline is not

straight, but rather curved towards the east side. The

reason for that is to avoid crossing the Shara

Mountains, which means climbing up to 1,350 m

above sea level (ASL). A schematic diagram for the

RSJBC project alignment is shown in Fig. 2, where

seawater is pumped from Red Sea (point 1), at sea

level to South eastern desert (point 2) at 894 m

ASL. From point 2, water will flow by gravity to JB

(point 3), at 850 m ASL, where the lake is formed.

There is a possibility for hydro-energy generation in

the downslope, which will be investigated.

For the water conveyance system, a pipeline is

selected. The water intake will be placed in GoA,

while multiple pumping stations will be deployed

along the pipeline. This arrangement will result in

steady pressure in the pipeline. The estimated total

length of the pipeline is 220 km. The pipeline course

has to go up and down following the terrains, and

having multiple pumps along the way would prevent

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back flow. The RSJBC project is divided into two

phases; in phase-I, the pipeline and pumps are

constructed, while in phase-II, the basin is filled up

with water. After the completion of Phase-II, it will

be necessary to continue pumping a certain amount

of water in order to compensate for evaporated

water. In the meantime, an additional amount can be

pumped and desalinated in order to fulfill the

growing needs for fresh water in the area. The main

steps of the lake development algorithm are shown

in Fig. 3.

Fig. 1: RSJBC pipeline plan [28]

Fig. 2: Pipeline route around the mountains

3 Problem Solution

3.1 Reservoir Design

The proposed lake will be located in JB, which is a

unique natural place. It is a dry and quiet dish-like

area located in the south-eastern Jordanian desert,

about 60 km from Ma'an [29] and 6 km to the east

of Jafer town. It is a flat white basin which collects

rain

water from the surrounding mountains.

Furthermore, the floor of the basin is very hard and

do not grow any vegetation [30]. A schematic plan

of the basin is shown in Fig. 4, where the Lake is

designed to occupy the enclosed area, which equals

250 km2, while the perimeter equals 105 km. In

summer, this place is very dry, while in winter, fresh

water flowing from the surrounding mountains

accumulates in the basin. The annual direct rainfall

(RB) on the basin is given by:

 (1)

Where RA is the annual rate of rainfall in the

basin, equal to 32 mm/year [32], and AB is the area

of the basin, equal to 250 km2. The resulting RB is 8

million cubic meters per year (MCM/y). The outer

JB has a circular shape with 100 km diameter and a

total area of 7,366 km2. JB is located inside the

outer basin. It has a mean elevation of 850 m ASL

[33], as shown in Fig. 4. JB region is characterized

as a hyper-arid zone [34]. The rate of flood flow

into the basin in a wet year is 15 MCM/y [35]. The

total water volume (Vw) needed to fill up the basin

can be calculated by multiplying the area by the

depth. The area of the basin (AB) is 250 km2, and the

average depth (DB) is 8 m [36]. Therefore, the

volume of the water (V) is calculated by:

 (2)

Fig. 3: Lake development algorithm

Fig. 4: Layout of the proposed lake [31]

Seawater

pumping

Filling the

basin

Lake is full

Continue pumping to overcome evaporation

and to provide for desalination

Pumps

installation

Pipeline

construction

Sizing pipeline

and pumps

Calculate lake

volume

Set filling time

duration

Find seawater

flow rate

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Equation (2) is used to calculate the water

volume needed to fill up the basin and create the

lake; the resulting volume is 2,000 MCM. The main

source of water used to fill up the lake is the

seawater pumped from GoA. The contribution of

fresh flood and rain water adds up to 23 MCM. It

was confirmed that after filling up the lake, the

nearby Jafer town and the airbase will still be 3 to

19 m above water level. In order to accurately

calculate the volume of seawater that must be

transported into the basin, due attention should be

paid to evaporation. The combination of high

temperatures and low humidity in the area results in

an extremely high evaporation rate. The evaporation

rate ranges between 1,600 mm/y in the northern

Highlands and 4000 mm/y in the south eastern

desert [37]. Assaf and Kessler [38] estimated an

annual evaporation rate of 280 W/m2 in GoA, which

is equivalent to 1 cm/day of evaporation. Therefore,

the expected evaporation rate from the lake (ER) can

be estimated using the above data as 3.83 m/y. The

volume of evaporated water is calculated by

multiplying ER with the water surface area (AB),

which yields an annual evaporation rate of 958

MCM from the surface of the lake. In addition, the

marginal amounts of falling rain (8 MCM/y) and

incoming seasonal streams (15 MCM/y) are

subtracted from the needed supply.

Seawater pumping requirements are assigned

based on the proposed lake capacity calculated

using eqn. (2), which equals 2,000 MCM. Pumping

capacity should be designed such that it can fill up

the basin in a reasonable time frame. It will be

assumed that the time needed to fill up the lake is

three years. This is considered a reasonable time for

a project of this size. During each of the first three

years of the project, 1,602 MCM must be pumped

into the Lake, as shown in Table 1. However,

starting from the fourth year, 935 MCM must be

pumped annually in order to compensate for

evaporation, and keep the water level constant. The

pumping capacity must be designed based on the

maximum required volume which is 1,602 MCM/y.

Based on this assumption, the design flow of

seawater (QSW) during the first three years is

calculated as:

 



󰇛

󰇜 (3)

However, in the fourth year and beyond, a rate of

30 m3/s must be continuously pumped to keep the

level of water constant. The required pumping

volumes are presented in Table 1. It is noted that the

water depth at the end of the first, second, and third

years is 2.7 m, 5.3 m and 8 m, respectively. An

important outcome of the RSJBC project is the

possibility of desalinating up to 21 m3/s of seawater

to fulfill the needs of the area. The 21 m3/s

represents the difference between the 51 m3/s used

for three years to fill up the lake, and the 30 m3/s

needed after that to keep the water level constant.

Assuming a recovery rate of 45%, the rate of

produced fresh water could reach 9.45 m3/s, which

amounts to 298 MCM/y.

Table 1. Basin filling plan

Description

(Volumes in

MCM)

1st

Year

2nd

Year

3rd

Year

4th

Year

Total

Operation

Water

volume of

the Lake

667

0

2,000

Add

Evaporation

from the

Lake

958

3,832

Add

Flooding

streams into

Lake

15

60

Subtract

Direct rain

into Lake

8

32

Subtract

Pumping

needed into

Lake

1,602

935

5,741

---

Net volume

in the Lake

667

1,333

2,000

---

Water depth

in the Lake

(m)

2.7

5.3

8.0

---

Pumping rate

into Lake

(m3/s)

51

30

---

3.2 Pumping and Transporting

The pumping rate will be designed based on the

required water flow rate given by eqn. (3). As for

conveyance, rigid or flexible pipes must be utilized.

Due to evaporation losses from the lake, it is

expected that pumping will be permanent; therefore,

the quality and reliability of the selected pipes and

pumps should be good enough to endure long life

cycles. The pipeline design includes several

parameters, such as Length, Diameter, Thickness,

and Material. Multiple values of the pipe diameter

will be investigated; from 2-7 m. A pipe diameter of

1 m is not considered in this work because the

pressure will be too high. The wall thickness of the

pipe is calculated using the following equation [11]:



 (4)

Where, p is Water pressure, Dpipe is Pipe

diameter,  is Wall safety tensile stress, and δ is

Pipe wall thickness. The effect of material safety

tensile stress on pipe wall thickness for pipe

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diameter of 3 m and pressure of 5 atm was checked

to be safe. Considering pipe material selection, there

are different options available; such as steel, plastic,

fabric and composite. The mean water velocity in a

pipe of diameter Dpipe is equal to volumetric flow

rate divided by the pipe cross-sectional area, defined

as:

 



 (5)

Where the seawater flow rate through the pipe is

QSW. The transport system includes a series of

pumps where their main parameter is the pumping

power Pp, which can be obtained from the grid. The

power required to impel the water within the pipe is

given by:

 (6)

Where g is the gravitational acceleration (= 9.81

m/s2), ρSW is the density of seawater (= 1,030

kg/m3), H is the hydraulic head and ηp is the

efficiency of the pump (= 0.75). The hydraulic head

is obtained by adding the maximum elevation of the

pipe above sea level Hpipe (= 894 m), as shown in

Fig. 2, to the lost pressure height (ΔH) due to

friction, which equals:

 (7)

In this work, only linear pressure losses will be

considered, and the lost pressure height will be:







 (8)

Where Lpipe is the pipe length and λ is the coefficient

of linear pressure loss, given by:

󰇱







 (9)

The expression for Reynolds number is given by:



 (10)

Where vsw is the kinematic viscosity of seawater

(=13×10-4/ρsw) m2/s.

Pump specific power for a 1 m3/s flow rate is given

by:

 

 

 (11)

A clear conclusion is that using a large diameter

pipe combined with low pressure is much more

energy efficient. The energy consumed with

pumping Epump,year (J/year) is obtained from:

 (12)

For analytical reasons, the pipeline route is

divided into two sections, the first section measures

two-thirds of the total length and extends from GoA

to South eastern desert. It is designated as Stage-I.

The second section measures one-third of the total

length and continues from the South eastern desert

to JB. It is designated as Stage-II. The basic

parameters of Stage-I of the pipeline are shown in

Table 2 for Year-1. Similarly, parameters for Stage-

II of the pipeline are presented in Table 3 for Year-

1. While pipeline results for different diameters and

water speeds for Year-1 (Stage I & II) are presented

in Table 4. After the 3 years needed to fill up the

basin, pipeline results for Year-4 (Stage I & II) are

shown in Table 5. It is noted that the data for the

second and third years are identical to the first year.

Considering the fourth year and beyond, the water

flow rate will be lower, as shown in Table 5.

Furthermore, if a diameter of 5 meters is used, it is

possible to generate energy during Stage-II, which is

a downslope. This fact is exploited in the

calculations, and it will for sure reduce the power

withdrawn from the grid.

The pumping flow speed as a function of pipe

diameter is shown in Fig. 5. Furthermore, since the

water flow rate needed after three years is less than

the flow required during the first three years, it is

reflected on the flow velocity as shown in Fig. 5.

The effect of pipe diameter on pumping power is

shown in Fig. 6. It is clear that employing a pipe

diameter of more than 3 meters would greatly

reduce the required pumping power. The same trend

is noted in Fig. 9, where the annual pumping energy

is plotted against the pipe diameter.

Table 2. Pipeline parameters, Year-1, Stage-I

QSW (m3/s)

51

Total pipe length

(km)

220

Start elevation (m)

0

End elevation (m)

894

Hpipe (m)

+894

Start location

Aqaba

End location

South eastern desert

Lpipe (m)

1.47×105

ρsw (kg/m3)

1,030

vsw (m2/s)

1.26×10-6

Δp (atm)

3

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4 Economic Assessment

Due to their huge expenditure, it is essential to

calculate the cost of macro-engineering projects. For

the RSJBC project, each macro-engineered

component such as pipes and pumps involves two

associated costs; erection and operation. The

erection

cost is proportional to the quantity of each

component. This cost refers to pipeline and pumping

system construction, while the operation cost is

proportional to the volume of pumped water, after

installing the pipeline and pumps. In addition to the

total length, the pipeline cost depends on its

diameter and material, where the cost of pipe

installation depends mainly on the diameter. In this

section, the cost of the pipeline and the pumps

enabling steady water shifting is calculated. The

cost cpipe of the conducting pipe is determined by

[11]:

 (13)

Where cpipe,1 is the cost of a unit length of the pipe.

Table 3. Pipeline parameters, Year-1, Stage-II

QSW (m3/s)

51

Total pipe length

(km)

220

Start elevation (m)

894

End elevation (m)

858

Hpipe (m)

-36

Start location

South eastern desert

End location

Jafer basin

Lpipe (m)

7.33×104

ρsw (kg/m3)

1,030

vsw (m2/s)

1.26×10-6

Table 4. Pipeline results, Year-1 (Stage I & II)

Dpipe

(m)

wSW

(m/s)

ΔH

(m)

Hydraulic

Head (H)

(m)

Ppump

(MW)

Number

of

stations

Δp

(atm)

Ppump/

Station

(MW)

2

16

7,130

10,335

5,522

326

3

24

3

7

1,468

2,243

1,626

63

3

24

4

315

1,179

854

36

3

24

5

3

129

1,003

692

29

0.3

24

Table 5. Pipeline results, Year-4 (Stage I & II)

Dpipe

(m)

wSW

(m/s)

ΔH

(m)

Hydraulic

Head (H)

(m)

Ppump

(MW)

Number

of

stations

Ppump/

Station

(MW)

2

9

2,465

3,359

1,842

130

14

3

4

343

1,237

554

36

14

4

2

85

979

394

28

14

5

2

29

923

359

27

14

Fig. 5: Flow velocity vs. pipe diameter

Fig. 6: Pumping power vs. pipe diameter

Similarly, the cost of pipe installation, cinst,pipe is

given by:

  (14)

Where cinst,pipe,1 is the cost of installing one unit

length of the pipe. The unitary cost depends on

different factors, such as pipe diameter Dpipe and

material. The cost of pump mounting, Cpump, is

determined by:

 (15)

Where cpump,1 is the cost of the pump unit power.

In order to transform JB into a lake, a number of

pumps must be installed along the pipeline as

indicated in Tables 4 and 5. The first part of the

water transport system (Stage-I) transmits the water

to point 2 in Fig. 2, at an elevation of 894 m ASL.

This point is located 147 km from GoA and 73 km

from JB. After passing point 2 on the way to Jafer,

the pipeline descends down from 984 m to 850 m,

with 34 m water column. However, according to

analysis, hydropower could be generated only after

three years using a 5 m pipe diameter. Considering

the cost of an average quality pump of unit power

cpump,1 as 800 $/kW [11], the cost of energy

consumed during one year, cyear is calculated as [12]:

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DOI: 10.37394/232015.2022.18.77

Osama M. Al-Habahbeh,

Romil S. Al-Adwan, Mustafa A. Al-Khawaldeh

E-ISSN: 2224-3496

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Volume 18, 2022

 (16)

Where cyear,1 = 0.1$ k/Wh. For N years, the energy

cost, c, is given by:

 (17)

Where N is the number of service years. The

initial investment cost cinvest for the pipes and

pumping installations is given by:

 (18)

After constructing the pipeline and pumping

stations, it will take three years of pumping to fill up

the basin. During that period, annual pumping cost

will be constant. However, after filling up the lake,

the pumping cost will decrease and stay constant.

An estimation of the investment costs is presented in

Tables 6 to 12; Table 6 depicts the annual operating

cost for the SP pipeline for multiple diameters.

Table 7 shows the pipeline cost of Stage-1 during

the first year. Table 8 provides the pumping cost

during the second year for both Stage-I and Stage-II.

Table 9 shows the pumping cost during the fourth

year for both stages. Table 10 depicts the sum of the

initial cost and the pumping cost for steel pipes. The

annual operating cost for CP pipeline for multiple

diameters is shown in Table 11.

In order to decrease the cost of pumping,

floating PV cells could be deployed on the surface

of the Lake. Ikhennicheu et al. [39] presented three

cases of floating solar PV farms, small, large and

offshore. Furthermore, renewable resources had

been proposed by Salem and Hudaib [40] to pump

water via pipeline and excavated tunnel into Qattara

Depression Reservoir. The cost of pipeline made of

different materials versus pipe diameter is shown in

Fig. 7. The highest is the steel and the lowest is the

fabric. Fig. 8 shows the pumping cost for different

pipe diameters. It is noted that energy and

consequently cost decreases with pipe diameter,

where there is a turning point at 4 meters diameter.

The annual pumping energy for different pipe

diameters is shown in Fig. 9. The energy decreases

sharply from 2 m to 3 m diameter. The pumping

cost variation with pipe diameter is plotted in Fig.

10. It is noted that the cost decrease tangibly after 4

m diameter.

From the previous results, it is noted that if

fabric pipes are deployed, the development cost of

the RSJBC project can be minimized. Within this

option of pipe material, the minimum cost can be

achieved using a 6 m diameter, which equals 2.74

B$. On the other hand, the total annual operating

cost is equal to 306 M$.

Table 6. Annual operating cost (SP)

Table 7. Cost of pipeline, Year-1, Stage-I

Dpipe

(m)

Pumps

(M$)

Pump

Energy

(M$)

Steel

pipe &

pump

(B$)

Plastic

pipe &

pump

(B$)

Fabric

pipe &

pump

(B$)

2

4,227

4,628

9,32

9.18

8.98

3

1,010

1,106

2,82

2.61

2.32

4

623

678

2,23

1.95

1.56

5

535

585

2,29

1.94

1.45

Table 8. Cost of pumping, Year-2 (Stage I & II)

Dpipe (m)

Pumping Energy (M$)

2

6,651

3

1,368

4

726

5

587

Table 9. Cost of pumping, Year-4 (Stage I & II)

Dpipe (m)

Pumping Energy (M$)

2

1,594

3

481

4

345

5

315

Fig. 7: Cost of pipeline vs. diameter

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DOI: 10.37394/232015.2022.18.77

Osama M. Al-Habahbeh,

Romil S. Al-Adwan, Mustafa A. Al-Khawaldeh

E-ISSN: 2224-3496

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Volume 18, 2022

Fig. 8: Pumping cost vs. pipe diameter

Fig. 9: Annual pumping energy vs. pipe diameter

Fig. 10: Pumping cost vs. pipe diameter

Table 10. Initial & pumping costs for Steel pipes

Dpip

e

(m)

Pump

s &

pipes

(B$)

Pumpin

g

Energy

Y-1 (B$)

Pumping

Energy

Y-2 (B$)

Pumpin

g

Energy

Y-3 (B$)

Total

developmen

t (B$)

3

2.28

1.36

6.35

4

2.06

0.72

4.22

5

2.29

0.58

4.04

6

2.59

0.55

4.24

Table 11. Annual operating cost for CP

Dpipe (m)

Cost of pumping (M$)

3

480

4

345

5

315

6

306

7

303

5 Comparison between Curved Path

(CP) and Straight Path (SP)

This section compares between two pipeline routes;

the first route is the one described in this work and

shown in Fig. 1. Because of its shape, it is called;

"Curved Path (CP)". The second route connects

points A and B in Fig. 1 by a straight line. This

alternative route is called; "Straight Path (SP)".

However, due to the en-route Mountains, this

pipeline has to climb 1,350 m ASL, and then

descend to 858 m ASL at point B in Fig. 1. Using

the SP, the lowest total development cost of the

RSJBC project can be obtained using fabric pipe.

Within this pipe material option, a diameter of 6 m

provides the minimum cost, standing at 3.01 B$, as

opposed to 2.74 B$ for the CP. The corresponding

annual operating cost is equal to 304 M$, versus 306

M$ for the CP. This means the CP provides the

minimum possible development cost for the RSJBC

project, even though the operating cost is slightly

higher than SP. The total cost for different pipe

diameters is shown in Fig. 11 for CP and SP. While

the annual operating cost for different pipe

diameters is shown in Fig. 12. The full comparison

between CP and SP is shown in Table 12; it is noted

that the pipe diameter has a large influence on the

cost; for large diameters, CP is better than SP in

terms of development cost and annual operating

cost. The cost timeline for SP and CP both using

Fabric pipe is shown in Fig. 13. One more point to

consider is that CP extends through vacant desert,

while SP extends over the mountains, where there

are more human activities, which create more

obstacles to the pipeline route.

Fig. 11: Total cost vs. pipe diameter

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Osama M. Al-Habahbeh,

Romil S. Al-Adwan, Mustafa A. Al-Khawaldeh

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Fig. 12: Annual operating cost

Fig. 13: Cost timeline for SP & CP (Fabric pipe)

Table 12. Annual operating cost for CP & SP

6 Conclusion

This work presents a design of an innovative macro-

engineering project; the proposed project is called

RSJBC and involves a seawater pipeline extending

from GoA to JB, where an artificial Lake is created.

After the construction of the pipeline and the

pumping stations is completed, and the project is

commissioned, it will take three years to fill-up the

basin. Once the Lake is filled-up, the pumping rate

delivered to the Lake must be reduced from 51 m3/s

to 30 m3/s, to keep the water level constant. The

surplus flow of 21 m3/s can be desalinated to fulfill

the needs of the area. Assuming a recovery rate of

45%, the rate of produced fresh water could reach

9.45 m3/s, which equals 298 MCM/y. The suggested

pipeline route (CP) is curved so as to avoid high

altitude mountains if it were to go straight (SP).

However, to confirm the benefit of this approach, a

comparison is conducted between CP and SP. It was

revealed that using CP, the lowest development cost

of RSJBC project can be realized, provided fabric

pipe is selected. Specifically, a pipe diameter of 6 m

provides a minimum development cost of 2.74 B$,

with corresponding annual operating cost of 306

M$. There is a small difference between the

operating costs for both designs, which can be

neglected.

Furthermore, attention should be paid to the fact

that CP extends through vacant desert while SP

extends over the mountains where there is more

human activity going on, which creates more

obstacles to the pipeline route.

Since the floor of the basin is completely flat,

once it is covered with water, the lake will have

constant water depth. In this work, the main concern

is the relatively high operating cost, which is due to

evaporation process. Since evaporation rate is much

higher than recharge rate, the salinity level of the

lake is expected to rise. However, evaporation rate

will decrease with increasing salinity. Future

research is recommended on the ecological effects

and sustainability of the lake; especially the salinity

increase rate and the feasibility of mining and using

the excess salt. On the cost aspect, one possible way

to reduce the operating cost is to schedule pumping

during grid off-peak hours. Another option is to

invest in solar photovoltaic (PV) energy to power

the continuous pumping needed. The PV modules

can be conveniently positioned on the surface of the

lake. In this case, the efficiency of the modules will

be improved by the cooling provided by seawater.

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Osama M. Al-Habahbeh,

Romil S. Al-Adwan, Mustafa A. Al-Khawaldeh

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Contribution of Individual Authors to the

Creation of a Scientific Article (Ghostwriting

Policy)

Osama Al-Habahbeh performed the design and

analysis.

Romil Al-Adwan performed the visualization.

Mustafa Al-Khawaldeh performed the validation.

Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0

(Attribution 4.0 International, CC BY 4.0)

This article is published under the terms of the

Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0

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DOI: 10.37394/232015.2022.18.77

Osama M. Al-Habahbeh,

Romil S. Al-Adwan, Mustafa A. Al-Khawaldeh

E-ISSN: 2224-3496

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