High Level Architecture Model of a Small Hydropower System: Modeling the Failure of the Control Gate and Proposing Solutions to Such Failure

This paper shows the High-level system architecture model of a small hydropower system with a relatively small capacity of about 150kw of power primarily for use in small neighbourhoods, villages, remote areas, companies and anywhere applicable. The inspiration came from the current lack of sufficient power situation in Nigeria. This paper demonstrates the benefit of using system architecture to model and view a system in a holistic manner so as to easily detect problems and provide solutions to those problems without causing any form of complete system shutdown. The main objective is to study a small hydropower system to check for possible failures and to propose solutions to those failures. In this paper, the focus will be on failures that could arise from the control Gate and solutions will be offered to get the best possible total generation capacity and effectiveness of the whole system. The control gate subsystem controls how much water is going into the system and subsequently how much power can be generated and hence forms an important subsystem in the hydropower system. The paper will also show what happens within the hydropower system during peak and off-peak periods by using systems Architecture modelling to analyse the system to anticipate or totally prevent any failure and be completely prepared to counter such failure. The system architecture will be modelled using Unified Modelling Language (UML) diagrams drawn with the aid of Sparx Enterprise Architecture Tool.