Skip to content

Groundwater Modelling Software

NUMERICAL CODES EMPLOYED FOR FLOW AND TRANSPORT IN POROUS MEDIA

We have experience with the following codes:

FEFLOW 6.1 (DHI-WASY)

FEFLOW simulates flow and tranport in porous media using the finite element method. It allows the simulation of variable saturated flow and both mass and heat transport. It takes into account density effects, variable viscosity and includes kinetics of different reactions in multi-component systems.

FEFLOW tackles gas flow, although with a simplified formulation. It does not allow multiphase flow.

More information is available in the FEFLOW page. Our experience with FEFLOW is very good. The technical support service is very professional and diligent; they have really deep knowledge and are aware of numerical issues very important for researcher not willing to use their software as a black box.

VISUAL MODFLOW PRO 2009.1

It is a simulater for flow and transport in porous media base on finite difference equations. We employ Visual Modflow from Schlumberger. One of their associated packages is SEAWAT 4 that allows coupling groundwater flow and heat transport with variable density and viscosity.

Attention! Some important boundary conditions for heat are still not available.

COMSOL Multiphysics v4.3a

It is a finite element solver for different types of partial differential equations. In particular it solves a quite general formulation of the flow equation. It has the enormous advantage, in our opinion, of allowing the coupling of different physical processes governed by different equations. The available simulation domains have a great flexibility.

Although it exhibits a great potential, its use by users without a strong mathematical background is very difficult, we think. Through the years, besides, we have perceived an evolution towards a black-box type code. To know exactly what one is doing is not easy at all with this program and requires not only an expertise in numerical methods but also an exceedingly deep knowledge of the fine structure of the program.