The ConnectFlow® software suite provides a flexible, multi-scale modelling environment for simulating the migration of fluids and solutes through fractured and porous rocks, enabling the integrated assessment of structural geology, engineering, hydrogeology, hydro-geochemistry and contaminant transport processes. ConnectFlow offers industry-leading capabilities in the representation of fractured rock hydrogeology and hydrogeochemistry. The software provides a discrete representation of rock fractures and their role as fluid conduits, as well as the more classical porous medium representation of geology. A variety of physical processes are supported to address a wide range of subsurface issues relating to geological disposal of radioactive waste, rock engineering, well performance, and assessing the migration and remediation of contaminants.
COVID-19 notice
In alignment with UK Government advice, we have now implemented home working arrangements for staff across Jacobs' UK offices, including Harwell, where the ConnectFlow team is based. During this time, we aim to continue delivering our work with minimal disruption to our customers; ConnectFlow sales and support are largely unaffected at present. It is possible, however, that some delays may occur due to the current situation. For more information on Jacobs’ response to the pandemic, please see this message from our CEO here.Latest News
August 2020: ConnectFlow 12.2 released:
Updates in this version include:- Implemented random walk particle tracking in CPM models.
- Implemented Extended Van Genuchten model for unsaturated flow in CPM models.
- Added support for CB81 elements in CPM models nested within DFN models.
- Added support for refinement of CB81 elements in CPM models.
- Added support for interpolation of RMD history from a coarse grid to a refined grid in CPM models.
- Increased the upper limit for the number of boxes for efficient calculation of fracture intersections in DFN models.
- Improved and extended the Connectflow GUI's colour maps.
- Improved speed in processing and removing overlapping elements between nested and outer CPM regions
- Improved reporting of false convergences when using the HYPRE GMRES solver.
- Allowed output of submodel solve data for user-specified element numbers in upscaling calculations in DFN models.
- Allowed user-defined random number seed in DFN particle tracking simulations.
- Implemented speed improvements in identifying and processing boundary conditions in CPM models.
- Improved standardisation of error and warning messages.
- Added option to improve speed in reading upscaled DFN models into CPM models where meshes are identical.
- Added advanced Schwarz smoother option for the HYPRE GMRES solver.
- Increased maximum number of essential times that can be requested in the output to 1000.
- Added keyword to read in global freedoms or RMD data record based on time instead of record number.
- Allowed for the exclusion of user-specified fracture sets when reading fractures from file.
- Added keyword to specify, where there is no transport node within the injection radius in DFN particle tracking, whether to use the nearest node or to stop the particle.
- Improved GUI's rendering of datasets with large coordinate values.
Mar 2020: Jacobs' purchase of Wood Group's nuclear business
- Jacobs purchased Wood Group's nuclear business on 9th March 2020, which includes the ConnectFlow team.
Dec 2019: AGU Fall Meeting 2019 Conference:
- David Applegate and Thomas Williams attended the American Geological Union Fall Meeting 2019 conference.
- Thomas Williams spoke about the upscaling of brittle deformation zone flow and transport properties at Olkiluoto.
- David Applegate compiled a poster on the lasest hydrogeochemistry updates to ConnectFlow and potential applications at Olkiluoto and for SKB's SFL concept.
Sep 2019: Groundwater Modeller's Forum 2019 Conference:
- Kyle Mosley, Hannah Woollard and Freddie Mather attended the Groundwater Modeller's Forum 2019 Conference on "Making the most of recent advances in groundwater modelling", held at the University of Birmingham on 19th September.
- They presented a poster on recent ConnectFlow code developments, which is available for download from the GWMF website .
Sep - Oct 2019: Secondments to Posiva, Olkiluoto:
- Tom Williams and Kyle Mosley spent two weeks each working on the Olkiluoto site, where Posiva are currently managing the construction of the ONKALO, the world's first deep geological repository for spent nuclear fuel.
- Besides giving seminars on their work and visiting the ONKALO tunnels 420m below the surface, they spent their time working closely with Posiva experts on focused modelling topics of interest.
May 2019: Attendance at EBS Task Force meeting, Barcelona:
- David Holton and Vasileios Tsitsopoulos attended the 25th Engineered Barrier System (EBS) Task Force meeting, held in Barcelona.
- Vasileios presented the results of modelling work on transport in bentonite pellets under isothermal and non-isothermal conditions.
April 2019: iConnect meeting held at Jacobs offices, Harwell:
- Attendees included representatives from SKB, Posiva and Jacobs
- Topics discussed included DFN solute transport, model calibration, solute transport modelling at high ionic strengths, future code developments and research priorities.
April 2019: ConnectFlow 12.1 released:
- Speed improvements to DFN no calculations via parallelisation of equation assembly.
- Added support for spatially- and temporally-varying recharge in CPM recharge-discharge boundary conditions, based on user-supplied rasters.
- Added support for time-varying reference depth in CPM models, for recharge-discharge boundary conditions.
- Added support for surface water recharge-discharge boundary conditions in CPM models to model rivers, lakes and sea. Temporal changes in seawater composition may also be accounted for.
- Added support for more than two levels of refinements in the same CPM model.
- Allowed additional refinement of CPM elements in regions selected by the user, including rivers of blocks of elements.
- Added approximately 40 new colour maps in the GUI to allow for a range of visualisation colour schemes.
- Added support for nested model regions in DFN models, meaning that independent grids can be used for the DFN model region and for nested CPM or void spaces.
- Added support for nuclide transport with multi-component salt transport in CPM models.
- Added facility for CPM models to carry out nuclide transport in the rock matrix using both standard and smart Kd approaches.
- Implemented anion exclusion in CPM rock matrix diffusion.
- Added option to toggle parallel or perspective projection modes in the GUI.
- Various bug fixes.
Dec 2018: Attendance at AGU Fall Meeting 2018, Washington D.C.:
- Kyle Mosley and Tom Williams attended the AGU 2018 Fall Meeting, held in Washington D.C.
- With over 26,000 delegates and talks from hundreds of scientists on topics from Geophysics to Ocean Sciences, the AGU Fall Meeting is one of the largest gatherings of geoscientists and engineers worldwide.
- Tom presented recent work on comparing approaches to modelling radionuclide transport in brittle fault zones, which was undertaken in collaboration with SKB (Sweden), Amphos21 (Spain) and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (USA).