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Title: dfnWorks: A discrete fracture network framework for modeling subsurface flow and transport

Abstract

DFNWorks is a parallalized computational suite to generate three-dimensional discrete fracture networks (DFN) and simulate flow and transport. Developed at Los Alamos National Laboratory over the past five years, it has been used to study flow and transport in fractured media at scales ranging from millimeters to kilometers. The networks are created and meshed using dfnGen, which combines fram (the feature rejection algorithm for meshing) methodology to stochastically generate three-dimensional DFNs on the basis of site specific data with the LaGriT meshing toolbox to create a high-quality computational mesh representation, specifically a conforming Delaunay triangulation suitable for high performance computing finite volume solvers, of the DFN in an intrinsically parallel fashion. Flow through the network is simulated in dfnFlow, which utilizes the massively parallel subsurface flow and reactive transport finite volume code pflotran. A Lagrangian approach to simulating transport through the DFN is adopted within dfnTrans, which is an extension of the walkabout particle tracking method to determine pathlines through the DFN. Example applications of this suite in the areas of nuclear waste repository science, hydraulic fracturing and CO2 sequestration are also included.

Authors:
 [1];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [3];  [2]
  1. Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States). Computational Earth Science Group, Earth and Environmental Sciences Div. and Center for Nonlinear Studies
  2. Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States). Computational Earth Science Group, Earth and Environmental Sciences Div.
  3. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Environmental Sciences Div.
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE
OSTI Identifier:
1227449
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1237620; OSTI ID: 1245319
Report Number(s):
LA-UR-15-21231
Journal ID: ISSN 0098-3004; PII: S0098300415300261
Grant/Contract Number:  
20140002DR; AC52-06NA25396; AC05-00OR22725
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Computers and Geosciences
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 84; Journal Issue: C; Journal ID: ISSN 0098-3004
Publisher:
Elsevier
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
58 GEOSCIENCES; 97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING; discrete fracture networks, subsurface flow and transport, nuclear waste, hydraulic fracturing, CO2 sequestration; 42 ENGINEERING; discrete fracture networks; conforming Delaunay triangulation; subsurface flow and transport; fractured porous media; hydraulic fracturing; CO2 sequestration

Citation Formats

Hyman, Jeffrey D., Karra, Satish, Makedonska, Nataliia, Gable, Carl W., Painter, Scott L., and Viswanathan, Hari S. dfnWorks: A discrete fracture network framework for modeling subsurface flow and transport. United States: N. p., 2015. Web. doi:10.1016/j.cageo.2015.08.001.
Hyman, Jeffrey D., Karra, Satish, Makedonska, Nataliia, Gable, Carl W., Painter, Scott L., & Viswanathan, Hari S. dfnWorks: A discrete fracture network framework for modeling subsurface flow and transport. United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cageo.2015.08.001
Hyman, Jeffrey D., Karra, Satish, Makedonska, Nataliia, Gable, Carl W., Painter, Scott L., and Viswanathan, Hari S. Sun . "dfnWorks: A discrete fracture network framework for modeling subsurface flow and transport". United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cageo.2015.08.001. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1227449.
@article{osti_1227449,
title = {dfnWorks: A discrete fracture network framework for modeling subsurface flow and transport},
author = {Hyman, Jeffrey D. and Karra, Satish and Makedonska, Nataliia and Gable, Carl W. and Painter, Scott L. and Viswanathan, Hari S.},
abstractNote = {DFNWorks is a parallalized computational suite to generate three-dimensional discrete fracture networks (DFN) and simulate flow and transport. Developed at Los Alamos National Laboratory over the past five years, it has been used to study flow and transport in fractured media at scales ranging from millimeters to kilometers. The networks are created and meshed using dfnGen, which combines fram (the feature rejection algorithm for meshing) methodology to stochastically generate three-dimensional DFNs on the basis of site specific data with the LaGriT meshing toolbox to create a high-quality computational mesh representation, specifically a conforming Delaunay triangulation suitable for high performance computing finite volume solvers, of the DFN in an intrinsically parallel fashion. Flow through the network is simulated in dfnFlow, which utilizes the massively parallel subsurface flow and reactive transport finite volume code pflotran. A Lagrangian approach to simulating transport through the DFN is adopted within dfnTrans, which is an extension of the walkabout particle tracking method to determine pathlines through the DFN. Example applications of this suite in the areas of nuclear waste repository science, hydraulic fracturing and CO2 sequestration are also included.},
doi = {10.1016/j.cageo.2015.08.001},
journal = {Computers and Geosciences},
number = C,
volume = 84,
place = {United States},
year = {Sun Nov 01 00:00:00 EDT 2015},
month = {Sun Nov 01 00:00:00 EDT 2015}
}

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