“Monitoring and modelling environmental systems”

Fractory researchers have a long experience in the characterization and modelling of fractured media. The group has pioneered the development of Discrete Fracture Network (DFN) methods, where fractured reservoirs are modelled as a network of statistical and deterministic fractures constrained by structural and hydrogeological data. This modelling applies to various industrial issues such as groundwater protection, risk assessment related to underground storages, or geothermal energy production optimization. The DFN.lab platform has been developed to implement the DFN methodology on theoretical and applied cases.

An application of the DFN methodology is the study of flow and transport of chemical elements in fractured media. The DFN.lab platform has been developed to provide an efficient calculation of the flow even with a high-resolution description of the fracture network, heterogeneous hydrogeological properties and a wide range of boundary conditions. Current research programs focus on the relationship between the flow structure and fracture properties, on the transfer of temperature or chemicals in fractured rocks, and on the definition of proper indicators of model performance at the rock mass scale.

The Fractory is carrying out research programs on flood forecasting and catchment hydrology. We are developing an original numerical platform – River.lab – that efficiently solves the hydrodynamic equations under the shallow water hypothesis from the displacement of precipitons (rain particles). Using high-resolution Digital Elevation Models, the method predicts water heights, velocities and flows in natural conditions with excellent accuracy.