Marco Dentz
437730
marco.dentz@csic.es
https://www.idaea.csic.es/mhetscale/
ORCID:
0000-0002-3940-282X
Research group: Groundwater and Hydrogeochemistry
I am a Professor at the Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research (IDAEA) of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) in Barcelona, Spain. Our research focuses on hydrodynamic flow and transport in porous media and the quantitative understanding of flow, mixing and reactive transport phenomena from the pore to the regional scale. Our research combines theory, numerical simulation, and new data analysis strategies to shed light on the fundamental mechanisms of flow, transport and deformation in heterogeneous porous and fracture media, and to derive theories and models for process prediction at large spatial and temporal scales with diverse applications in the areas of energy and environment.
KARST
KARST: Predicting flow and transport in complex Karst systems
Karst aquifers are a treasure and a threat: while up to 25% of the world population depends on them for drinking water, they also have capabilities for extremely fast conduction of water and contaminants. In the light of climate change, we need to prepare for extreme flooding and understand the consequences for karst aquifers. Despite their socio-economic importance, decades of research, and high-profile disasters, karst structures and processes remain notoriously difficult to assess. Because of the complexity of karst and its lack of accessibility, the foundations of flow and transport modeling in karst systems are weak. Key phenomena related to extreme events such as flash floods and heavy tails in tracer recovery are still beyond current modeling capabilities.
KARST will establish the next generation of coupled stochastic modeling frameworks to predict karst processes, assess the vulnerability of karst aquifers, and forecast their response to extreme events. Our approach will bridge structures and processes on all scales, far beyond the capabilities of current theories and computer simulations. This will be achieved by targeting three key objec- tives: (i) Identification and quantification of flow and transport dynamics at the conduit scale. (ii) Characterization and modeling of karst network structure at the catchment scale. (iii) Derivation of a new upscaled approach to predict karst processes at different resolution scales. Together, this will result in an unprecedented multiscale modeling framework for the prediction of flow and transport in karst.
Funding: European Union, ERC Synergy Grants 2022 - Ref.: 101071836
IDAEA-CSIC (Spain): Marco Dentz (corresponding PI)
IFPEN (France): Benoit Noetinger (PI)
University of Neuchatel: (Switzerland): Philippe Renard (PI)
University of Ljubljana (Slowenia): Bojan Mohar (PI)
Partners:
INRIA (France): Sylvain Lefebvre
University (Canada): Simon Frazer
Start Date: 01/05/2023 – End Date: 30/04/2029
Project Leader: Marco Dentz
Researchers: Juan José Hidalgo González
Funding: European Project
https://erc-karst.eu/
USFT
A Novel Framework Predicting Steady Flow and Solute Transport in Partially Saturated, Heterogeneous Media
In this project, we develop a novel framework to predict flow & transport processes at the micro and Darcy scales, in partially saturated media, from the basic pore structure parameters and general flow dynamics. Flow and Transport processes in heterogeneous multiphase media span a variety of disciplines: physics, chemical engineering, environmental practices, geology, agriculture, microbiology, petroleum recovery, to name a few. This project novelty advances current knowledge on several lines:
- We will renew our current perception of the interplay between stable and unstable processes, in multiphase systems, on the most basic pore system features (water-filled pore size distribution).
- We will develop a Lagrangian CTRW upscaling framework to partially saturated media.
These accomplishments and their integration will allow us to characterize diverse flow regimes in heterogeneous media within a unique template that is entirely predictive.
Grant agreement ID: 101066596
Start Date: 01/06/2022 – End Date: 31/05/2024
Project Leader: Marco Dentz
Funding: European Project
CoPerMix
European training network on control prediction and learning in mixing processes
The CoPeRMix network brings together a collection of experts at the European scale from academia and industry, who have all adopted new angles of attack to the problem of mixing according to their needs and fields of application, in order to foster the emergence of a unified viewpoint, through intensive collaboration between different schools of thought and methods. This effort builds up on existing collaborations between several participants, and lectures or courses delivered by some of us in various university curricula in their own institution, and abroad. More precisely, this training network is the emanation of the “Mixing Days” organized by the consortium on a yearly basis (Marseille in 2016, Rennes in 2017, Barcelona in 2018 and Brussels in 2019), which have been the opportunity to conceive and share a new methodology: the lamellar description of mixing.
It consists in viewing a mixture as a set of elongated lamellae and sheets and understanding how they are stretched and dispersed by the stirring flow. This first step provides the necessary information to address the stirring/molecular diffusion coupling, leading to the complete statistical description of the mixing process i.e. the full concentration distribution. This disruptive vision has prompted new numerical (Diffusive Strip Method) and experimental methods. They offer an unprecedented opportunity of accurately describe Stirring protocols which is the ground to understanding and model- ling Mixing and its Impact in a diversity of fields. This lamellar description of mixing provides a consistent and invertible theoretical framework giving us also the opportunity to Learn from mixed scalar fields.
Very promising outcomes are expected as the CoPerMix programme unites leading academic and industrial partners with a broad expertise in the fundamentals and applications of mixing in a very wide range of fields.