September 2024: Merger with Amentum

• Jacobs' Critical Mission Solutions and Cyber and Intelligence Units, which includes the ConnectFlow team, became part of Amentum on 27th September 2024.

December 2023: ConnectFlow 13.0 released:

Selected updates in this version include:

• Added support for non-linear transient calculations, including salt transport in combined CPM/DFN models.
• Added support for automatic timesteps in combined CPM/DFN models.
• Added support for steady state unsaturated salt transport, and salt and heat transport, in CPM models.
• Implemented rock matrix diffusion in combined CPM/DFN models.
• Changed the default colour map in the ConnectFlow GUI. This can now be changed by the user in the file "properties" in the directory "default_host" in the installation directory. The previous default is now "basic_rainbow".
• Added functionality to allow comparison between CPM solve files without need for interpolation (i.e. where models are identical).
• Altered CPM permeability file writer to allow individual realisations of permeability to be written separately.
• Added support for IFZ and FAB fractures that are concave polygons in DFN models.
• Added keywords in CPM and DFN particle tracking to allow user to read start points from multiple files.
• Added option in CPM particle tracking to start points from start or end points in .ptb file.
• Added values of land area and runoff quantity in infiltration statistics files in CPM recharge-discharge boundary conditions.
• Added an option to define DFN dip direction as a bearing (measured clockwise from north) instead of an angle (measured anticlockwise from east).
• Added options to save KXY, KYZ and KZX in >> SAVE VALUES in CPM models.
• Added option to save multiple variables in >> WRITE FRACTURE SOLUTIONS TO TSURF in DFN models.
• Changed GUI particle tracking output to use >> CALCULATE PARTICLE TRACKS instead of >> PLOT PARTICLE TRACKS.

October 2022: ConnectFlow 12.4 released

October 2021: ConnectFlow 12.3 released

August 2020: ConnectFlow 12.2 released

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 the offices in Harwell:

• Attendees included representatives from SKB and Posiva.
• 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).