Software development
Geothermal modeling often requires tailored software solutions for obtaining the necessary results.  Mannvit team member Vatnaskil has extensive experience in such development, both for self-contained distributed 3D numerical models of geothermal reservoirs, as well as supporting applications to other models. Furthermore, various technical solutions have been developed for geothermal applications. The following are examples of previous and current software developments, which give an indication of the large context to which future software solutions can be tailored to.  

Vatnaskil Consulting Engineers are the authors of AQUA3D and AQUASEA, specialized modeling software programs which have been in continuous development since 1983 and 1985, respectively. These versatile software programs have been successfully used worldwide on some of the most difficult modeling problems. Both are Windows compatible and available for sale through the Vatnaskil website.  Further details on this software as well as other software programs developed by Vatnaskil are as follows:

AQUASEA: A finite-element numerical model used to solve surface waterflow and transport of mass, heat and suspended sediments.

AQUA3D: A finite-element numerical model used to solve three-dimensional groundwater flow and transport. It solves the equations describing groundwater flow and transport for both homogeneous, isotropic aquifers and inhomogeneous, anisotropic aquifers.  Used for low-temperature geothermal fields and water dominated high-temperature fields.

SURF: A numerical rainfall-runoff model that simulates the movement and storage of water between the atmospheric and groundwater phases of the hydrologic cycle. The model calculates surface water processes on both glacial and non-glacial areas. SURF can be utilized as a lumped surface/groundwater model or spatially distributed infiltration output can be taken from SURF and used as input into the AQUA3D groundwater model.

AQUAFLOW: A combination of the SURF and AQUA3D software programs for a combined surface and groundwater hydrological analysis. TOUGH2 development:  A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed regarding the collaboration between Vatnaskil and the Earth Sciences Division of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL).  The purpose is to develop a fully tensorial anisotropic permeability for the TOUGH2 software.  Upon completion of the MoU, this new capability will become a part of the official LBNL version of TOUGH2.  TOUGH2 is a general-purpose numerical simulation program for multi-phase fluid and heat flow in porous and fractured media. It has been developed in the Earth Sciences Division of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory for applications in geothermal reservoir engineering, nuclear waste disposal, unsaturated zone hydrology, and geologic storage of CO2 (carbon sequestration).

The integration of new simulation tools such as TOUGH2 and iTOUGH2 from LBNL into an existing suite of programs previously developed by Vatnaskil has provided in-house reservoir engineers with a powerful platform for the simulations of real-world two-phase geothermal areas.