Calculate fluid volumes for selected elements
This post introduces three new commands added in Revision 2321 (November 2021) for tracking fluid volumes in selected elements within a model. Conceptually, these commands help track fluid volumes in both the porous media and surface flow domains over time by selecting elements of interest in the model. The “by layer” version adds more precision, allowing volumes to be reported for each layer. These commands are valuable for tracking water volumes in both surface and subsurface regions, making it easier to analyze fluid distribution across the model.
Figure 1: Command description for Fluid volume for chosen elements
With the release of Revision 2321 (November 2021) we have introduced three commands:
fluid volume for chosen elements
fluid volume for chosen elements by layer
fluid volume to tecplot
These new commands are similar to other “polygon tracking” commands like fluid mass balance for olf areas using shp file, except with these new commands you can actually compute total fluid volumes, as opposed to volumetric fluxes.
Download the following example project to review an example of these commands:
Figure 2: Command description for Fluid volume for chosen elements by layer
These commands compute timeseries of the stored volume of water within a set of chosen elements for the porous media domain and the surface flow domain (if present). The ‘by layers’ version of the commands allow you to further quantify these volumes for every layer in the mesh (not only the selected layers). In both cases, fluid volumes are reported for both the surface and subsurface domains.
Application of these commands is quite simple. Just use any method to select a series of elements, invoke the command and provide a name to the volume (which is used to name the output file). The command description from the Reference Manual are included below (note that descriptions are included in the new Reference Manual section 2.12.4.6 – Fluid Volume).
The fluid volume to tecplot command simply exports a Tecplot formatted file for all active fluid volume for chosen elements commands. Please note that the actual fluid volume data is not included in this Tecplot formatted file, but it can be used to visualize the element selections for these commands.
Let’s see the results of these new commands in action. To recreate the images below please download the following example project:
Figure 3: Command description for Fluid volume to tecplot
Figure 4: Results of fluid volume for chosen elements written to "abdul_algomesho.fluid_volume.volume_1.dat"
In this example project we have included the following code snippet at the very bottom of the *.grok file:
!-------------------------- Fluid Volume for Chosen Elementsclear chosen elementschoose elements am./mesh/stream_channel_fine.echos10, 16Fluid volume for chosen elementsvolume_1Fluid volume for chosen elements by layervolume_2Fluid volume to tecplot
Figure 5: Results of fluid volume for chosen elements by layer written to "abdul_algomesho.fluid_volume.volume_2.dat"
In this block of code we have selected the elements in the top 5 layer of the model and delineated by the stream channel. The fluid volume for chosen elements command writes the volumes associated with the surface and subsurface domains within the upper 5 layers to the "abdul_algomesho.fluid volume.volume_1.dat" file (see Figure 4).
The fluid volume for chosen elements by layer writes volumes for ALL model layers delineated by the stream channel to the "abdul_algomesho.fluid volume.volume_2.dat" file (see Figure 5).
These fluid volume output files can be easily loaded into Tecplot to visualize timeseries water volumes (see Figure 6).
Finally, the "abdul_algomesho.fluid_volume_selection.dat" file can be used to visualize the delineation of both zones within Tecplot (see Figure 7).
We know these commands will make tracking water volumes so much simpler! Please let us know if you experience any issues with the new commands, or if you have any ideas on how they can be improved.
Figure 6: Timeseries showing results of fluid volume for chosen elements command
Figure 7: Delineation of zones affected by fluid volume for chosen elements (left) and fluid volume for chosen elements by layer (right)