New computer model concept could solve big, real-world problems on a small, porous scale

A computer simulation of various minerals and chemicals meeting and reacting. The black circles represent grains of the porous medium, such as sand, and the red and blue represent the fluid phase, with red being dissolved calcium and blue being dissolved carbonate. The green part represents areas where the mineral calcium carbonate has formed by reaction of the red and green dissolved chemicals. Pore-scale modeling such as this, when coupled with other simulation scales, helps researchers make more accurate predictions of the movement and fate of contaminants in groundwater. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and its collaborators will work to develop a robust computer model that will join different models at multiple scales into a single hybrid model for enhanced predictability.