CFD modelling at the service of water and the environment
Engineering consultancy delivering innovative solutions in urban water management and the water cycle
3D EAU works on the design, assessment, and instrumentation of hydraulic structures in the field of water and the environment. Our work includes the design of complex hydraulic structures and monitoring systems for combined sewer overflows and sanitation networks.
Protecting the environment is a major issue. Choosing to conduct a thorough hydraulic assessment allows you effectively to respond to environmental challenges. It can provide you significant advantages in terms of robustness and performance of the proposed solution, as well as savings on investment and maintenance.
3D EAU supports you all along the process and designs a custom-made solution that is adapted to your specific context and stakes.
In this way, 3D EAU guarantees your peace of mind and security in the day-to-day operation of your wastewater management systems with a customized and qualitative support.
3D CFD modelling: an innovative technology
3D EAU stands out for its use of CFD modelling for the design and instrumentation of hydraulic structures.
Originally designed for the aeronautics industry, the technology used by 3D EAU is adapted to the context and constraints of hydraulic systems.
3D EAU offers you a numerical alternative which, in conjunction with conventional technologies, enables us to guide you towards the solution that best meets your needs.
When CFD modelling is applied to the design and monitoring of structures, the special characteristics of each site can be taken into account. This allows specifically calibrated retrofit adjustments to be devised. The modelling system is implemented by hydraulic specialists capable of anticipating the functioning of each structure and of setting up the simulations accordingly.
CFD modelling is a powerful analysis tool that is needed to understand complex hydraulic structures. This understanding is crucial to the development of solutions that are easy to implement and operate.
Our process
Understanding your needs and offering you a custom solution
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Creating a project team and then holding a steering meeting, in order to coordinate the different project stakeholders (technical, institutional, etc.)
Safely visiting and surveying your structures
Conducting the study, during which the client is kept informed of the progress on a regular basis
Conducting a final meeting to present the solution developed during the study
Providing support for the implementation of the proposed solution
F.A.Q
How to monitor overflow in my sanitation network?
Once your CSOs are identified and classified according to their relative impact, 3D EAU can assess the hydraulic complexity of each site and suggest a monitoring system that achieves your expectations.
How to guarantee the head-discharge relationship of a non-ISO flume without rebuilding it?
3D EAU can guarantee the h-Q relationship an out-of-specs (ISO 4359) flume thanks to CFD modelling: it allows to calibrate a site specific head-discharge relationship that takes into account the site’s hydraulic environment.
How to optimise the design of a drop shaft or a pump intake?
Similarly to a physical model, CFD modelling can represent the functioning of a structure prior to its building. Following the diagnosis of the initial design, CFD modelling can test many different scenarios and select the best solution for cost and efficiency.
Can CFD modelling reproduce real flow features?
José Vazquez is co-founder of 3D EAU and Professor of hydraulics at National School for Water and Environmental Engineering (ENGEES) and a researcher at the iCube laboratory in Strasbourg. He has been working on CFD modelling for hydraulics for over 20 years. He has supervised a dozen PhD theses (all are available online) around this broad subject :
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Some aimed to develop solvers (1D: Marc Buyer 2002, Maher Abdallah 2005, Georges Kesserwani 2008; in 2D : Rabih Ghostine 2009, Quentin Araud 2012; in 3D : Jonathan Wertel 2009, Gilles Eisenmann 2016).
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Others were focused on the validation of 3D solvers using measurement data (Gislain Lipeme-Kouyi 2004, Matthieu Dufresne 2008, Laurent Solliec 2013, Vivien Schmitt 2013, Salma Bellahcen 2016).
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Finally, some were focused on the development of methodologies to integrate CFD for the optimisation of sanitation networks (Sandra Isel 2014)
This significant research work leads us to conclude that a CFD model can reproduce actual water flow features and is adequate to solve water engineering problems. For instance, to determine with accuracy the position of the free surface (to establish a head-discharge relationship), or flowrate distribution among different possible outlets. The distribution of velocity can also be modelled accurately if the turbulence model is carefully chosen. Those years of research have shown that, although the choice of models is important, the prior hydraulic analysis remains the key step in the CFD modelling process. 3D EAU’s dual skillset of hydraulic engineering and CFD modelling is therefore indispensable!
However, not everything can be easily modelled. Some flows, like those made of viscous fluids (like muds), or air-water mixtures (typically encountered in a drop shaft) need specific, carefully chosen approaches. The 3D EAU-sponsored PhD theses of Nicolas Schaer (2018) and Gabriel Guibu Pereira (2019) have provided the foundations to apply CFD modelling techniques to these highly complex phenomena.
What are 3D EAU's terms and conditions? (in French)