open-DARTSopen-DARTS

Delft Advanced Research Terra Simulator

Open-source simulation for the subsurface energy transition

Open-DARTS is a framework for forward and inverse modelling and uncertainty quantification of coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical-chemical processes in geothermal systems, CO2 storage, hydrogen storage and beyond. An industrial-grade open-source simulator you can install in one line in any Python environment.

pip install open-darts
Read the documentation Browse example models
supporting points: 0 of 117p = – bar · z = –
Operator-based linearization. Physics is evaluated only at supporting points of the parameter space, on demand, and interpolated everywhere else. Values and derivatives are reused across cells, iterations and model runs. Voskov, 2017 · Khait & Voskov, 2017 · Novikov & Voskov, 2026
THMCFully implicit thermal, flow, mechanics and chemistry
C++ core with Python APIOpenMP on CPU, CUDA kernels on GPU
Adjoint gradientsHistory matching and data assimilation
10 courses6 at TU Delft and 4 external (2024)
/capabilities

What the simulator can do

Methods from the first DARTS papers to this year's ECMOR talks, earlier and recent work side by side. The band moves on by itself; use the arrows or the dashes to step through it.

/darts-flash

DARTS-flash thermodynamics

Our open-source library for multiphase equilibrium: stability tests and PT, PH and PS flashes for gases, hydrocarbons, brine and hydrates. It provides the thermodynamic closure of open-DARTS and also runs on its own from Python.

Code on GitLab Example notebooks 2024 DARTS-flash workshop
/applications

Where it is used

Geothermal energy, CO2 and hydrogen storage, and subsurface monitoring, from early benchmarks to field studies published this year.

/get-started

Run your first model

open-DARTS installs from PyPI as a regular Python package; no compiler is needed. For the full tutorials, see the documentation.

Install

python -m pip install open-darts

Use a fresh virtual environment with a recent Python.

Get the examples

git clone https://gitlab.com/open-darts/darts-models.git

Ready-made models, including the teaching material from the CCS workshop.

Run a model

python main.py

Change directory to your favourite model in darts-models, then run its main script.

/theses

PhD theses

Doctoral theses at TU Delft that developed or applied DARTS, newest first.

  1. A thermodynamics-based simulation framework for modelling of geological CO2 sequestrationMichiel Wapperom · Defended 2026 · TU Delft repository ↗
  2. Improving uncertainty quantification of geological carbon storage with data assimilationGabriel Serrão Seabra · Defended 2026 · TU Delft repository ↗
  3. A finite volume framework for accurate modeling of fault reactivation in poroelastic rocksAleksei Novikov · Defended 2024 · TU Delft repository ↗
  4. General-purpose inverse modeling framework for energy transition applications based on adjoint method and operator-based linearizationXiaoming Tian · Defended 2023 · TU Delft repository ↗
  5. Modelling of coupled reservoir and wellbore for energy transitionKiarash Mansour Pour · Defended 2023 · TU Delft repository ↗
  6. Towards the uncertainty quantification of fractured karst systems: reactive transport and fracture networksStephan de Hoop · Defended 2022 · TU Delft repository ↗
  7. The impact of heterogeneity on geothermal production: simulation benchmarks and applicationsYang Wang · Defended 2021 · TU Delft repository ↗
  8. Simulation of foam in enhanced oil recovery (EOR) and carbon capture and storage (CCS) applicationsXiaocong Lyu · Defended 2021 · TU Delft repository ↗
  9. Delft Advanced Research Terra Simulator: general purpose reservoir simulator with operator-based linearizationMark Khait · Defended 2019 · TU Delft repository ↗
/events

Workshops and conferences

Training workshops, conference talks and releases, newest first.

  1. ECMOR 2026, PortoFive talks: geochemistry coupling, induced seismicity and DAS, coupled wells, CO2 hydrates, and LLM agents driving open-DARTS through an MCP server.
  2. SPE Reservoir Simulation Conference, GalvestonSeven talks: interpolation strategies for OBL, thermal-compositional CO2 storage in depleted fields, DARTS-well, the SPE11 convergence study with impurities, machine-learning-assisted upscaling, representative heterogeneity for direct-use geothermal, and physics-informed neural networks for CO2 flooding.
  3. DARTS-flash workshopTwo days at TU Delft celebrating the open-source DARTS-flash release, with talks from DTU, UiB, EBN and UPPA/TotalEnergies.
  4. open-DARTS paper in JOSSThe software paper is published in the Journal of Open Source Software.
  5. First open-DARTS workshopMore than 50 participants: a day on open-source reservoir simulation and a day of hands-on training.
A talk at the DARTS-flash workshop at TU Delft
DARTS-flash workshop, TU Delft, November 2024.
Participants of the first open-DARTS workshop in Delft
Participants of the first open-DARTS workshop, Delft, March 2023.
/team

The team

Researchers at the Department of Geoscience and Engineering, TU Delft, working with partners at Stanford University and in industry.

Former members: Mark Khait (Stone Ridge Technology), Stephan de Hoop (TNO), Luisa Orozco (TNO), Yang Wang (Qingdao University of Technology), Xiaocong Lyu (China University of Petroleum, Beijing), Artur Palha (TU Delft), Gabriel Serrão Seabra (Petrobras), Kiarash Mansour Pour (IRM Systems).