Dynamic Streaming Potential Coupling Coefficient in Partially Saturated Porous Media

Abstract

The seismoelectric effect is an electrokinetic phenomenon that arises when seismic waves propagate in water-containing geological formations. Given that seismoelectric signals are sensitive to the hydraulic properties of the probed porous medium, they have the capability to provide important information during subsurface characterization efforts. In this work, we present a physics-based model for the dynamic streaming potential coupling coefficient (SPCC) in partially saturated porous media. For this, we conceptualize the porous medium as a partially saturated bundle of capillary tubes. We take into account the variation of pore size to relate the capillary pressure to the water saturation in the porous medium of interest. We then up-scale the streaming current and conduction current within the saturated capillaries under oscillatory flow conditions from pore to sample scale. The results show that the dynamic SPCC is not only a function of water saturation and the probing frequencies but also of the properties of water, mineral–water interfaces and other microstructural parameters of the porous medium. We analyse and explain the characteristics of the dynamic SPCC for two different pore size distributions (PSD): fractal and lognormal. Results show that the PSD characteristics have a strong effect on the dynamic SPCC responses. The proposed model has a remarkable ability to replicate experimental data available in the literature. In addition, it is observed that the lognormal distribution can provide a better agreement with experimental data for sand samples, which display a relatively narrow PSD. The findings of this study provide a valuable basis for interpreting seismoelectric signals under partially saturated conditions. Our proposed technique can be applied to any PSD, regardless of the complexity, providing a flexibility that is not present in alternative models found in the literature.