Modelling the Complex Conductivity of Charged Porous Media using The Grain Polarization Model

Abstract:

The low-frequency complex conductivity response of charged porous media reflects a combination of three polarization processes occuring at different frequency ranges. One polarization process corresponds to the membrane polarization phenomenon, which is the polarization mechanism associated with the back-diffusion of salt ions through different pore spaces of the porous material (ions-selective zones and zones with no selectivity). This polarization process generally occurs at the lowest frequency range, typically in the frequency range [mHz Hz] because it involves polarization mechanism occurring over different pore spaces (the relaxation frequency is inversely proportional to the length of the polarization process). Another polarization process corresponds to the electrochemical polarization of the electrical double layer coating the surface of the grains. In the grain polarization model, the diffuse layer is assumed to not polarize because it is assumed to form a continuum in the porous medium. The compact Stern layer is assumed to polarize because the Stern layer is assumed to be discontinuous over multiple grains. The electrochemical polarization of the Stern layer typically occurs in the frequency range [Hz kHz]. The last polarization process corresponds to the Maxwell-Wagner polarization mechanism, which is caused by the formation of field-induced free charge distributions near the interface between the phases of the medium. In this presentation, the grain polarization model based on the O’Konski, Schwarz, Schurr and Sen theories and developed later by Revil and co-workers is showed. This spectral induced polarization model was successfully applied to describe the complex conductivity responses of glass beads, sands, clays, clay-sand mixtures and other minerals. The limits of this model and future developments will also be presented.