Electrical conductivity of porous media with two-phase saturation

Abstract

Relations are derived for calculating the electrical conductivity of porous media with two-phase saturation. The considered calculations are based on a capillary-lattice model of a porous medium, the model being composed of several unequally scaled three-dimensional cubic lattices of capillaries. Each lattice may be represented as a large number of analogous cubic cells with the same structure of pore space and a preset pore size distribution over the cells. The distribution of porosity over pore sizes serves as a starting datum for the calculation of all model parameters. The number and scale of lattices are determined by the peculiarities of this distribution. The possibilities of practical use of the considered model are shown by the example of experimental data on samples of porous rocks. The results obtained, in particular, suggest that the model is applicable to solving problems of applied geophysics relevant to determining the saturation of rocks with water and hydrocarbons.