The dependence of induced polarization on fluid salinity and pH, studied with an extended model of membrane polarization

Abstract

The estimation of hydraulic parameters from spectral induced polarization (SIP) measurements is difficult partly because the electrical impedance of sediments depends on several parameters that are not related to the texture. Important parameters that influence the spectral response are fluid salinity and pH. In order to understand the behaviour of SIP spectra from a mechanistic point of view, we carry out simulations with a membrane polarization model. The geometry consists of a sequence of wide and narrow pores with finite radii. The charge distribution at the mineral surface is described by a triple layer model, characterized by the zeta potential and the partition coefficient. We extended an existing model by incorporating known dependencies of the zeta potential and the partition coefficient on fluid salinity and pH.Our simulation results predict a decrease of the maximum phase shift of the complex electrical conductivity with increasing salinity, consistent with experimental observations. For very small pore radii, the phase shift may also show the opposite behaviour and increase with salinity. The imaginary conductivity at 1Hz increases with increasing salinity, followed by a peak and a decrease at high salinities. The fact that our model predicts a decrease of the imaginary conductivity at high salinities is particularly important, because strong experimental evidence was recently found for such a decrease, which was theoretically unexplained so far.Both the maximum phase shift and the imaginary conductivity at 1Hz decrease when pH decreases. The reason is that at low pH, the zeta potential and the partition coefficient both decrease, corresponding to a smaller charge density at the mineral surface, resulting in a weaker impact of the electrical double layer. The few existing experimental studies on pH dependence are qualitatively consistent with our simulation results.