The Response Mechanism of Borehole Shear-Horizontal Transverse-Electric Seismoelectric Waves to Fluid Salinity

Abstract

The converted electric field in the seismoelectric effect can be used to monitor the salinity of the reservoir. Compared to some conventional excitation methods (e.g., Monopole source), the response law of borehole shear-horizontal transverse-electric (SH-TE) seismoelectric waves to fluid salinity is unique. In order to explore its physical mechanism, we study the influence of fluid salinity on borehole SH-TE wave fields in this paper. First, to analyze the effect of salinity on the electric field, we simulate the response for different salinity levels inside and outside the borehole. Then we study the wave fields in case of a radial salinity discontinuity outside the borehole, and simulate the interface response by the secant integral method. Finally, we show the feasibility of using the borehole SH-TE wavefields to estimate the salinity interface position combining the slowness-time coherence (STC) method. The results show that the electric field amplitude changes monotonously with the pore fluid salinity level. However, the borehole fluid salinity has almost no effect on the electric field. This is caused by the excitation method and the low frequency of the sound source. An interface converted electromagnetic wave response is generated when an SH wave passes through the salinity discontinuity interface. The interface position estimation examples show that the borehole SH-TE wave field is a potential method to evaluate the behavior and the location of the interface next to the borehole.