Electroseismic waves from acoustic source in a fluid-filled borehole

M.G. Markov
Instituto Mexicano del Petrleo, Mexico

V.V. Verzhbitskiy
Neftegazgeofisika, Tver, Russia

ABSTRACT: In this paper we develop an approach for the seismoelectric effect simulation in a borehole. We
have obtained the solution for the electromagnetic field produced by an impulse acoustic source based on the
system of Pride electrokinetic equations. Taking into account that the induced electric field weakly influences
the current flow generated by the elastic wave we have proposed the sequential solution algorithm. This solution
consists of the following steps: the determination of the relative fluidsolid displacement in fluid-saturated
porous media, calculation of the electric current density corresponding to the fluidsolid displacement, and
reconstruction of the electromagnetic field. The modeling was performed for an isotropic homogeneous medium
and sources with symmetrical (monopole) directional diagrams. We have analyzed the effect of the logging tool
on the electroseismic waves parameters. The calculations performed demonstrate the feasibility of estimating
the petrophysical characteristics based on the seismoelectric well-logging measurements

1 INTRODUCTION homogeneous seismic wave on the plane boundary of

The seismoelectric effect caused by electrokinetic
process (inverse electroosmosis) is observed in com-
pletely or partially water-saturated sedimentary rocks
and it can be applied in well logging to estimate rock
porosity and permeability. Further we will consider
rocks containing a mobile fluid, where a seismoelectric
effect is caused mainly by electroosmosis.
Frenkel (1944) was the first who has explained the-
oretically the seismoelectric effect. Later Pride (1994)
derived the full system of macroscopic governing
equations controlling the coupled acoustics and elec-
tromagnetic of porous media. Chandler (1981), Zhu
et al. (1999), Mikhailov et al. (2000), Kobayashi et al.
(2002), Svetov et al. (2004) have presented the lab-
oratory and field data, which confirm convincingly
the electrokinetic nature of the seismoelectric effect
and show that seismoelectric measurements can be
practically realized.
The short review of the seismoelectric effect the-
ory for a fluid-saturated porous medium was given by
Thompson & Gist (1993), Pride & Haartsen (1996)
and by Svetov & Gubatenko (2000). It was shown
that replacement of the self-consistent problem by
the sequential solving of the elasticity, filtration,
electrokinetics and electrodynamics theories prob-
lems was possible, and the mathematical model for
signal frequencies typical for seismic logging was
suggested. Haartsen & Pride (1997) applied this algo-
rithm for the case of the inclined fall of the plane
both half-spaces.
Mikhailov et al. (2000) analyzed the electric field
converted from the Stoneley wave at low frequency
(about 150 Hz). Markov (2001) calculated the elec-
trical streaming current generated by a monopole
source in a fluid-filled borehole. Hu and Liu (2002)
presented a simplified quasistatic approach to simu-
late the full waveform of the electric field converted
during seismoelectric well logging. Markov & Verzh-
bitskiy (2004) have obtained the analytical solution
for the electromagnetic field produced by an acous-
tic multipole source in a fluid-filled borehole based
on the system of electrokinetic equations. The model-
ing was performed for point sources with symmetrical
(monopole) and antisymmetric (dipole) directional
diagrams.
In this paper we considered more general model
that permitted to analyze the effect of the logging tool
on the electroseismic waves parameters. The electro-
kinetic equations were solved in the frequency domain.
Pressure field in the borehole and electromagnetic
field were calculated in the space-time domain using
2D Fourier transform.
2 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
2.1 Governing equations
To describe the self-consistent problem of the propaga-
tion of the electromagnetic waves generated by elastic

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vibrations we use the system of the equations derived
by Pride (1994) for homogeneous fluid-filled porous
media:
where B is the average stress tensor acting on both
the fluid and solid phases of the porous material;
B = pI + (1 )s ,
p is the pore fluid pressure;
B = f + (1 )s is the bulk density;
f is the pore fluid density;
is the porosity coefficient;
U s is the rock particles displacement vector;
W = (U f U s ), U f is the average relative
fluidsolid displacement vector ;
E is the electric field;
H is the magnetic field;
I is the unit tensor;
Kpr , are the dynamic permeability and viscosity,
respectively;
f , s are the electrical permittivity of the fluid and
of the solid grains;
0 is the magnetic permeability;
L() is the electrokinetic coupling coefficient that
determines the degree of coupling between the elastic
and electromagnetic wave displacement;
KG , C, M ,  are the elastic coefficients:
Copyright 2005 Taylor & Francis Group plc, London, UK
where Kfr is the compression module of the drained
framework of grains;
Ks is the compression module of the matrix solid
material, that is compression module of the skeleton
where there are no pores;
Kf is the compression module of the fluid.
The coefficient L() is of a great importance in the
seismoelectric effect description. Expression detailing
the frequency, constituent property and pore geometry
dependence of L() has been derived by Pride (1994):
where , m are geometrical characteristics of porous
medium, d is the double layer thickness, is a mean
pore radius, Kpr0 is a low frequency permeability
coefficient.
This expression was obtained in assumption of the
ion uniform distribution in the fluid phase and the seis-
moelectric current can be overestimated. In this paper
we will use the Prides formulas, derived under the
assumption that the diffusion layer must be much thin-
ner than the effective grain sizes. Following Pride &
Haartsen (1998) we made the assumptions that gener-
ated electric field influence on the streaming current is
negligible. In this case the expression for the streaming
current can be simplified and is given by:
Taking into account this assumption we have pro-
posed the sequential solution algorithm. This solution
consists of the following steps: 1 determination of the
relative fluidsolid displacement in a fluid-saturated
porous media, 2 calculation of the electric current
density corresponding to the fluidsolid displacement,
and reconstruction of the electromagnetic field (step
3). We have solved three problems formulated above in
series. For solution finding in the space-time domain
we used 2D Fourier transform method (RAI method).
For acoustic problems this procedure was described in
Rosenbaum (1974); Schmitt (1988); Paillet & Cheng
(1991).
284
2.2 Algorithm of the electrokinetic field calculation
1. The total acoustic wave field in the borehole is
equal to the sum of the source contributions and
the reflected wave field. In the frequency axial wave
number domain we can describe this field using
displacement potentials of the acoustic source and of
the reflected wave field.
The propagation of the elastic waves in a two-phase
saturated porous medium for harmonic vibrations with
the circular frequency is given by the equations (1)
and (2). For sources with symmetrical directional dia-
gram we can find solution to the system (1)(2) in the
form (Krutin et al. 1987):
where i are the potentials of P-waves of the first and
the second type;
= nz  is the potential of S-wave;
parameters Mi depend on the frequency and the elastic
properties of the rock only. The boundary conditions at
the borehole wall for a fluid-filled borehole in a porous
solid are based on the continuity of radial displace-
ment, radial stress and pressure, and the vanishing of
axial and azimuthal stresses.
2. We can obtain the average relative fluidsolid
displacement vector W and calculate the streaming
current J se solving equations system (1)(2). As it
follows from (15) and (16) J se can be expressed as:
where all the functions Ui , and F satisfy the Helmholtz
equations and can be presented in the form:
3. The electrodynamics problem consists in solving the
system of the Maxwell equations (4)(7) for the seis-
moelectric current density defined from the expression
(15). The boundary conditions at the borehole wall are
the continuity of tangential components of E and H
vectors.
The electromagnetic field generated by the stream-
ing current is a superposition of all the terms in
equation (17). Electric and magnetic fields produced
by compressional waves can be presented in the form:
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Copyright 2005 Taylor & Francis Group plc, London, UK
where k 2 = i(),  = nz " is the electric Hertz
vector. This vector satisfies the inhomogeneous
Helmholtz equation.
3 SYNTHETIC ELECTROSEISMOGRAMS IN
FLUID-FILLED BOREHOLES
3.1 Model description
In this section we present the examples of the synthetic
waveforms generated by axisymmetric acoustic source
in a fluid-filled borehole.
We assume that an unbounded saturated porous
medium is intersected by a borehole of radius R, filled
by a conducting compressible fluid. A cylindrical log-
ging tool of radius a containing acoustic source of
length 2l is centralized in this borehole. The harmonic
radial waves of the source are specified in the form:
We made calculations for a non-conducting logging
tool. In this case we used the condition that the radial
current density is equal to zero at the tool surface.
The elastic constants of fluid-saturated porous
media were calculated by the method described in
Krutin et al. (1988).
Synthetic waveforms were calculated for a
porous water-saturated (Vf = 1500 m/s, fluid con-
ductivity in the borehole b = 1 Sm/m) sandstone
(Vp1 = 5300 m/s, Vp1 /Vs = 1.65). For rock resistivity
calculation we used well-known Archie law. The tool
length is 0.1 m and the borehole radius R is equal to
0.1 m.
The frequency spectrum of the impulse radiated is
described by the expression:
where 0 specifies the central band frequency of the
spectrum.
3.2 Numerical results
The waveforms of the normalized electromag-
netic field for high porosity sandstone ( = 0.25,
Kpr = 100 md) are presented in Figure 1. The source
central frequency 0 is 2 8 kHz (Fig. 1A) and
2 2 kHz (Fig. 1B). Synthetic electroseismograms
are presented for different source receiver offsets.
The calculations are presented for the vertical com-
ponent of the electromagnetic field Ez normalized to
the maximal value in the pocket.
 E0

1
Ez

Ez
2

0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500
(A) ts (A) ts

1
Ez

2
Ez

0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500
(B) ts ts
(B)

Figure 1. The waveforms of the electric field for high poros-
ity sandstone. The source center frequency 0 is 2 8 kHz
(A), and 2 2 kHz (B). E0 is the quick electromagnetic wave,
which is registered by all receivers simultaneously. The wave-
forms are presented for different receiver offsets: 1.5 m, 2 m.
2.5 m, 3 m.
At the waveforms for the electromagnetic field we
note the presence of quick electromagnetic wave which
is registered by all the receivers simultaneously. This
type of the wave appears when the acoustic wave
reaches the wall of the borehole. The next wave pack-
ets are caused by radiation of head compressional
and shear waves, and also Pseudo-Rayleigh waves and
Stoneley wave.
As a second example of calculations we presented
synthetic waveforms for a medium with differ-
ent porosity and permeability for a fixed source-
receiver offset. The waveforms are presented for
high ( = 0.25, Kpr = 500 md), middle ( = 0.20,
Kpr = 100 md) and low porosity sandstone ( = 0.15,
Kpr = 10 md).
The simulation results show that in a wide fre-
quency range (0.530 kHz) the electromagnetic field
depends on formation porosity and permeability. Rock
porosity can be found from nuclear and acoustic log
data but the determination of rock permeability using
well log data is a complicated problem. Stoneley wave
Figure 2. Synthetic microseismograms computed for low
(1), middle (2) and high (3) porosity sandstone. The source
center frequency 0 is 2 8 kHz (A) and 2 2 kHz (B). The
offset at source to receiver is equal to 2 m.
parameters are used for this purpose now. (Krutin et al.
1987, Paillet & Cheng 1991).
In this case the electrokinetic effect connected with
fluid filtration in a porous medium can be poten-
tially used. By this reason it is very interesting to
find dependence of electrokinetic wave amplitudes on
permeability coefficient. We illustrate the effects of
permeability on electrokinetic waves propagation in
porous formations by computing electroseismograms
for porous sandstone of variable permeability. The
results are presented in Figure 3
Our modeling have shown that the dynamical
parameters of wave packet connected in the time
domain with Pseudo-Rayleigh and Stoneley waves are
most sensitive to the permeability coefficient.
These results demonstrate the feasibility of esti-
mating the petrophysical characteristics such as per-
meability coefficient based on the electroseismic
well-logging measurements.
A possible way for permeability evaluation is the
determination of electrokinetic coefficient as a fre-
quency function. These measurements allow us to
calculate the characteristic frequency t and obtain
the permeability coefficient.

286
Copyright 2005 Taylor & Francis Group plc, London, UK
 1 1
Ez

Ez
2 2

3
3

0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500
(A) ts (A) ts

1
1
Ez

Ez
2
2

3
3

0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500
(B) ts (B) ts

Figure 3. Synthetic electroseismograms for porous sand-
stone of variable permeability ranging computed at source
frequencies of 2 8 kHz (A), and 2 2 kHz (B). The cal-
culation results are presented for porous = 0.25 sandstone
with different permeability coefficients. Curves 1, 2, 3 corre-
spond to the permeability coefficients Kpr = 10 md, 100 md
and 1d, respectively.
The simulation performed for acoustic log model
showed the influence of elastic tool on the kinematic
and dynamical parameters of elastic waves. (Krutin
et al. 1988, Pailett and Cheng 1991). In this paper we
analyzed the effect of non-conducting logging tool on
the electroseismic waves parameters.
We calculated synthetic electroseismograms for dif-
ferent tool radius. The examples of waveforms are
shown in Fig. 4.
It should be noted that an increase in the radius of the
tool leads to the increasing in the electrokinetic waves
amplitudes.This result has following explanation: with
an increase in the tool radius there is an increase in
the intensity of the filtration overflow at the boundary
between the borehole and the rock, which leads to an
increase of waves amplitudes.
4 CONCLUSIONS
The results of simulations for different model parame-
ters are summarized as follows. The approach applied
Figure 4. Synthetic electroseismograms for porous sand-
stone calculated for different tool radii. The calcula-
tion results are presented for porous = 0.25 permeable
Kpr = 100 md sandstone. Curves 1, 2, 3 correspond to the
tool radius 0.035 m , 0.025 m, and 0.015 respectively.
allowed us to obtain an analytical solution for the elec-
trodynamics part of the problem in a wide frequency
range. The electromagnetic field generated in the bore-
hole by an impulse acoustic source was calculated.
The modeling was performed for a source with sym-
metrical (monopole) directional diagram. The effect of
the logging tool on the electroseismic waves parame-
ters was analyzed. In the frequency range of acoustic
log the relationship between the components of the
electromagnetic field and the formation porosity and
permeability was obtained. These relationships can be
potentially used for rock permeability estimation.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors are grateful to Drs. Elena Kazatchenko
and Aleksandr Mousatov for their useful discussions
and advise and consider as a pleasant debt to express
gratitude to the Mexican Petroleum Institute, where
in the framework of the scientific program Naturally
Fractured Reservoirs this study was fulfilled.

287
Copyright 2005 Taylor & Francis Group plc, London, UK
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