A Physically Based Model for the Streaming Potential Coupling Coefficient in Partially Saturated Porous Media

Abstract

The electrokinetics methods have great potential to characterize hydrogeological processes in porous media, especially in complex partially saturated hydrosystems (e.g., the vadose zone). The dependence of the streaming coupling coefficient on water saturation remains highly debated in both theoretical and experimental works. In this work, we propose a physically based model for the streaming potential coupling coefficient in porous media during the flow of water and air under partially saturated conditions. The proposed model is linked to fluid electrical conductivity, water saturation, irreducible water saturation, and microstructural parameters of porous materials. In particular, the surface conductivity of porous media has been taken into account in the model. In addition, we also obtain an expression for the characteristic length scale at full saturation in this work. The proposed model is successfully validated using experimental data from literature. A relationship between the streaming potential coupling coefficient and the effective excess charge density is also obtained in this work and the result is the same as those proposed in literature using different approaches. The model proposes a simple and efficient way to model the streaming potential generation for partially saturated porous media and can be useful for hydrogeophysical studies in the critical zone.