A generalized Archie’s law for n phases

Abstract

Archie’s law has been the standard method for relating the conductivity of a clean reservoir rock to its porosity and the conductivity of its pore fluid for more than [Formula: see text]. However, it is applicable only when the matrix is nonconducting. A modified version that allows a conductive matrix was published in 2000. A generalized form of Archie’s law is studied for any number of phases for which the classical Archie’s law and modified Archie’s law for two phases are special cases. The generalized Archie’s law contains a phase conductivity, a phase volume fraction, and phase exponent for each of its [Formula: see text] phases. The connectedness of each of the phases is considered, and the principle of conservation of connectedness in a three-dimensional multiphase mixture is introduced. It is confirmed that the general law is formally the same as the classical Archie’s law and modified Archie’s law for one and two conducting phases, respectively. The classical second Archie’s law is compared with the generalized law, which leads to the definition of a saturation exponent for each phase. This process has enabled the derivation of relationships between the phase exponents and saturation exponents for each phase. The relationship between percolation theory and the generalized model is also considered. The generalized law is examined in detail for two and three phases and semiquantitatively for four phases. Unfortunately, the law in its most general form is very difficult to prove experimentally. Instead, numerical modeling in three dimensions is carried out to demonstrate that it behaves well for a system consisting of four interacting conducting phases.