QUANTITATIVE EVALUATION OF FORMATION PERMEABILITY FROM ACOUSTIC AND ELECTRIC STONELEY WAVES

Numerical experiments based on Pride's model of electrokinetic phenomena have shown that electromagnetic Stoneley waves as well as pressure Stoneley waves are most sensitive to permeability variations. A new way for quantitative evaluation of any value of formation permeability is presented. It is based on simultaneous measurement of pressure field and axial component of electric field excited by an acoustic source in fluid-filled borehole with help from a set of receivers in borehole. Frequency dependence of ratio of the complex-valued amplitudes of the electric Stoneley wave to the pressure Stoneley wave obtained as a result of plane waves decomposition of pressure field and mentioned component of electric field carries important information about permeability. The ratio of the real part of this ratio to its imaginary part is very sensitive to permeability variations. The approximate analytical expressions for this ratio derived for open and sealed pores on borehole wall are base for construction of a new way of quantitative evaluation of formation permeability.