water Article A Physically Based Model for the Streaming Potential Coupling Coefficient in Partially Saturated Porous Media Luong Duy Thanh 1 , Damien Jougnot 2 , Phan Van Do 1, Nguyen Xuan Ca 3 and Nguyen Thi Hien 4,5,* 1 Thuyloi University, 175 Tay Son, Dong Da, Hanoi, Vietnam;
[email protected] (L.D.T.);
[email protected] (P.V.D.) 2 Sorbonne Université, CNRS, EPHE, UMR 7619 Metis, F-75005 Paris, France;
[email protected] 3 Department of Physics and Technology, TNU—University of Sciences, Thai Nguyen, Vietnam;
[email protected] 4 Ceramics and Biomaterials Research Group, Advanced Institute of Materials Science, Ton Duc Thang University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam 5 Faculty of Applied Sciences, Ton Duc Thang University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam * Correspondence:
[email protected] Received: 5 April 2020; Accepted: 26 May 2020; Published: 3 June 2020 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.