Apparatus and methods for determining the responses of materials at elevated thermobaric conditions

Abstract

Apparatus and methods for determining the impedance spectrum of materials at elevated thermobaric conditions. The apparatus comprises a pair of electrodes in a sample chamber. The sample may be conditioned within the sample chamber by the application of heat and/or pressure. A controller applies alternating voltages across the terminals at a range of different frequencies and processes the frequency response of the sample to determine the impedance spectrum of the sample. By empirically determining the frequency spectrum of the dielectric properties (relative dielectric constant and conductivity) from the measured impedance spectrum at various temperatures and pressures, the effectiveness of electromagnetic heating in extreme environments (e.g., within an oil reservoir) can be determined.