Methods and materials for hydrocarbon recovery

摘要

Crosslinked polyolefins for use in recovering or containing hydrocarbons such as hydrocarbons contained in oil, are disclosed. Advantageously, the crosslinked polyolefins absorb the hydrocarbon to form a gel that can be collected and processed by heat to release the collected hydrocarbons.

主权项

1. A method of recovering a hydrocarbon, the method comprising:
contacting at least one hydrocarbon with a crosslinked polyolefin to absorb the at least one hydrocarbon into the crosslinked polyolefin, and heating the crosslinked polyolefin having the absorbed at least one hydrocarbon to release the at least one hydrocarbon from the crosslinked polyolefin and to thermally decomposed the crosslinked polyolefin to hydrocarbon molecules without residue, wherein the crosslinked polyolefin is amorphous and is formed from about 60-95 mole % of the at least one C6-C30 alpha olefin together with an optional additional alpha olefin, from about 5 to 40 mole % of an aromatic monomer and from about 0.1 to 3 mole % of a crosslinker.