Highly crosslinked polymer particulate

1 . A crosslinked polymer particulate, comprising:

a plurality of crosslinked polymer granules, each containing a crosslinked polymeric material that includes:

(i) a plurality of polyethylene polymer chains; and

(ii) a plurality of chemical crosslinks, wherein the plurality of chemical crosslinks includes chemical crosslinks that covalently bond a given polyethylene polymer chain of the plurality of polyethylene polymer chains to another polyethylene polymer chain of the plurality of polyethylene polymer chains, wherein the plurality of crosslinked polymer chains has an average degree of crosslinking of at least 0.1%; and wherein a characteristic dimension of each crosslinked polymer granule of the plurality of crosslinked polymer granules is at least 10 micrometers and at most 5 millimeters, wherein, when subjected to a confining stress of 42 Megapascals at a temperature of 85 degrees Celsius, a monolayer of the crosslinked polymer particulate defines a fluid conductivity of at least 1×10 4 micrometers 3 .

2 . The crosslinked polymer particulate of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of polyethylene polymer chains includes a plurality of linear polyethylene polymer chains.

3 . The crosslinked polymer particulate of claim 1 , wherein at least a subset of the plurality of polyethylene polymer chains further includes a branched polymer chain, wherein the branched polymer chain includes at least one branch group that extends from a polymer backbone of the branched polymer chain.

4 . The crosslinked polymer particulate of claim 3 , wherein a given chemical crosslink of the plurality of chemical crosslinks extends from the at least one branch group.

5 . The crosslinked polymer particulate of claim 1 , wherein at least a subset of the plurality of polyethylene polymer chains includes a pendant group that extends from a polymer backbone of the subset of the plurality of polyethylene polymer chains.

6 . The crosslinked polymer particulate of claim 5 , wherein a given chemical crosslink of the plurality of chemical crosslinks extends from the pendant group.

7 . The crosslinked polymer particulate of claim 5 , wherein the pendant group is selected from the group consisting of:

(i) a methyl group;

(ii) an ethyl group;

(iii) a propyl group;

(iv) a butyl group;

(v) a pentyl group;

(vi) a hexyl group;

(vii) a heptyl group;

(viii) an octyl group;

(ix) a nonyl group; and

(x) a decyl group.

8 . The crosslinked polymer particulate of claim 5 , wherein the pendant group is selected from the group consisting of:

(i) a cyclic hydrocarbon;

(ii) a bridged cyclic hydrocarbon;

(iii) a norbornene-derived pendant group;

(iv) an ethylidene-derived pendant group; and

(v) a vinyl norbornene-derived pendant group.

9 . The crosslinked polymer particulate of claim 1 , wherein a maximum extent of the plurality of crosslinked polymer granules is at least one of:

(i) at least 100 micrometers and at most 2 millimeters;

(ii) at least 250 micrometers and at most 2 millimeters; and

(iii) at least 25 micrometers and at most 1 millimeter.

10 . The crosslinked polymer particulate of claim 1 , wherein, upon fluid contact with naturally occurring liquid hydrocarbons within a hydrocarbon well, the crosslinked polymer particulate undergoes less than a 0.5% increase in mass due to absorption of the naturally occurring liquid hydrocarbons.

11 . The crosslinked polymer particulate of claim 1 , wherein, upon fluid contact with crude oil for a time period of 8 weeks at a temperature of 85 degrees Celsius and a uniaxial stress of 35 Megapascals, the crosslinked polymer particulate exhibits at most a 5% increase in strain.

12 . The crosslinked polymer particulate of claim 1 , wherein the crosslinked polymer particulate has an onset of melting temperature of at least 65 degrees Celsius.

13 . The crosslinked polymer particulate of claim 1 , wherein the crosslinked polymer particulate has a melting temperature of at least 85 degrees Celsius.

14 . The crosslinked polymer particulate of claim 1 , wherein the crosslinked polymer particulate has a density of at least 0.8 grams per cubic centimeter.

15 . The crosslinked polymer particulate of claim 1 , wherein the crosslinked polymer particulate has a density of at least 0.96 grams per cubic centimeter.

16 . The crosslinked polymer particulate of claim 1 , wherein the crosslinked polymer particulate has a density of at most 2.0 grams per cubic centimeter.

17 . The crosslinked polymer particulate of claim 1 , wherein the crosslinked polymer particulate has a density of at most 0.97 grams per cubic centimeter.

18 . The crosslinked polymer particulate of claim 1 , wherein, when compared to an analogous uncrosslinked polymer particulate, the crosslinked polymer particulate exhibits at least a 5% decrease in strain when subject to a stress of 35 Megapascal at a temperature of 85 degrees Celsius.

19 . The crosslinked polymer particulate of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of polyethylene polymer chains has an average degree of crosslinking of at least 5%.

20 . The crosslinked polymer particulate of claim 1 , wherein the monolayer of the crosslinked polymer particulate defines a fluid conductivity of at least 2×10 4 micrometers 3 .

21 . The crosslinked polymer particulate of claim 1 , wherein the monolayer of the crosslinked polymer particulate defines a fluid conductivity of at least 3×10 4 micrometers 3 .

22 . The crosslinked polymer particulate of claim 1 , wherein the monolayer of the crosslinked polymer particulate defines a fluid conductivity of at least 4×10 4 micrometers 3 .

23 . The crosslinked polymer particulate of claim 1 , wherein the monolayer of the crosslinked polymer particulate defines a fluid conductivity of at least 5×10 4 micrometers 3 .