Polymer coated sand and methods of manufacture and use
Described herein are systems for manipulating a flowable substance, comprising: a flowable substance; a heating means; a cooling means; and a composition comprising chemically inert particles coated with a stimuli-responsive material. Compositions and methods for using the compositions are also described herein.
1. A system for manipulating a flowable substance, comprising:
a flowable substance;
a heating means;
a cooling means; and
a composition comprising chemically inert particles coated with a stimuli-responsive material.
2. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a first barrier and a second barrier.
3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the first barrier and second barrier each comprise a modular pack.
4. The system of claim 3 , wherein the modular packs contain the composition comprising chemically inert particles coated with a stimuli-responsive material.
5. The system of claim 3 , wherein the modular pack of the first barrier comprises the heating means.
6. The system of claim 3 , wherein the modular pack of the second barrier comprises the cooling means.
7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the heating means is selected from: a heating coil; a fluid; a gas; a chemical; and a combination of two or more thereof.
8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the cooling means is selected from: a fluid; a gas; a chemical; a fan; and a combination of two or more thereof.
9. The system of claim 3 , wherein the first barrier and second barrier each comprise a plurality of modular packs.
10. The system of claim 1 , wherein said flowable substance is a petroleum-based substance.
11. The system of claim 1 , wherein the stimuli-responsive material is selected from: a solvent-responsive polymer; a thermally-responsive polymer; a pH-responsive polymer; an ionically-responsive polymer; an electrically responsive polymer; and a combination of two or more thereof.
12. The system of claim 1 , wherein the stimuli-responsive material is selected from: a poly(3-alkylthiophene); poly[1-(trimethylsilyl)-1-propyne; a poly(3-alkoxy-4-methylthiophene); a poly(3-alkylthiophene); poly[3-oligo(oxyethylene)-4-methylthiophene]; Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide); poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)-graft-polyacrylic; poly-N-[tris(hydroxymethyl)methyl] acrylamide; poly(butylmethacrylate); poly(acrylic acid); poly(N,Ndimethylaminoethyl methacrylate); polythiophene; poly(p-phenylene vinylene); poly[3-oligo(oxyethlene)-4-methylthiophene]; poly[3-(2-methyl-1-butoxy)-4-metylthiophene]; a poly(3,4-alkylenedioxythiophene); and a combination of two or more thereof.
13. The system of claim 2 , further comprising a reservoir positioned between the first barrier and the second barrier.
14. The system of claim 13 , further comprising a borehole for extracting the flowable substance from the reservoir.