This application is the U.S. National Phase under 35 U.S.C. § 371 of International Patent Application No. PCT/KR 2014/012633, filed on Dec. 22, 2014, which in turn claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2013-0162660 filed on Dec. 24, 2013, the disclosures of which Applications are incorporated by reference herein.
The present disclosure relates to a fluid storage tank, and more particularly, to a fluid storage tank having an improved degree of strength.
Natural gas may be transferred through pipes by land or sea, or may be liquefied and transferred to remote destinations using liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers. LNG is obtained by cooling natural gas to a very low temperature (about −163° C.), such that the volume of LNG is about 1/600 of the volume before liquefaction. Thus, LNG may be easily transferred to remote destinations by sea.
Since LNG has a very low temperature and high pressure, the role of LNG storage tanks is important. In addition to being used in LNG carriers, such fluid storage tanks may also be used in LNG Floating, Production, Storage, and Offloading (FPSO) facilities for liquefying and storing produced natural gas at sea and transferring stored LNG to LNG carriers, or in LNG Floating Storage and Regasification Units (FSRUs) installed on the sea far from land for receiving LNG from LNG carries, regasifying the LNG, and supplying the regasified LNG to land destinations.
Recently, there have been attempts to use LNG as a fuel for various means of transportation such as ocean-going vessels. In this case, LNG is stored in cylindrical storage tanks. However, since cylindrical storage tanks are small, many cylindrical storage tanks may be required, and thus a relatively large space of a vessel may be required to allow cylindrical storage tanks to be arranged at predetermined intervals.
An aspect of the present disclosure may provide a fluid storage tank having a high degree of spatial efficiency and a high degree of strength.
According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a fluid storage tank may include: a first casing wall forming all outer sides of the fluid storage tank in length, width, and height directions, the first casing wall forming a cavity therein to store fluid; a plurality of partition plates arranged in the length direction of the first casing wall to divide the cavity into a plurality of sub-cavities; and end units disposed between the first casing wall and outermost partition plates of the plurality of partition plates, wherein fluid passage holes may be formed in the partition plates to allow the fluid to flow between the sub-cavities, and the fluid passage holes may include gas passage holes in upper regions of the partition plates and liquid passage holes in lower regions of the partition plates.
The liquid passage holes may be larger than the gas passage holes.
The end units may include reinforcing plate parts arranged to divide spaces between the first casing wall and the outermost partition plates into end spaces.
The reinforcing plate parts may divide the spaces between the first casing wall and the outermost partition plates in the height direction and the width direction.
The fluid may flow between the end spaces formed by the reinforcing plate parts through the fluid passage holes formed in the outermost partition plates.
The number of the fluid passage holes formed in the outermost partition plates may correspond to the number of the end spaces formed by the reinforcing plate parts.
Bracket units may be disposed between the partition plates adjacent to each other.
Parts of the bracket units may be arranged between the partition plates in the height and width directions.
Openings may be formed in the bracket units. The openings may have an arch shape on both ends thereof.
The bracket units may include: first bracket units disposed between the outermost partition plates and partition plates closest to the outermost partition plates; and second bracket units disposed between partition plates other than the outermost partition plates, wherein the first and second bracket units may have different shapes.
The first bracket units may be opened toward the outermost partition plates.
Flanges may be perpendicularly connected to the first bracket units.
Each of the bracket units may include: height bracket parts arranged between the partition plates in the height direction; and width bracket parts arranged between the partition plates in the width direction.
The fluid storage tank may further include a second casing wall enclosing the first casing wall.
The fluid storage tank may further include stiffeners inserted through the second casing wall with ends of the stiffeners being exposed.
Other ends of the stiffeners may be spaced apart from the first casing wall.
The first casing wall may have a size larger in the length direction than in the width or height direction.
The end units are respectively disposed on both lateral inner wall surfaces of the first casing wall.
Features and effects according to embodiments of the present disclosure will be clarified through the following description given with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Terms and words used in the description and claims should not be construed as being limited to general meanings or dictionary definitions, but should be construed according to the technical concepts and ideas of embodiments of the present disclosure based on the principle that inventors can define terms to properly describe their inventions.
According to exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, fluid may be stored in a single storage tank, and thus space may be efficiently used. In addition, the strength of the fluid storage tank may be increased using partition plates and end units.
In addition, according to the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, fluid passage holes may be formed in the partition plates, and thus fluid may flow between sub-cavities through the fluid passage holes. In addition, according to the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, a plurality of partition plates may be arranged inside a first casing wall, and thus sloshing may be reduced.
Purposes, effects, and features of embodiments of the present disclosure may be clearly understood through the following description given with reference to the accompanying drawings. In every possible case, like reference numerals are used for referring to the same or similar elements in the description and drawings. Moreover, detailed descriptions related to well-known functions or configurations will not be presented in order not to unnecessarily obscure subject matters of the present disclosure.
Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
As illustrated in
The first casing wall 110 is a member forming the exterior of the fluid storage tank 100. The first casing wall 110 may form an inner cavity by enclosing all sides of the fluid storage tank 100 in the length, width, and height directions.
For example, fluid such as liquefied natural gas (LNG) or regasified LNG may be contained in the inner cavity of the first casing wall 110. In this case, for example, the first casing wall 110 may be formed of a cryogenic steel such as high-manganese (Mn) steel so as to contain the fluid at high pressure and low temperature. In addition, the first casing wall 110 may have a large thickness to contain a high-pressure fluid. However, if the first casing wall 110 is thick, manufacturing costs of the fluid storage tank 100 may increase. In addition, the weight and volume of the fluid storage tank 100 may increase. Therefore, according to the exemplary embodiment, stiffeners 111 may be connected to the first casing wall 110 to guarantee the stiffness of the first casing wall 110 while reducing the thickness of the first casing wall 110. The stiffeners 111 may have a shape such as an I, T, L, or U shape. The stiffeners 111 may be connected to inner surfaces of the first casing wall 110 as well as outer surfaces of the first casing wall 110. The first casing wall 110 may have a shape such as a rectangular parallelepiped shape, and each corner or edge of the first casing wall 110 may be angled or rounded.
In addition, reinforcing members such as manhole covers or tubes may be arranged on the first casing wall 110 to improve the stiffness of the first casing wall 110. Such manhole covers or tubes may be used instead of, or together with, the stiffeners 111, and may be arranged in regions in which the stiffeners 111 are not arranged. In addition, another structure may be additionally used to increase the stiffness of the first casing wall 110.
The fluid storage tank 100 of the exemplary embodiment may be disposed in a LNG carrier, an offshore floating structure, or a transportation means such as a vessel using LNG as a fuel. When a transportation means uses LNG as a fuel, cylindrical fuel tanks may be used to store LNG because cylindrical fuel tanks have a high degree of strength. However, for example, eight fuel tanks having a storage volume of 500 m3 may be required to provide a fuel storage volume of 4000 m3. When the size of fuel tanks and intervals between the fuel tanks are considered, a space of 36 m (length)×47.6 m (width)×6 m (height) may be required to arrange eight cylindrical fuel tanks. Since means of transportation such as vessels have limited space, using such a large space for fuel tanks may decrease spatial efficiency.
However, the fluid storage tank 100 of the exemplary embodiment is a single large tank enclosed by the first casing wall 110. Thus, for example, when disposed in a vessel, the fluid storage tank 100 may occupy a relatively small space and thus may improve the spatial efficiency of the vessel. For example, when a fuel storage volume of 4000 m3 is required, the fluid storage tank 100 of the exemplary embodiment may only occupy an installation space of 36 m (length)×16 m (width)×8 m (height), thereby improving spatial efficiency compared to the case of using cylindrical fuel tanks of the related art. When the fluid storage tank 100 is constructed as a single large tank as described above, the length of the fluid storage tank 100 may be greater than the width and height of the fluid storage tank 100. Therefore, the fluid storage tank 100 may have to be reinforced. To this end, the partition plates 120 and the end units 130 are used in the exemplary embodiment.
If the first casing wall 110 is filled with fluid in a state in which the first casing wall 110 is not reinforced using additional members, the strength of the first casing wall 110 may be insufficient, and thus the thickness of the first casing wall 110 may have to be increased. However, although the thickness of the first casing wall 110 is increased, if LNG is filled in the first casing wall 110, the strength of the first casing wall 110 may not be sufficient. In addition, if a vessel rolls from side to side (in the length direction of the fluid storage tank 100) at sea, fluid filled in the first casing wall 110 may fluctuate. The fluctuation of fluid may apply impact force to the first casing wall 110 and damage the first casing wall 110. This phenomenon is known as sloshing. Sloshing relates to the volume of fluid storage space, and if the volume of fluid storage space is reduced, sloshing may decrease.
Thus, in the exemplary embodiment, the partition plates 120 are disposed inside the first casing wall 110. The partition plates 120 may be arranged in the length direction of the first casing wall 110 to divide the inner cavity of the first casing wall 110 into a plurality of sub-cavities 122. Therefore, each space in which fluid is contained may be reduced in volume because the inner cavity is divided into sub-cavities, and thus sloshing may decrease. In addition, stress may also decrease in the length direction of the fluid storage tank 100. That is, the fluid storage tank 100 may be effectively reinforced. In this case, the partition plates 120 may be spaced apart from each other in the length direction of the fluid storage tank 100, and the intervals between the partition plates 120 may be uniform or different in some regions. For example, if reinforcement is less required in a region of the first casing wall 110, the partition plates 120 may be arranged at relatively large intervals in the region so as to reduce the number of the partition plates 120 and the weight of the fluid storage tank 100. In addition, since the partition plates 120 connect mutually-facing inner wall surfaces of the first casing wall 110, expansion of the first casing wall 110 in directions opposite the partition plates 120 may be suppressed, and thus the resistance to pressure of the fluid storage tank 100 may be increased in the width and length directions of the fluid storage tank 100. In addition, since the partition plates 120 reinforce the first casing wall 110, the first casing wall 110 may be less vibrated when a pump or an engine of a vessel engine is operated. Each of the partition plates 120 may extend inside the first casing wall 110 in the width and height directions of the first casing wall 110 and may be fixed to inner wall surfaces of the first casing wall 110 by a method such as welding.
As illustrated in
As described above, stress generated in the length direction of the first casing wall 110 may be reduced to some degree owing to the partition plates 120. However, the fluid storage tank 100 may receive higher pressure in the length direction than in the width and height directions. Thus, if a particular structure is not provided on an end or both ends of the first casing wall 110, the first casing wall 110 may be deformed by internal pressure. Therefore, in the exemplary embodiment, the end units 130 are provided to reinforce both ends of the first casing wall 110 and prevent deformation of the first casing wall 110.
In detail, the end units 130 are disposed between inner wall surfaces of the first casing wall 110 and the outermost partition plates 121 of the partition plates 120. The end units 130 may include reinforcing plate parts 131 to divide spaces located between the first casing wall 110 and the outermost partition plates 121. For example, the reinforcing plate parts 131 may include: height reinforcing plate parts 131a horizontally oriented and arranged in the height direction; and width reinforcing plate parts 131b vertically oriented and arranged in the width direction. Therefore, each of the spaces between the first casing wall 110 and the outermost partition plates 121 may be divided into end spaces 132, and the number of the end spaces 132 may be equal to the product of the number of the height reinforcing plate parts 131a+1 and the number of the width reinforcing plate parts 131b+1. That is, as illustrated in
At both sides of the fluid storage tank 100, the end units 130 including the reinforcing plate parts 131 are disposed on outer sides of the outermost partition plates 121. Therefore, the fluid storage tank 100 may more effectively withstand pressure acting in the length direction of the fluid storage tank 100. Furthermore, according to the exemplary embodiment, the end units 130 of the fluid storage tank 100 include the height reinforcing plate parts 131a and the width reinforcing plate parts 131b that are not parallel but cross each other at right angles, and thus the stiffness of the fluid storage tank 100 may be further increased compared to the case in which the end units 130 only include either the height reinforcing plate parts 131a or the width reinforcing plate parts 131b. Particularly, since the pressure of gas acts in all directions)(360°, the two-direction support structure by the height reinforcing plate parts 131a and the width reinforcing plate parts 131b may be effective in withstanding pressure of gas. In addition, the end units 130 may prevent deformation of the first casing wall 110 by reinforcing the first casing wall 110, and since the spaces between the first casing wall 110 and the outermost partition plates 121 are divided into smaller spaces (end spaces 132) by the end units 130, sloshing may be more effectively prevented. In addition, flanges 133 may be perpendicularly connected to the reinforcing plate parts 131 of the end units 130 so as to effectively reinforce the end units 130.
Although not illustrated, the outermost partition plates 121 may include more fluid passage holes 123. For example, the outermost partition plates 121 may include fluid passage holes 123 respectively corresponding to the end spaces 132. For example, in the case illustrated in
In the exemplary embodiment, the reinforcing plate parts 131 of the end units 130 are arranged in the height and width directions. However, the reinforcing plate parts 131 may be arranged in diagonal directions. In addition, the reinforcing plate parts 131 may not cross each other at right angles.
As described above, stress generated in the length direction of the first casing wall 110 may be reduced owing to the partition plates 120. The reason for this is that stress is distributed to the partition plates 120 to some degree. However, stress may locally increase at joint portions between the first casing wall 110 and the partition plates 120. To address this, the thickness of the first casing wall 110 may be increased or the number of the partition plates 120 may be increased. However, this method is not economical. Thus, according to the exemplary embodiment, the bracket units 140 may be disposed between the partition plates 120 to decrease stress in the joint portions between the first casing wall 110 and the partition plates 120. The bracket units 140 may include first bracket units 142 and second bracket units 143 having different shapes. For ease of description, the second bracket units 143 will be first described below.
The second bracket units 143 may be disposed between the partition plates 120 except for the outermost partition plates 121 so as to reinforce the first casing wall 110 and the partition plates 120. As illustrated in
The first bracket units 142 are disposed between the outermost partition plates 121 and partition plates 120 closest to the outermost partition plates 121. That is, the first bracket units 142 are disposed inside the end units 130. For example, as illustrated in
As illustrated in
While exemplary embodiments have been shown and described above, the exemplary embodiments are for illustrative purposes only are not intended to limit the fluid storage tanks to the exemplary embodiments. That is, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that modifications and variations could be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
Simple modifications and variations made from the exemplary embodiments should be construed as being included in the scope of the present invention, and the scope of the present invention should be defined by the following claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
10-2013-0162660 | Dec 2013 | KR | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
PCT/KR2014/012633 | 12/22/2014 | WO | 00 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
WO2015/099374 | 7/2/2015 | WO | A |
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
2379126 | Welden | Jun 1945 | A |
2552119 | Scharenberg | May 1951 | A |
3477606 | Schwendtner | Nov 1969 | A |
3979005 | Robinson | Sep 1976 | A |
4272768 | Rookard, Jr. | Jun 1981 | A |
4550848 | Sucato | Nov 1985 | A |
4611724 | Watkins | Sep 1986 | A |
4858778 | Patrick | Aug 1989 | A |
5779092 | Hehn | Jul 1998 | A |
5960981 | Dodson | Oct 1999 | A |
6076480 | Chang, III | Jun 2000 | A |
6547091 | Hagenbuch | Apr 2003 | B2 |
6595382 | Ettlinger | Jul 2003 | B2 |
6691889 | Falk | Feb 2004 | B1 |
6732881 | Gulati | May 2004 | B1 |
20040188446 | Gulati et al. | Sep 2004 | A1 |
20070194051 | Bakken et al. | Aug 2007 | A1 |
20100045017 | Rea | Feb 2010 | A1 |
20100083671 | Liner | Apr 2010 | A1 |
20130146605 | Ramoo | Jun 2013 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country |
---|---|---|
1134138 | Oct 1996 | CN |
1922434 | Feb 2007 | CN |
100436926 | Nov 2008 | CN |
0718215 | Jun 1996 | EP |
0895017 | Feb 1999 | EP |
2035742 | Mar 2009 | EP |
2641009 | Sep 2013 | EP |
S52-006490 | Feb 1977 | JP |
2002-521000 | Jul 2002 | JP |
2008-503703 | Feb 2008 | JP |
2009-541118 | Nov 2009 | JP |
10-2007-0042536 | Apr 2007 | KR |
10-2012-0072640 | Jul 2012 | KR |
10-2012-0120862 | Nov 2012 | KR |
10-2012-0120866 | Nov 2012 | KR |
10-2013-0016725 | Feb 2013 | KR |
9821029 | May 1998 | WO |
2007148982 | Dec 2007 | WO |
2012148154 | Nov 2012 | WO |
Entry |
---|
Chinese Office Action dated Mar. 24, 2017 issued in Chinese Patent Application No. 201480071020.6 (with English translation). |
International Search Report issued in corresponding International Patent Application No. PCT/KR2014/012633, dated Jan. 15, 2015; 4 pages with English Language translation. |
European Search Report dated Feb. 10, 2017 issued in European Patent Application No. 14875548.1. |
Japanese Office Action dated Jul. 11, 2017 issued in Japanese Patent Application No. 2016-542758. |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
20160319992 A1 | Nov 2016 | US |