Patent Grant
10578248
This application is a national stage application of International Application No. PCT/FR2016/052648 filed Oct. 13, 2016, which claims priority to French Patent Application No. 1559744 filed Oct. 13, 2015, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference and to which priority is claimed.
The invention relates to the field of sealed and thermally insulating tanks with membranes. In particular, the invention relates to the field of sealed and thermally insulating tanks for storing and/or transporting low-temperature liquids, such as tanks for transporting Liquefied Petroleum Gas (also referred to as LPG) at, for example, a temperature of between −50° C. and 0° C., or for transporting Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) at approximately −162° C. at atmospheric pressure. These tanks may be installed on land or on a floating structure. In the case of a floating structure, the tank may be intended for transporting liquefied gas or for receiving liquefied gas used as a fuel for the propulsion of the floating structure.
WO-A-2016046487, for example, describes a wall structure for creating the flat wall of a tank with double sealed membrane. The secondary sealed membrane of such a tank wall experiences high stresses in service, these being associated with the various loadings of the tank, with thermal contraction, with movements of the cargo, and with deformation of the bearing structure in the swell. These stresses are notably transmitted by the thermally insulating barrier to which the secondary sealed membrane is anchored. Because the thermally insulating barrier is made up of large sized discrete insulating panels, the stresses and movements transmitted to the secondary sealed membrane are not distributed uniformly which means that the corrugations in the secondary sealed membrane are stressed differently according to whether they are situated near the edges of the panels or near the center. In addition, the flexibility of certain corrugations is limited by the anchoring of the edges of the metal sheets to the panels. This results in stress concentrations liable to accelerate the aging of the sealed membrane. These problems would also exist if the primary membrane were eliminated.
In WO-A-2016046487, bridging elements arranged between the secondary insulating panels serve to improve the distribution of the movements by limiting the separation movements of the edges of the panels. These bridging elements are able to a certain extent to address the separation movements of the edges of the panels but are limited, complicated to install, and have a relatively high installation cost.
One idea underlying the invention is that of providing a membrane tank wall structure that addresses at least some of these disadvantages.
According to one embodiment, the invention provides a sealed and thermally insulating tank incorporated into a bearing structure, said tank comprising one or more tank walls borne by one or more bearing walls of the bearing structure, the or each tank wall comprising a thermally insulating barrier fixed to a respective bearing wall of the bearing structure and a sealed membrane borne by said thermally insulating barrier.
The thermally insulating barrier comprises a plurality of rectangular parallelepipedal insulating blocks juxtaposed in a regular rectangular grid pattern, each insulating block comprising an insulating filling and a cover panel facing to the inside of the tank, an upper face of the cover panel on the opposite side to the insulating filling bearing a metallic anchor piece or strip.
The sealed membrane is made up of a corrugated metal membrane comprising a first series of parallel corrugations and flat portions situated between the parallel corrugations and resting on the upper face of the cover panels, the parallel corrugations being arranged parallel to a first direction of the parallelepipedal insulating blocks and spaced by a first corrugations pitch, the sealed membrane comprising for example a plurality of corrugated metal sheets each welded to at least one anchor piece or strip of the thermally insulating barrier.
The pitch of the rectangular grid pattern in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction is equal to twice the first corrugations pitch, which means that the first series of corrugations comprises two corrugations situated in line with each of the insulating blocks, and a flat portion of the sealed membrane situated between the two corrugations is arranged in line with an internal zone of the cover panel that is situated some distance from the edges of the cover panel that are parallel to the first direction, so that the two corrugations of the first series of corrugations are situated in line with a marginal zone of the cover panel which zone is situated between the internal zone and the edges of the cover panel that are parallel to the first direction.
The pitch of the rectangular grid pattern in each direction is substantially equal to a dimension of the insulating blocks in this direction, increased by the width of any gap there might be between insulating blocks. This width of gap may be substantially zero and, in any event, remains very small in size in relation to the insulating block.
The metal anchor piece of each insulating block is arranged at least in the internal zone of the cover panel, the sealed membrane being fixed to the thermally insulating barrier by the fixing of said flat portions of the sealed membrane to said anchor pieces of a plurality of the insulating blocks only in the internal zone of the cover panels.
The sealed membrane is thus fixed to some of the or to each of the insulating blocks by the anchor pieces, but only in the internal zone of the cover panels.
Thanks to these features, each corrugation of the first series, or at least a large proportion of the corrugations of the first series, is in a similar situation as regards its freedom to deform, given that a first flat portion bordering the corrugation is situated on the side of the internal zone of the insulating block and fixed to the anchor piece, whereas the second flat portion bordering the corrugation on the other side straddles the marginal zone of the insulating block, the marginal zone of the adjacent insulating block and the interface between the two insulating blocks, without being fixed to any one of the two insulating blocks. In other words, the flat portions of the sealed membrane are situated alternately on the internal zone of the cover panels and on the interfaces between insulating blocks and adjacent marginal zones. The result of this arrangement is a corrugated and sealed metal membrane in which any corrugation of the first series has one side fixed to the insulating barrier and one side not fixed to the insulating barrier, but in sliding contact with the insulating barrier. This side not fixed to the insulating barrier increases the freedom of the corrugations to deform under the effect of the thermal stresses and of the deformations of the bearing structure, notably the hull of a ship in the swell. As a result, the distribution of stresses and deformations in the corrugated metal membrane is more even in service and the life of the corrugated metal membrane is thereby improved.
According to some embodiments, such a tank may have one or more of the following features.
The extent of the anchor piece can vary, provided that the sealed membrane is fixed only to the internal zone of the cover panel. According to one embodiment, the anchor piece is interrupted some distance from the edges of the cover panel and is confined to the internal zone of the cover panel, and the two corrugations of the first series of corrugations are situated one on each side of the anchor piece of each of the insulating blocks. In other words, the marginal zone of the cover panels here is situated between the anchor piece and the edges of the cover panel. This arrangement makes it possible to save material in the metal anchor piece or anchor strip.
According to one embodiment, there is an offset equal to substantially half the first corrugations pitch between the corrugations parallel to the first direction and the edges of the insulating blocks parallel to the first direction. By virtue of these features, the corrugations parallel to the first direction are arranged equidistantly from the interfaces, and this evens out better still the loads on these corrugations, notably when these loads are the result of a relative movement of the underlying insulating blocks.
The internal zone of the cover panel refers to a zone which lies some distance from the edges of the cover panel and which may be centered or off-centered with respect to these edges. According to one embodiment, the anchor piece is arranged at the center of the cover panel and the two corrugations of the first series of corrugations are situated at equal distances from the center of the cover panel.
The corrugated metal membrane may be made in one or more pieces, depending on the dimensions of the wall and the resulting logistical constraints. For preference, the corrugated metal membrane comprises a plurality of corrugated metal sheets of rectangular shape, each corrugated metal sheet comprising two edges parallel to the first direction and two edges parallel to the second direction,
the dimension of a corrugated metal sheet in the second direction being equal to an even integer multiple of the first corrugations pitch,
and the two edges of the corrugated metal sheet that are parallel to the first direction are essentially situated in the flat portions of the corrugated metal sheet between the corrugations parallel to the first direction and pass over the anchor pieces of the insulating blocks in the internal zone of the cover panels.
By virtue of these features it is possible to fix the sealed membrane to the anchor pieces at the edges of the sheets, thereby making assembly easier.
According to one embodiment, each corrugated metal sheet of rectangular shape has a border zone lap-welded to the border zone of the adjacent corrugated metal sheets, the border zone of a corrugated metal sheet situated on the top being welded each time to the border zone of an adjacent corrugated metal sheet situated underneath,
and, along the edges of the corrugated metal sheet that are parallel to the first direction, the border zone of the corrugated metal sheet situated underneath is welded to the anchor pieces of the insulating blocks in the internal zone of the cover panels.
According to one embodiment, the dimension of a corrugated metal sheet in the second direction is equal to twice the first corrugations pitch. By virtue of these features, one in two of the flat portions of the sealed membrane contains the edge of a rectangular sheet which passes in line with the anchor pieces. It is thus possible, by welding only at the edges of the sheets, to anchor the sealed membrane to the anchor pieces at the level of one in two of the flat portions of the sealed membrane.
The metal anchor piece may exhibit various geometries. Advantageously, the anchor piece comprises a metal strip running parallel to the first direction or to the second direction. By virtue of these features, the geometry of the anchor piece is well suited to providing a relatively extensive area for connection with the edge of a corrugated metal sheet.
According to one embodiment, the metal piece or strip is interrupted some distance from the edges of the cover panel and is confined to the internal zone of the cover panel, two thermal protection strips being arranged on the cover panel in the continuation of the metal piece or strip in the marginal zone of the cover panel between the metal piece or strip and the edges of the cover panel. By virtue of these features, the corrugated metal sheets can be butt-welded entirely in line with the metal pieces or strips and thermal protection strips without subjecting the cover panel to excessive heating, thus making it possible to create the cover panel from wood or some other material exhibiting little heat resistance.
Alternatively, the metal piece or strip may extend over the entire length of the cover panel, including the marginal zones of the cover panel, provided that the sealed membrane is fixed to the metal piece or strip only in the internal zone of the cover panel. In that case, the ends of the metal piece or strip that are situated in the marginal zones are merely another form of thermal protection for the cover panel.
According to one embodiment, the anchor piece comprises a metal strip parallel to the first direction and a metal strip parallel to the second direction which strips form a cross in the internal zone of the cover panel. By virtue of these features, the geometry of the anchor piece is well suited to providing an area for connection with two edges of a corrugated metal sheet in the immediate vicinity of a corner of the corrugated metal sheet.
The teachings given hereinabove with reference to a first series of parallel corrugations may also be implemented, in the same way, with reference to a second series of parallel corrugations running at right angles to the first series of corrugations in order to even out the loads and deformations in both directions of the plane.
According to corresponding embodiments:
the pitch of the rectangular grid pattern in the first direction, which is substantially equal to a dimension of the insulating blocks in the first direction, is equal to twice the second corrugations pitch, which means that the second series of corrugations comprises two corrugations situated in line with each of the insulating blocks,
and the two corrugations of the second series of corrugations are situated in line with a marginal zone of the cover panel which zone is situated between the internal zone and the edges of the cover panel that are parallel to the second direction.
The insulating blocks may be produced in different ways. According to one embodiment, each parallelepipedal insulating block comprises a box structure in which the insulating filling is housed, said box structure comprising a bottom panel and side panels extending between said bottom panel and the cover panel. According to another embodiment, each parallelepipedal insulating block comprises a bottom panel and a cover panel with an interposed block of foam forming said insulating filling.
According to one embodiment, the sealed membrane of each tank wall comprises:
The corrugations of the sealed membrane may be formed in different ways. According to some embodiments, the corrugations project toward the inside of the tank with respect to the flat portions, or alternatively the corrugations project toward the outside of the tank with respect to the flat portions and are housed in grooves formed in the cover panels of the insulating blocks.
According to one embodiment, the thermally insulating barrier of the first or second tank wall comprises universal parallelepipedal insulating blocks facing a longitudinal face of edging blocks opposite the edge corner of the tank, an upper face of the cover panel of each of the universal parallelepipedal insulating blocks comprising a step facing a step in the upper face of the cover panel of the corresponding edging block, a connecting sheet housed jointly in said steps lying flush with the level of the upper face of said cover panels so as to form a continuous flat support surface for the sealed membrane of the first or second tank wall. By virtue of this feature it is possible to adjust a distance between the row of edging blocks and the first row of universal blocks without generating spaces in the support of the sealed membrane.
According to one embodiment, the spaces between each edging block of the first and/or second row and the adjacent parallelepipedal insulating blocks and spaces between said edging blocks and the first bearing wall contain an intermediary insulating filling.
According to one embodiment, the corrugated metal sheets have a rectangular shape, each parallelepipedal insulating block comprising two secant anchor strips, each anchor strip running parallel to a respective side of the corrugated metal sheets fixed to said anchor strips.
According to one embodiment, the thermally insulating barrier is a secondary thermally insulating barrier and the sealed membrane is a secondary sealed membrane,
the tank wall further comprising a primary thermally insulating barrier arranged on the secondary sealed membrane and a primary sealed membrane borne by said primary thermally insulating barrier.
For preference in this case, the metal anchor pieces of the insulating blocks of the secondary thermally insulating barrier bear primary retaining members, for example threaded studs or bushings, and the primary thermally insulating barrier comprises a plurality of juxtaposed rectangular parallelepipedal insulating blocks anchored to the primary retaining members.
According to one embodiment, the secondary sealed membrane comprises cutouts to allow the primary retaining members to project above the secondary sealed membrane, and edges of the cutouts in the secondary sealed membrane are welded in a sealed manner to the metal anchor pieces of the insulating blocks of the secondary thermally insulating barrier all around the primary retaining members. For preference, these cutouts are made on the edges of the rectangular sheets, but they can also be produced in a flat portion situated within a rectangular sheet.
Such a tank may form part of a land storage facility, for example for storing liquefied gas, or may be installed in an inshore, or offshore floating structure, notably a methane tanker, an LPG tanker, a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU), a floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) unit or the like.
According to one embodiment, a ship for transporting a cold liquid product comprises a hull and an aforementioned tank arranged inside the hull.
According to one embodiment, the invention also provides a method for loading or unloading such a ship, in which method a cold liquid product is conveyed through insulated pipes from or to a floating or land storage facility to or from the tank of the ship.
According to one embodiment, the invention also provides a transfer system for a cold liquid product, the system comprising the aforementioned ship, insulated pipes are arranged in such a way as to connect the tank installed in the hull of the ship to a floating or land storage facility and a pump for causing a cold liquid product to flow through the insulated pipes from or to the floating or land storage facility to or from the tank of the ship.
The invention will be better understood and further objects, details, features and advantages thereof will become more clearly apparent during the course of the following description of a number of particular embodiments of the invention which are given solely by way of nonlimiting illustration with reference to the attached drawings.
The figures are described hereinbelow in the context of a bearing structure consisting of the internal walls of a double hull of a ship for transporting liquefied gas. Such a bearing structure has a polyhedral geometry, for example of prismatic shape. In such a bearing structure, longitudinal walls 1 of the bearing structure run parallel to the longitudinal direction of the ship and form a polygonal section in a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the ship. The longitudinal walls 1 meet at longitudinal edge corners 2 which form, for example, angles of the order of 135° in an octagonal geometry. The overall structure of such polyhedral tanks is for example described with reference to FIG. 1 of document FR-A-3008765.
The longitudinal walls 1 are interrupted in the longitudinal direction of the ship by transverse bearing walls 3 which are perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the ship. The longitudinal walls 1 and the transverse walls 3 meet at front and rear edge corners 4.
Each wall 1, 3 of the bearing structure bears a respective tank wall. According to a first embodiment, each of the tank walls is made up of a single thermally insulating barrier bearing a single sealed membrane in contact with a fluid stored in the tank, such as liquefied petroleum gas containing butane, propane, propene or the like and having an equilibrium temperature of between −50° C. and 0° C.
By convention, the adjective “upper” applied to an element of the tank refers to that part of this element that is oriented toward the inside of the tank and the adjective “lower” refers to that part of this element that is oriented toward the outside of the tank, regardless of the orientation of the tank wall with respect to the Earth's gravitational field. Likewise, the term “above” refers to a position situated further toward the inside of the tank and the term “underneath” refers to a position situated further toward the bearing structure, regardless of the orientation of the tank wall with respect to the Earth's gravitational field.
The thermally insulating barrier of the longitudinal tank wall 5 is made up of a plurality of insulating elements anchored along the entire longitudinal bearing wall 1. These insulating elements together form a flat surface to which the sealed membrane of the longitudinal tank wall 5 is anchored. These insulating elements more particularly comprise a plurality of universal insulating elements 8 juxtaposed in a regular rectangular grid pattern. The thermally insulating barrier of the longitudinal tank wall 5 also comprises a row of edging insulating elements 9 described hereinafter with reference to
The sealed membrane of the longitudinal tank wall 5 is made up of a plurality of metal sheets 12 juxtaposed with one another with overlap. These metal sheets 12 are preferably rectangular in shape. The metal sheets 12 are welded together in order to seal the sealed membrane. For preference, the metal sheets 12 are made of stainless steel, for example with a thickness of 1.2 mm.
In order to allow the sealed membrane to deform in response to the various stresses experienced by the tank, in particular in response to the thermal contraction resulting from the loading of liquefied gas into the tank, the metal sheets 12 have a plurality of corrugations 13 oriented toward the inside of the tank. More particularly, the sealed membrane of the longitudinal tank wall 5 comprises a first series of corrugations 13 and a second series of corrugations 13 forming a regular rectangular pattern. As illustrated in
In order to ensure the continuity of the insulating barrier 2 at the region of the corner structure 7, metal corner sheets 15 are welded and arranged on the perpendicular edging insulating elements 9. These metal corner sheets 15 comprise two flat portions 16 situated in the planes of the sealed membrane of each tank wall 5 and 6 respectively.
The edging insulating element 9 comprises a bottom panel 17, side panels 18 and a cover panel 19. All of these panels 17, 18, 19 are rectangular in shape and delimit an internal space of the edging insulating element 9. The bottom panel 17 and the cover panel 19 extend parallel to one another and, as illustrated in
The bottom panel 17 comprises longitudinal flanges 25 projecting from the longitudinal side panels 21. The bottom panel 17 also comprises a transverse flange 26 projecting from one of the transverse side panels 22. The flanges 25, 26 of the bottom panel 17 bear cleats 27. In the example illustrated in
The cover panel 19 comprises, on an upper face facing away from the insulating filling 24, a transverse step 28. This transverse step 28 is situated in line with the transverse side panel 22 from which the transverse flange 26 of the bottom panel 17 projects. This transverse step 28 comprises a notch 65 situated in line with the cleat 27 borne by the transverse flange 26. There are numerous methods that can be used to create the cover panel 19. In the embodiment illustrated in
The upper face of the cover panel 19 further comprises a transverse milling 29 and a longitudinal milling 30. The transverse milling 29 extends in a direction parallel to the width of the cover panel 19 over the entire width of the cover panel 19. The transverse milling 29 is situated close to the opposite transverse side of the cover panel 19 from the transverse flange 26. The longitudinal milling 30 extends in a direction parallel to the length of the cover panel 19 over the entire length of the cover panel 19. For preference, this longitudinal milling 30 is centered on the width of the cover panel 19. In the embodiment illustrated in
A longitudinal anchor strip 31, which constitutes a metal anchor piece, is housed in the longitudinal milling 30. This longitudinal anchor strip 31 has a length shorter than the length of the cover panel 19. A thermal protection 54 (illustrated in
Likewise, a transverse anchor strip 32, which constitutes a metal anchor piece, is housed in the transverse milling 29 of the cover panel 19. However, this transverse anchor strip 32 extends over the entire width of the cover panel 19. Each end of the transverse anchor strip 32 comprises a tab 33. This tab 33 projects from a respective longitudinal side of the cover panel 19.
In a similar way to the edging insulating elements 9, each universal insulating element 8 comprises on an upper face two perpendicular anchor strips 14, which constitute metal anchor pieces, housed in respective millings and screwed or riveted to the cover panels. The anchor strips 14 are preferably arranged parallel to the corrugations 13. The anchor strips 14 extend over a central portion of the millings in which they are housed. Thermal protections 54 are housed in the ends of the millings.
The metal sheets 12, 15 of the sealed membrane are welded to the anchor strips 14, 31, 32 on which they rest. The thermal protections 54 avoid damage to the insulating elements 8, 9 when the metal sheets 12, 15 are being welded together along their edges. The thermal protections 54 are made of heat-resistant material, for example a glass fiber-based composite material. Welding the metal sheets 12, 15 to the anchor strips 14, 31, 32 allows the sealed membrane to be held against the insulating barrier but causes tensile loads to be transmitted by the metal sheets 12, 15 to the anchor strips 14, 31, 32 to which they are welded.
The tab 33 comprises a spacing portion 34 extending from the cover panel 19 in the continuation of the transverse milling 29. This tab further comprises a coupling portion 35 extending from an opposite end of the spacing portion 34 to the cover panel 19. The coupling portion 35 extends in the direction of the bottom panel 17. The coupling portion 35 comprises a slot 52 facing toward the transverse side of the cover panel 19 that exhibits the step 65.
The anchor strips 31, 32 are fixed to the cover panel 19 by any suitable means, for example by riveting. The transverse anchor strip 32 is fixed in such a way as to exhibit clearance in a longitudinal direction of the cover panel 19, for example of the order of one to a few tenths of a millimeter. Typically, in the case of fixing by riveting, the orifices (not illustrated) in the cover panel 19 through which the rivets that fix the transverse anchor strip 32 pass have a longitudinal dimension that exceeds the thickness of the rivet. Likewise, the transverse anchor strip 32 is housed in the transverse milling 29 with clearance. Such clearances allow for the transmission of tensile forces generated in the longitudinal direction of the cover panel 19 by the sealed membrane welded to the anchor strips 31, 32 without these forces being substantially transmitted to the cover panel 19.
The anchor members 10 illustrated in
As illustrated in
In the embodiment illustrated in
In an embodiment which has not been illustrated, the universal insulating elements and the edging insulating elements have the same width but are offset from one another in a direction parallel to the edge corner. Thus, the corners of two adjacent universal insulating elements are situated mid-way across the width of an edging insulating element and in line with the transverse flange of said edging insulating element.
Moreover, the universal insulating elements 8 situated facing the edging insulating elements 9 comprise a step similar to the step 28 of said edging insulating element 9 facing said step 28 of the edging insulating element 9. Cover strips 53 are housed jointly in the steps of the universal insulating elements 8 and of the edging insulating elements 9 opposite so as to cover a space between said insulating elements 8 and 9. This space is filled with insulating filling such as, for example, glass wool. Such cover strips lie flush at the level of the upper face of the cover panels of the insulating elements 8 and 9 so as to offer a continuous flat surface for the sealed membrane. Moreover, such cover strips 53 make it possible to compensate for construction clearances that may arise during the building of the tank.
Furthermore, the spaces 55 situated between the edging insulating elements 9 and the bearing walls 1 and 3 facing each other are advantageously filled with insulating filling such as glass wool.
In the alternative form illustrated in
A flat wall of the tank will now be described in greater detail with reference to
Over the flat portion of the bearing wall 1 or 3, the thermally insulating barrier is essentially made up of universal insulating elements 8 juxtaposed according to the regular rectangular grid pattern. A sample of this grid pattern comprising two rows each of four universal insulating elements 8 is shown in
The edges of the universal insulating elements 8 and the edges of the metal sheets 12 are parallel to the two directions defined by the corrugations 13. Because the corrugations pitch of the sealed membrane is the same in the two directions defined by the corrugations 13, the universal insulating elements 8 have a shape with a square outline. Specifically, the dimension of the universal insulating elements 8 is equal to twice the corrugations pitch in each of the two directions. If the corrugations pitches were different in the two directions, the outline would be rectangular.
In the center of the cover panel of each universal insulating element 8 there are the two anchor strips 14 arranged in the shape of a cross and with their branches also parallel to the two directions defined by the corrugations 13 so as to correspond to the edges of the metal sheets 12.
In an alternative embodiment shown in
As can best be seen in
The bottom panel 117 comprises longitudinal flanges 125 projecting from the longitudinal side panels 121 and transverse flanges 126 projecting from the transverse side panels 122. The longitudinal flanges 125 bear cleats 127 at the corners of the universal insulating element 8 to collaborate with the anchor members 10.
In one exemplary embodiment, the dimensions of the universal insulating element 8 are: thickness 220 mm, width 1200 mm, length 1200 mm, for a corrugations pitch of 600 mm in both directions. The width of the gap between the universal insulating elements 8 is negligible here. The corrugations pitch is defined here as being the distance between the top edge corners of two parallel and adjacent corrugations 13. The thickness can be modified according to the requirements in terms of the thermal performance of the tank. The corrugations pitch can be modified according to the requirements in terms of the flexibility of the sealed membrane, which involves modifying the dimension of the universal insulating element 8 accordingly.
In
Alternatively, it is possible to produce the sealed membrane using metal sheets 12 that are larger than two corrugations pitches in the two directions of the plane, provided that additional welds are performed to weld the flat portions situated away from the edges of the metal sheet to the underlying anchor strips 14.
A packing-piece shim 63 is placed on the bearing wall around the hollow base 62 to accept the corners of the four adjacent universal insulating elements 8 that are going to rest thereon. The packing-piece shims 63 and the beads of mastic 60 compensate for flatness defects of the bearing wall and thus offer a flat upper surface on which to rest the universal insulating elements 8.
Furthermore, a positioning shim 64 projecting above the packing-piece shim 63 is mounted in the central opening of the packing-piece shim 63 around the hollow base 62. The positioning shims 64 act as end stops for positioning the corners of the universal insulating elements 8. More specifically, the longitudinal flange 125 exactly covers the length of the longitudinal side panel 121 and the transverse flange 126 exactly covers the length of the transverse side panel 122 which means that the vertical end surfaces of the longitudinal flange 125 and of the transverse flange 126 at the level of the corner form two orthogonal surfaces which can come into contact with two corresponding facets of the positioning shim 64, the periphery of which is octagonal.
The technique described hereinabove for creating a tank that has just one sealed membrane may also be used in various types of tank, for example to form a double-membrane tank for liquefied natural gas (LNG) in a land facility or in a floating structure such as a methane tanker or the like. In this context, the sealed membrane illustrated in the preceding figures can be considered to be a secondary sealed membrane and it may be considered that a primary insulating barrier as well as a primary sealed membrane, neither depicted, also needs to be added to this secondary sealed membrane. In this way, this technique can also be applied to tanks exhibiting a plurality of thermally insulating barriers and of sealed membranes which are superposed.
A second embodiment of the flat wall of the tank, more particularly suited to a double-membrane tank, will now be described with reference to
Each wall of the tank comprises, from the outside toward the inside of the tank, a secondary thermally insulating barrier 201 comprising juxtaposed insulating blocks 202 fixed to the bearing structure 203, a secondary sealed membrane 204 borne by the insulating blocks 202 of the secondary thermally insulating barrier 201, a primary thermally insulating barrier 205 comprising juxtaposed insulating blocks 206 anchored to the insulating blocks 202 of the secondary thermally insulating barrier 201 by primary retaining members and a primary sealed membrane 207 borne by the insulating blocks 206 of the primary thermally insulating barrier 205 and intended to be in contact with the cryogenic fluid contained in the tank.
The bearing structure 203 may notably be self-supporting metal plating or, more generally, any type of rigid partition exhibiting suitable mechanical properties. The bearing structure 203 may notably be formed by the hull or double hull of a ship. The bearing structure 203 comprises a plurality of walls defining the overall shape of the tank, usually a polyhedral shape.
The secondary thermally insulating barrier 201 comprises a plurality of insulating blocks 202 bonded to the bearing structure 203 by means of adhesive beads of resin, not illustrated. The beads of resin need to be adhesive enough that they can, by themselves, anchor the insulating blocks 202. Alternatively, or in combination, the insulating blocks 202 may be anchored by means of the aforementioned anchor members 10 or of similar mechanical devices. The insulating blocks 202 are substantially in the shape of a rectangular parallelepiped.
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
The internal sheet 210 has two series of two grooves 214 and 215 which are perpendicular to one another, so as to form a network of grooves. Each of the series of grooves 214 and 215 is parallel to two opposite sides of the insulating blocks 202. The grooves 214 and 215 are intended to accommodate corrugations, projecting toward the outside of the tank, formed on the metal plating of the secondary sealing barrier 204. More specifically, the internal sheet 210 comprises two grooves 214 extending in one direction of the insulating block 202 and two grooves 215 extending in the other direction of the insulating block 202, the dimensions of which are, as in the first embodiment, equal to two corrugations pitches by two corrugations pitches.
The grooves 214 and 215 pass right through the thickness of the internal sheet 210 and thus open onto the layer of insulating polymer foam 209. Moreover, the insulating blocks 202 comprise, in the zones where the grooves 214 and 215 cross, orifices 216 cutout in the layer of insulating polymer foam 209. The cutout orifices 216 are able to house the node zones formed at the intersections between the corrugations of the metal plating of the secondary sealing barrier 204. These node zones have a vertex projecting toward the outside of the tank.
Furthermore, as illustrated in
As an alternative, all the insulating blocks 202 could bear the four elongate mounting plates 218, for the sake of standardizing production.
The metal mounting plates 217 and 218 are fixed to the internal sheet 210 of the insulating block 202 by screws, rivets, staples, by bonding or by a combination of a number of these means, for example. The metal mounting plates 217 and 218 are fitted into recesses formed in the internal sheet 210 in such a way that the internal surface of the metal mounting plates 217 and 218 lies flush with the internal surface of the internal sheet 210.
The internal sheet 210 is also equipped with threaded metal studs 219 projecting toward the inside of the tank and intended for fixing the primary thermally insulating barrier 205 to the insulating blocks 202 of the secondary thermally insulating barrier 201. The studs 219 pass through orifices formed in the metal mounting plates 217.
In conjunction with
Each corrugated metal sheet 224 has a first series of parallel corrugations 13 extending in a first direction and a second series of parallel corrugations 13 extending in a second direction. The directions of the series of corrugations 13 are perpendicular. Each of the series of corrugations 13 is parallel to two opposite edges of the corrugated metal sheet 224. The corrugations 13 here project toward the outside of the tank, namely toward the bearing structure 203. The corrugated metal sheet 224 comprises a plurality of flat portions between the corrugations 13. At each intersection of two corrugations 13, the metal plating comprises a node zone 227. The node zone 227 comprises a central portion having a vertex projecting toward the outside of the tank.
In the embodiment depicted, the corrugations 13 of the first series and of the second series have identical heights. As in the first embodiment, it is, however, possible to plan for the corrugations 13 of the first series to have a greater height than the corrugations 13 of the second series, or vice versa.
As depicted in
The corrugated metal sheets 224 comprise, along their longitudinal edges and at their four corners, cutouts 228 for the passage of the studs 219 intended to fix the primary thermally insulating barrier 205 to the secondary thermally insulating barrier 201.
The corrugated metal sheets 224 are, for example, made of Invar®: namely an alloy of iron and of nickel the coefficient of expansion of which is typically comprised between 1.2×10−6 and 2×10−6 K−1, or from an iron alloy with a high manganese content the coefficient of expansion of which is typically of the order of 7×10−6 K−1. Alternatively, the corrugated metal sheets 224 may equally be made of stainless steel or of aluminum.
The lengths and widths of the corrugated metal sheets 224 are sized as for the metal sheets 12 of the first embodiment, for the same reasons. In
In the event (not depicted) that the sealed membrane 204 is produced using metal sheets 224 that are larger than two corrugations pitches in the two directions of the plane, it is necessary to make additional openings in the flat portions situated away from the edges of the metal sheet 224 in order to allow the passage of the studs 219, and to weld the edges of these openings in a sealed manner to the underlying metal mounting plates 217.
In one exemplary embodiment, the dimensions of the insulating block 202 are: width 990 mm, length 990 mm, for a corrugations pitch of 510 mm in both directions and a 30 mm gap between the insulating blocks. The corrugations pitch can be modified according to the requirements in terms of the flexibility of the sealed membrane, which involves modifying the dimension of the insulating block 202 accordingly.
In order to create the primary thermally insulating barrier 205 and the primary sealed membrane 207 there are different known techniques that can be used.
As depicted in
In the secondary sealed membrane 204 just as in the sealed membrane of the first embodiment, an even distribution of the deformations of the corrugations is achieved by virtue of the sizing of the insulating blocks and of the anchoring of the sealed membrane thereto.
In comparison with the embodiments illustrated hereinabove, one of the two series of corrugations of the sealed membrane can be omitted, for example for applications in which membrane flexibility is desired in just one direction of the plane. In such an instance, the dimensional symmetries of the tank wall which were described hereinabove are still needed in only one direction of the plane and the sizing referring to the corrugations pitch of the series of corrugations which has now been omitted of course becomes superfluous, or at the least optional.
With reference to
In a way known per se, loading/unloading pipework 73 arranged on the upper deck of the ship can be connected, by means of suitable connectors, to a maritime or harbor terminal in order to transfer a cargo of liquefied gas from or to the tank 71.
In order to generate the pressure needed for transferring the liquefied gas, use is made of the pumps carried on board the ship 70 and/or of the pumps with which the on-shore facility 77 is equipped and/or of the pumps with which the loading and unloading station 75 is equipped.
Even though the invention has been described in conjunction with a number of particular embodiments, it is quite obvious that it is not in any way restricted thereto and that it comprises all technical equivalents of the means described and combinations thereof where these fall within the scope of the invention.
The use of the verbs “to comprise”, “to exhibit” or “to include” and of the conjugated forms thereof does not exclude the presence of elements or steps other than those listed in a claim. The use of the indefinite article “a” or “an” for an element or a step does not exclude, unless mentioned otherwise, the presence of a plurality of such elements or steps.
In the claims, any reference symbol between parentheses should not be interpreted as imposing a limitation on the claim.
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|---|---|---|---|
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| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/FR2016/052648 | 10/13/2016 | WO | 00 |
| Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| WO2017/064426 | 4/20/2017 | WO | A |
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| 20180216782 A1 | Aug 2018 | US |
