Sealed and thermally insulated tank fitted with a through-element

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10364940-B2
Application number	US-201615567465-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 15, 2016
Priority date	Apr 20, 2015
Publication date	Jul 30, 2019
Grant date	Jul 30, 2019

Abstract

A sealed and thermally insulating tank wherein the distance between two adjacent corrugations of the corrugated metal sheets of the sealing membrane is equal to a predetermined corrugation interval io, the sealing membrane comprising, around a through-element:
two notched rectangular metal plates 3io wide in the first direction and 7io long in the second direction, which are symmetrical to one another, each notched rectangular metal plate having three outer edges disposed in line with a plurality of anchor plates and welded onto the first plurality of anchor plates and an inner edge having a notch formed to avoid cutting a square window through which the through-element passes, and two metal retrofit plates disposed between the non-notched portions of the inner edges of the two notched rectangular metal plates.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A sealed and thermally insulating tank intended for the storage of a fluid, said tank comprising a tank wall fixed to a flat bearing wall, the tank wall comprising a sealing membrane and a thermally insulating barrier disposed between the bearing wall and the sealing membrane, the sealing membrane essentially consisting of a plurality of corrugated metal sheets tightly welded to one another which form a first series of equidistant parallel rectilinear corrugations extending in a first direction of the plane of the bearing wall and a second series of equidistant parallel rectilinear corrugations extending in a second direction of the plane of the bearing wall, the second direction being at right angles to the first direction, the distance between two adjacent corrugations of the first series and the distance between two adjacent corrugations of the second series being equal to a predetermined corrugation interval io, the corrugated metal sheets having rectangular forms whose sides are parallel to, respectively, the first direction and the second direction of the plane of the bearing wall and whose dimensions are substantially equal to integer multiples of the corrugation interval, each edge of a corrugated metal sheet being situated between two adjacent corrugations parallel to said edge, the thermally insulating barrier essentially consisting of a plurality of juxtaposed insulating panels each having an inner face which forms a support surface for the sealing membrane, the insulating panels having rectangular parallelepipedal forms whose sides are parallel to, respectively, the first direction and the second direction of the plane of the bearing wall and whose dimensions in projection in the plane of the bearing wall are substantially equal to integer multiples of the corrugation interval, metal anchor plates being fixed onto the inner faces of the insulating panels and the corrugated metal sheets having edges welded to said anchor plates to retain the sealing membrane against said support surface, the sealed tank being equipped with a through-element passing through the tank wall,
wherein the thermally insulating barrier around the through-element comprises a plurality of insulating panels which form a ring of square form around the through-element, said ring having outer sides measuring substantially 9io which are parallel to, respectively, the first direction and the second direction of the plane of the bearing wall, said ring delimiting, at its center, a square window whose sides measure substantially 3io and which are also parallel to, respectively, the first direction and the second direction of the plane of the bearing wall, such that the through-element passes through the thermally insulating barrier in said square window, a first plurality of anchor plates being disposed on the inner face of said ring along the four outer sides of said ring, the distance between each anchor plate of the first plurality and the outer side that it runs along being equal to the corrugation interval, link parts linked tightly to the through-element being disposed in the square window around the through-element on the inner face of the insulating panels which form the ring, and
wherein the corrugated metal sheets of the sealing membrane around the through-element comprise:
two notched rectangular metal plates 3io wide in the first direction and 7io long in the second direction, which are symmetrical to one another in relation to an axis of symmetry parallel to the second direction passing through the center of the square window, called second axis of symmetry, each notched rectangular metal plate having three outer edges disposed in line with the first plurality of anchor plates and welded onto the first plurality of anchor plates and an inner edge having a notch formed to avoid cutting said square window, said notch having a width equal to 1io in the first direction and a length equal to 3io in the second direction so that the notched portion of the inner edge runs along the square window, and
two metal retrofit plates disposed between the non-notched portions of the inner edges of the two notched rectangular metal plates, the two metal retrofit plates being symmetrical to one another in relation to an axis of symmetry parallel to the first direction passing through the center of the square window, called first axis of symmetry, each metal retrofit plate being 1io wide in the first direction and 2io long in the second direction and having a corrugation aligned on said second axis of symmetry, the two longitudinal edges of each metal retrofit plate being tightly welded to the inner edges of the two notched rectangular metal plates, and the outer lateral edge of each metal retrofit plate being welded to the anchor plates of the first plurality, the notched portion of the inner edge of each notched rectangular metal plate and the inner lateral edge of each metal retrofit plate being tightly welded to said link parts.

2. The tank as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the inner face of said ring also bears a row of anchor plates parallel to the second direction which extends on either side of the square window and which is offset to one side of the second axis of symmetry by a distance less than 1io, and wherein a first of the longitudinal edges of each metal retrofit plate, in addition to being welded to the inner edge of a first of the notched rectangular metal plates, is welded to the row of anchor plates to be retained on the inner face of said ring, whereas the second longitudinal edge of each metal retrofit plate is welded to the inner edge of the second notched rectangular metal plate without being retained on the inner face of said ring.

3. The tank as claimed in claim 2 , wherein a thermal protection coating is disposed on the inner face of said ring in a position symmetrical to the row of anchor plates in relation to the second axis of symmetry, to avoid degrading the inner face by performing the welding between each metal retrofit plate and the second notched rectangular metal plate.

4. The tank as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the through-element comprises a main body disposed substantially at the center of the square window and extending in the direction of thickness of the tank wall and a tray parallel to the bearing wall linked to the periphery of the main body and extending around the main body at the same level as the inner face of the ring, the link parts comprising closure plates disposed in the window between the tray and the corrugated metal sheets, each closure plate having a first edge welded onto the tray around the main body and a second edge welded onto a second plurality of anchor plates around the square window, the second plurality of anchor plates being disposed on the inner face of said ring along the four inner sides of said ring, so as to run along the edges of the square window, and wherein the notched portion of the inner edge of each notched rectangular metal plate and the inner lateral edge of each metal retrofit plate are tightly welded onto the closure plates.

5. The tank as claimed in claim 4 , wherein the tray of the through-element has a square form, the tray has a setback along the outer edges of its four sides, the insulating panels having setbacks along the four inner edges of the square ring, bridging elements being disposed straddling the insulating panels and the tray, the bridging elements being placed on the bottom of the setbacks of the tray on one side and of the insulating panels on the other side, the thickness of the bridging elements being substantially equal to the depth of said setbacks so as to offer a flat support surface for the closure plates.

6. The tank as claimed in claim 4 , further comprising a plurality of metal end parts welded to the closure plates

Assignees

• Gaztransport Et Technigaz

Inventors

• Givoloup Hilarion
• Ducloy Edouard
• Boyeau Marc
• Philippe Antoine

Classifications

• F17C2205/0302

  Fittings, valves, filters, or components in connection with the gas storage device · CPC title

• F17C2203/0631

  Three or more walls · CPC title

• F17C2260/01

  Improving mechanical properties or manufacturing · CPC title

• F17C2221/033

  Methane, e.g. natural gas, CNG, LNG, GNL, GNC, PLNG · CPC title

• F17C2227/0135

  Pumps · CPC title