System for storing and transporting a cryogenic fluid on a ship

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11407478-B2
Application number	US-201916970998-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 12, 2019
Priority date	Feb 20, 2018
Publication date	Aug 9, 2022
Grant date	Aug 9, 2022

Abstract

An installation for storing and transporting a cryogenic fluid on a ship includes: a sealed and thermally insulating tank, having a ceiling wall including, from the outside to the inside, a primary thermally insulating barrier and a primary sealing membrane intended to be in contact with the cryogenic fluid; and a sealed line penetrating through the ceiling wall of the tank, the line including a bottom portion of which a first end is situated inside the ceiling wall of the tank and a second end is situated outside the ceiling wall of the tank in a thicknesswise direction of the ceiling wall, and a top portion fixed to the second end of the bottom portion. The bottom portion includes an alloy with low thermal expansion coefficient. The primary sealing membrane is tightly fixed to the bottom portion of the line around the line.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An installation for storing and transporting a cryogenic fluid on a ship ( 1 ), the installation comprising:
a sealed and thermally insulating tank ( 2 ) intended for the storage of the cryogenic fluid in a state of diphasic liquid-vapor equilibrium, the tank ( 2 ) having a ceiling wall comprising, in the direction of a thickness of the wall from the outside to the inside of the tank ( 2 ), a primary thermally insulating barrier ( 11 ) and a primary sealing membrane ( 10 ) intended to be in contact with the cryogenic fluid;
a sealed line ( 14 ) penetrating through the ceiling wall of the tank ( 2 ) so as to define a passage for discharging the vapor phase of the cryogenic fluid from the inside to the outside of the tank ( 2 ), the line ( 14 ) comprising a bottom portion ( 15 ) of which a first end is situated inside the ceiling wall of the tank ( 2 ) and a second end is situated outside the ceiling wall of the tank ( 2 ) in a thicknesswise direction of the ceiling wall, and a top portion ( 16 ) fixed to the second end of the bottom portion ( 15 );
wherein the bottom portion ( 15 ), in contact with said cryogenic fluid, is composed of an alloy while the upper portion ( 16 ) comprises a stainless steel, said alloy of the bottom portion ( 15 ) having a lower thermal expansion coefficient than said stainless steel, and
wherein the primary sealing membrane ( 10 ) is gas-tightly fixed to the bottom portion ( 15 ) of the line ( 14 ) around the line ( 14 ).

2. The installation as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said alloy of the bottom portion ( 15 ) of the line ( 14 ) is an iron-nickel alloy whose thermal expansion coefficient is between 1.2 and 2.0×10 −6 K −1 and the primary sealing membrane ( 10 ) is composed of an iron-nickel alloy whose thermal expansion coefficient is between 1.2 and 2.0×10 −6 K −1 .

3. The installation as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the bottom portion ( 15 ) is gas-tightly welded to the primary sealing membrane ( 10 ) via a flange ring ( 17 ).

4. The installation as claimed in claim 3 , wherein the ceiling wall of the tank ( 2 ) also comprises, in the thicknesswise direction of the wall outside the primary thermally insulating barrier ( 11 ), a secondary thermally insulating barrier ( 13 ) and a secondary sealing membrane ( 12 ).

5. The installation as claimed in claim 4 , wherein the primary thermally insulating barrier ( 11 ) and the secondary thermally insulating barrier ( 13 ) are each composed of a plurality of insulating caissons ( 18 ), the line ( 14 ) passing right through one of the caissons ( 18 ) of the plurality of caissons ( 18 ) of each of the primary and secondary thermally insulating barriers.

6. The installation as claimed in claim 4 , wherein the primary sealing membrane ( 10 ) and/or the secondary sealing membrane ( 12 ) comprise a plurality of elongate strakes ( 20 ) with raised edges welded edge-to-edge in the longitudinal direction of the strake, each strake ( 20 ) comprising a flat zone between two longitudinal raised edges, the line ( 14 ) passing through the primary sealing member and/or the secondary sealing membrane ( 12 ) through the flat zone of an elongate strake ( 20 ).

7. The installation as claimed in claim 6 , wherein the strake ( 20 ) of the primary ( 10 ) and/or secondary ( 12 ) sealing membrane comprises a reinforced portion ( 32 ), the reinforced portion ( 32 ) having a greater thickness than the rest of the strake ( 20 ) and comprising a flat zone between two longitudinal raised edges, the line ( 14 ) passing through the flat zone of the reinforced portion ( 32 ).

8. The installation as claimed in claim 4 , wherein the installation comprises a sheath ( 21 ) surrounding the line ( 14 ) with a gap in a radial direction and fixed to the top portion ( 16 ) of the line ( 14 ), the sheath ( 21 ) extending from the top portion ( 16 ) at least to the secondary sealing membrane ( 12 ), and the secondary sealing membrane ( 12 ) being gas-tightly fixed to the sheath ( 21 ) all around the sheath ( 21 ).

9. The installation as claimed in claim 8 , wherein the sheath ( 21 ) is welded to the secondary sealing membrane ( 12 ) via a flange ring ( 17 ).

10. The installation as claimed in claim 6 , wherein the flange ring or rings ( 17 ) have a thickness greater than the strakes ( 20 ).

11. A ship ( 1 ) comprising an installation ( 1 ) as claimed in claim 1 , the ceiling wall being attached to a bottom surface of an intermediate deck ( 8 ) of the ship ( 1 ).

12. The ship ( 1 ) as claimed in claim 11 , wherein the line ( 14 ) comprises a bellows compensator ( 25 ) on an end of the top portion ( 16 ) remote from the bottom portion ( 15 ), the compensator ( 25 ) being configured to ensure the fixing of the line ( 14 ) to a top surface of a top deck ( 9 ) of the ship ( 1 ), the compensator ( 25 ) having corrugations configured to allow the thermal contraction of the line ( 14 ).

13. The ship ( 1 ) as claimed in claim 11 , wherein the line ( 14 ) comprises an insulating sleeve ( 26 ) surrounding a part of the top portion ( 16 ) of the line ( 14 ) and situated between the intermediate deck ( 8 ) of the ship ( 1 ) and a top deck ( 9 ) of a ship ( 1 ).

14. The ship ( 1 ) as claimed in claim 13 , wherein the intermediate deck ( 8 ) and the top deck ( 9 ) comprise an orifice ( 27 , 28 ), the orifice ( 27 , 28 ) having a diameter greater than an outer diameter of the top portion ( 16 ) of the line ( 14 ), the line ( 14 ) passing through the intermediate deck ( 8 ) and the top deck ( 9 ) through the intermediate deck orifice ( 27 ) and the top deck orifice ( 28 ) respectively.

15. The ship ( 1 ) as claimed in claim 14 , wherein the intermediate deck ( 8 ) comprises a coaming ( 22 ) on a top surface of the intermediate deck ( 8 ), the coaming ( 22 ) surrounding the intermediate deck orifice ( 27 ) and being passed through by the line ( 14 ), and wherein the line ( 14 ) is fixed to the coaming ( 22 ).

16. A method for loading or offloading a ship ( 1 ) as claimed in claim 11 , wherein a cryogenic fluid is conveyed through insulated pipelines ( 40 , 43 , 46 , 48 ) from or to a floating or onshore storage installation ( 44 ) to or from a tank ( 2 ) of the ship ( 1 ).

17. A transfer system for a cryogenic fluid, the system comprising a ship ( 1 ) as claimed in claim 11 , insulated pipelines ( 40 , 43 , 46 , 48 ) arranged so as to link the tank ( 2 ) installed in the double hull ( 7 ) of the ship ( 1 ) to a floating or onshore storage installation ( 44 ) and a pump for driving a flow of cryogenic fluid through the insulated pipelines from or to the floating or onshore storage installation to or from the tank ( 2 ) of the ship ( 1 ).

18. The installation as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the bottom portion ( 15 ) is gas-tightly welded to the primary sealing membrane ( 10 ) via a flange ring ( 17 ).

19. The installation as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the ceiling wall of the tank ( 2 ) also comprises, in the thicknesswise direction of the wall outside the primary thermally insulating barrier ( 11 ), a secondary thermally insulating barrier ( 13 ) and a secondary sealing membrane ( 12 ).

20. The installation as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the ceiling wall of the tank ( 2 ) also comprises, in the thicknesswise direction of the wall outside the primary thermally insulating barrier ( 11 ), a secondary thermally insulating barrier ( 13 ) and a secondary sealing membrane ( 12 ).

Assignees

• Gaztransport Et Technigaz

Inventors

• Corot Sébastien
• Delanoe Sébastien

Classifications

• F17C2205/0332

  Safety valves or pressure relief valves · CPC title

• F17C2227/0135

  Pumps · CPC title

• F17C2203/0643

  Stainless steels · CPC title

• F17C2270/0107

  Wall panels · CPC title

• F17C2201/052

  large (>1000 m3) · CPC title