Sealed and thermally insulating tank comprising anti-convective filling elements

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12038137-B2
Application number	US-202117997601-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 27, 2021
Priority date	May 5, 2020
Publication date	Jul 16, 2024
Grant date	Jul 16, 2024

Abstract

The invention relates to a tank (71) for storing a liquefied gas, wherein the tank (71) includes peripheral walls (1), the peripheral walls (1) including a sealing membrane and at least one thermal insulation barrier,wherein the sealing membrane includes corrugated metal plates comprising a first series of parallel corrugations, extending along a direction x and a second series of parallel corrugations extending along a direction y, the direction x being a direction of greater slope, wherein the peripheral walls (1) comprise filling elements with pressure loss, which are disposed in the corrugations of the first series of corrugations so as to form a belt (16) of filling elements extending all round the tank (71), the belt being formed of at least one obstruction part (17) and of at least one discontinuation part (18), the belt including at most one discontinuation part (18) per peripheral wall (1).

First claim

We claim:

1. A sealed and thermally insulating tank ( 71 ) for storing a liquefied gas, wherein the tank ( 71 ) includes a bottom wall ( 12 ), a ceiling wall ( 13 ) and peripheral walls ( 1 ) connecting the bottom wall ( 12 ) to the ceiling wall ( 13 ) so as to form a polyhedral tank ( 71 ), the peripheral walls ( 1 ) including a sealing membrane ( 4 ) intended to be in contact with the liquefied gas contained in the tank ( 71 ) and at least one thermal insulation barrier ( 3 ) arranged between the sealing membrane ( 4 ) and a supporting wall of a supporting structure ( 2 ), the thermal insulation barrier including a plurality of juxtaposed insulating panels ( 5 ),
wherein the sealing membrane ( 4 ) includes corrugated metal plates ( 9 ) juxtaposed to each other and comprising a first series of parallel corrugations ( 10 ), extending along a direction x and a second series of parallel corrugations ( 11 ) extending along a direction y, the direction x being a direction of greater slope of the peripheral wall ( 1 ), the corrugations protruding towards the inside of the tank ( 71 ) and forming channels ( 14 ) for circulating a gas present in the thermally insulating barrier ( 3 ),
wherein the peripheral walls ( 1 ) comprise filling elements ( 15 ) with pressure loss, which are disposed in the corrugations of the first series of corrugations ( 10 ) so as to obstruct the circulation channel ( 14 ) of said corrugations, so as to form a belt ( 16 ) of filling elements embodied in a plane parallel to the bottom wall ( 12 ) and extending all round the tank ( 71 ), the belt ( 16 ) of filling elements being formed of at least one obstruction part ( 17 ) where each corrugation of the first series of corrugations ( 10 ) is obstructed by one of the filling elements ( 15 ), and of at least one discontinuation part ( 18 ) configured to allow the gas present in the circulation channels ( 14 ) to circulate through the belt ( 16 ) of filling elements, said or each obstruction part ( 17 ) being delimited by said or two discontinuation parts ( 18 ), the belt ( 16 ) of filling elements including at most one discontinuation part ( 18 ) per peripheral wall ( 1 ), and the filling elements ( 15 ) being configured to generate a pressure loss reducing a gaseous flow passing through said circulation channel ( 14 ), the filling elements ( 15 ) of a said obstruction part ( 17 ) of the at least one belt ( 16 ) of filling elements being inclusively disposed each time between two adjacent corrugations of the second series of corrugations ( 11 ).

2. The tank ( 71 ) as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the filling elements ( 15 ) of the obstruction part ( 17 ) of the at least one belt ( 16 ) of filling elements are aligned with each other along the direction y, the direction y being perpendicular to the direction x.

3. The tank ( 71 ) as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the tank ( 71 ) comprises a plurality of belts ( 16 ) of filling elements spaced from each other by a pitch substantially equal to a dimension of the insulating panels ( 5 ) in the direction x.

4. The tank ( 71 ) as claimed in claim 3 , wherein the at least one discontinuation part ( 18 ) is situated close to an edge of a said peripheral wall ( 1 ), the discontinuation parts ( 18 ) of two adjacent belts ( 16 ) of filling elements being disposed either side of the peripheral wall ( 1 ).

5. The tank ( 71 ) as claimed in claim 3 , wherein the belts ( 16 ) of filling elements comprise a single discontinuation part ( 18 ), the discontinuation parts ( 18 ) of two adjacent belts ( 16 ) of filling elements being situated on peripheral walls ( 1 ) opposite each other.

6. The tank ( 71 ) as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the at least one discontinuation part ( 18 ) is situated in one to nine corrugations of the first series of corrugations ( 10 ), said one to nine adjacent corrugations being without filling elements ( 15 ).

7. The tank ( 71 ) as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the at least one discontinuation part ( 18 ) is situated in a plurality of corrugations of the first of corrugations ( 10 ), the discontinuation part ( 18 ) including a staggered grid ( 19 ) of filling elements ( 15 ), the staggered grid ( 19 ) being configured to create a fluidic communication path between the circulation channels ( 14 ) situated below the belt ( 16 ) of filling elements and the circulation channels ( 14 ) situated above the belt ( 16 ) of filling elements, said fluidic communication path including a plurality of bends.

8. The tank ( 71 ) as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the filling elements ( 15 ) are made in closed cell polymer foam.

9. The tank ( 71 ) as claimed in claim 8 , wherein the filling elements ( 15 ) are made in polystyrene or polyethylene foam.

10. The tank ( 71 ) as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the filling elements ( 15 ) are situated above, below or at a corrugation node ( 20 ) in the direction of greater slope, the corrugation nodes ( 20 ) being formed by an intersection between a corrugation of the first series of corrugations ( 10 ) and a corrugation of the second series of corrugations ( 11 ).

11. The tank ( 71 ) as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the filling elements ( 15 ) comprise, on an upper face ( 24 ) turned towards the corrugation to close, at least one beading ( 26 ) extending in the direction y, the at least one beading ( 26 ) being configured to be compressed during assembly so as to form a seal.

12. The tank ( 71 ) as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the sealing membrane ( 4 ) is a primary sealing membrane and the thermally insulating barrier ( 3 ) is a primary thermally insulating barrier, said juxtaposed insulating panels ( 5 ) being primary insulating panels, the tank walls ( 1 , 12 , 13 ) further comprising, successively in a direction of thickness, a secondary thermally insulating barrier including a plurality of juxtaposed secondary insulating panels, the secondary insulating panels being held against the supporting wall of the supporting structure ( 2 ), and a secondary sealing membrane supported by the secondary thermal insulating barrier and disposed between the secondary thermal insulating barrier and the primary thermally insulating barrier ( 3 ) such that the primary insulating panels ( 5 ) are held against the secondary sealing membrane.

13. The tank ( 71 ) as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the bottom wall ( 12 ) comprises a sealing membrane ( 4 ) intended to be in contact with the liquefied gas contained in the tank and at least one thermal insulation barrier ( 3 ) arranged between the sealing membrane and a supporting wall of a supporting structure, the thermal insulation barrier including a plurality of juxtaposed insulating panels,
wherein the sealing membrane of the bottom wall includes corrugated metal plates ( 9 ) juxtaposed to each other and comprising a first series of parallel corrugations ( 10 ), extending along a first direction and a second series of parallel corrugations ( 11 ) extending along a second direction, the corrugations protruding towards the inside of the tank and forming channels ( 14 ) for circulating a gas present in the thermally insulating barrier.

14. The tank ( 71 ) as claimed in claim 13 , wherein the bottom wall ( 12 ) comprises filling elements ( 15 ) with pressure loss, which are disposed in the corrugations of the first series of corrugations ( 10 ) or of the second series of corrugations ( 11 ) so as to obstruct the circulation channel of said corrugations, the filling elements ( 15 ) being distributed over the entire bottom wall so as to form a staggered grid ( 19 ) of filling elements ( 15 ) in the circulation channels ( 14 ) of the bottom wall ( 12 ), and the filling elements ( 15 ) be

Assignees

• Gaztransport Et Technigaz

Inventors

• Deletre Bruno
• D'Olce Marguerite
• Perrot Olivier

Classifications

• F17C13/001

  Thermal insulation specially adapted for cryogenic vessels (vessels not under pressure with insulation F17C3/02; thermal insulation in general F16L59/00) · CPC title

• F17C2270/0105

  Ships · CPC title

• F17C13/026

  having the temperature as the parameter · CPC title

• F17C3/025

  Bulk storage in barges or on ships (constructive aspects B63B25/16) · CPC title

• F17C2223/0161

  cryogenic, e.g. LNG, GNL, PLNG · CPC title