KR-20260063005-A - Sealed and thermally insulating tank

Abstract

A sealed insulating tank for storing fluid, integrated with a support structure, comprises an insulating barrier maintained continuously on the support structure in the thickness direction and a sealing membrane supported by said insulating barrier, the insulating barrier comprises insulating panels arranged in the form of at least two parallel rows separated by a gap, the insulating barrier comprises gaskets (77, 78) disposed in the gap in such a way that the gaskets are compressed between the two rows, and the insulating barrier further comprises at least one insert (8) disposed in an adjacent area (9), wherein in said adjacent area the first gasket (77) and the second gasket (78) are adjacent in such a way that the insert (8) is compressed between the gaskets (77, 78) in the gap.

Inventors

• 캅데비예 장-다미엔

Assignees

• 가즈트랑스포르 에 떼끄니가즈

Dates

Publication Date

20260507

Application Date

20191022

Priority Date

20181025

Claims (1)

1. As a sealed insulated tank (1) for fluid storage integrated with a support structure (2), the tank is: A second insulating barrier (3) maintained on a support structure (2); and, A second sealing membrane (4) supported by the second thermal insulation barrier (3); and Continuing in the thickness direction, The second insulation barrier (3) comprises insulation panels (5) arranged in the form of at least two parallel rows (rows, 51, 52), and the two rows (51, 52) of the insulation panels (5) are separated by a gap (6) having a width (E) smaller than the dimensions of the insulation panels. The second insulation barrier (3) further comprises gaskets (7), said gaskets are placed in the gap (6) so as to be compressed in the direction of the small width of the gap between two rows (51, 52) of the insulation panel (5), and The second thermal insulation barrier (3) further comprises at least one insert (8), wherein the insert is positioned in an adjacent area (9) adjacent to the first gasket (7) and the second gasket (74) in a manner such that the insert (8) is compressed in the longitudinal direction of the gap (6) between the gaskets (7), and the longitudinal direction of the gap is a direction transverse to the direction of the small width of the gap. The above insert (8) is a sealed insulating tank (1) that extends in the thickness direction of the tank (1).

Description

Sealed and thermally insulating tank The present invention relates to the field of sealed and insulated membrane tanks. The invention relates particularly to the field of sealed and insulated tanks for storing and/or transporting liquids at low temperatures, for example, tanks for transporting liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) at temperatures between -50 degrees and 0 degrees or liquefied natural gas (LNG) at approximately -162 degrees under atmospheric pressure. Such tanks may be installed on land or on floating structures. In the case of floating structures, the tanks may be intended to contain or transport liquefied gas serving as fuel for the propulsion of the floating structure. A sealed insulated tank equipped with two insulating barriers is disclosed in French patent application FR 2781557. These insulating barriers consist of an assembly of prefabricated panels. The joint areas between the prefabricated panels are filled with strips of insulating material such as glass wool. French patent application FR 2599468 proposes a sealed insulating tank in which cellular foam panels constituting an insulating barrier are integrated into a fixed support structure. To ensure the continuity of the insulating barrier, the gaps between the panels are filled with interlocking seals. French patent application FR 2813111 discloses a sealed insulating tank integrated into a support structure. The support structure has a first support wall and a second support wall that form an angle and are joined at the edge level. Each support wall comprises panels that form an insulating barrier. Thermal continuity between the two insulating barriers at the edge level is ensured by a glass wool seal. Thermal continuity within each insulating barrier is ensured by inserting a sheet of glass wool that is folded within itself. The glass wool-filled seals proposed in the publications cited above are not entirely satisfactory. In fact, gaps prone to convection between the outside and inside of the tank, especially in the presence of liquefied natural gas, are likely to appear at the level of the said-fitted seal. As an alternative, Japanese patent application JPH4194498 discloses a gasket comprising an insulating material, such as glass wool or polyurethane, enclosed within a sealed plastic film bag. The gaskets are inserted into the gap between panels under vacuum compression. Once inserted, the bag is perforated to allow the seal to expand, so that the seal occupies the entire gap between the panels. However, it has been found that the gaskets contract more than the gap between the panels in which they are accommodated at low temperatures. This contraction results in the appearance of a gap separating the panels and the gaskets, which define the gap between the panels. Such a gap facilitates convection and is detrimental to the continuity of the insulating barrier. The present invention will be better understood through the following description of a plurality of specific embodiments of the invention, given only as non-limiting examples with reference to the accompanying drawings, and other objects, details, features, and advantages will become more apparent. FIG. 1 is an exploded view of a section of a tank area located at the corner between two planar walls, said section parallel to a row of insulation panels. Figure 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a gasket inserted into the gap between panels. FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view of the corner area (III) of FIG. 1 while inserting two gaskets by a vacuum pump. FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view of two adjacent gaskets suitable for a 135-degree tank corner. FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view of two adjacent gaskets suitable for a 90-degree tank corner. Figure 6 is a schematic diagram viewed from above of gaskets inserted into the gap between panels and an insulating barrier. Figure 7 is a schematic drawing of a section of the insulating insert. FIG. 8 is a schematic drawing of the section on plan VIII-VIII of FIG. 3 with an insert inserted between two adjacent gaskets at the corners of the tank. FIG. 9 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a methane tanker ship tank and a terminal for loading/offloading the tank. Typically, the terms "outer" and "inner" are used to define the relative position of an element to one another in relation to the inside and outside of a tank. For example, a sealed insulated tank for storing and transporting cryogenic fluids, such as liquefied natural gas (LNG), is equipped with multiple tank walls, and each tank wall has a multi-layered structure. In particular, referring to FIG. 1, a tank (1) formed with sealed insulating walls is shown for storing and/or transporting a fluid, for example, at a very low temperature. Here, as only one example, it is a very cold liquefied gas, for example, specifically methane. The tank (1) is provided with a sealed inner envelope configured to contain fuel to be stored, which is constructed by assembling p