CN111587341A

CN111587341A - Sealed and thermally insulated container

Info

Publication number: CN111587341A
Application number: CN201880084667.0A
Authority: CN
Inventors: A·菲利普; M·布瓦约; S·德拉诺埃; M·亨利
Original assignee: Gaztransport et Technigaz SA
Current assignee: Gaztransport et Technigaz SA
Priority date: 2017-11-06
Filing date: 2018-10-26
Publication date: 2020-08-25
Anticipated expiration: 2038-10-26
Also published as: JP2021501860A; EP3707423B1; CN111587341B; EP3707423A1; FR3073271A1; FR3073271B1; SG11202004103SA; RU2020114932A; ES2957301T3; DK3707423T3; WO2019086788A1; RU2764345C2; JP7334152B2; KR102487422B1; MY197460A; PT3707423T; RU2020114932A3; KR20200085826A

Abstract

The invention relates to a sealed and thermally insulated container, wherein the insulating barrier comprises insulating elements arranged in a plurality of parallel rows, wherein the anchoring member comprises a bearing element (50) mounted on the support surface between two insulating elements (30) of a first of said parallel rows and movable transversely to said first row with respect to the support surface between a retracted position, in which the bearing element (50) is fully accommodated between the two insulating elements (30) to release a position (99) of a second of said parallel rows, which is adjacent to the first row, and an extended position, in which the bearing element projects into a position (99) of the second row and engages with at least one insulating element of the second row to retain said insulating element of the second row on the support surface.

Description

Sealed and thermally insulated container

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of sealed and thermally insulated film containers for storing and/or transporting fluids, such as cryogenic fluids.

Sealed and thermally insulated membrane containers are particularly useful for storing Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), which is stored at about-162 ℃ at atmospheric pressure. These containers may be mounted on land or on floating structures. In the case of a floating structure, the vessel may be used to transport liquefied natural gas or to receive liquefied natural gas for use as fuel for propelling the floating structure.

Background

Different techniques are known for constructing sealed and thermally insulated film containers that are incorporated into a load bearing structure having a substantially multi-faceted interior surface and that include, in order in the thickness direction, a secondary insulating barrier, a secondary sealing barrier, a primary insulating barrier, and a primary sealing barrier.

A container wall is known, for example from WO-A-2014167214 or WO-A-2017006044, in which A secondary insulation barrier is essentially constituted by A secondary insulation block juxtaposed on A multi-faced inner surface of A load-bearing structure, A secondary sealing barrier is constituted by A corrugated metal film arranged on an inner surface of the secondary insulation block, A primary insulation barrier is essentially constituted by A primary insulation block juxtaposed on the secondary metal film and anchored to the secondary insulation barrier by an anchoring member supported by the secondary insulation block, and A primary sealing barrier is constituted by A corrugated metal film arranged on an inner surface of the primary insulation block. Along the corners of the load bearing structure, the primary and secondary insulating blocks are constructed of a preformed corner structure.

Disclosure of Invention

Certain aspects of the present invention will now be described with reference to fig. 1. Fig. 1 shows, in part, an insulating barrier consisting essentially of an insulating block juxtaposed on a multi-faceted support surface 1, the multi-faceted support surface 1 having two

flat regions

2 and 3, the two

flat regions

2 and 3 forming an angle between them and meeting at an edge 4. The insulating block comprises a corner structure 5 arranged along a corner having two faces parallel to each of the two

flat areas

2 and 3, respectively, and flat insulating plates 6 arranged on the flat areas of the supporting surface on both sides of the corner structure 5.

As can be seen from fig. 1, if the flat insulating plate 6 is assembled first, a problem of space obstruction occurs, as indicated by the arrow 7, which prevents the corner structure 5 from being positioned along the edge. As a result, it may be preferred to construct the insulating barrier by ending with a flat area. However, once the corner structure 5 has been positioned along the corner, the entire area of the support surface in the vicinity of the corner 4 is no longer accessible.

Furthermore, in order to reduce the manufacturing costs, it is preferred to produce an insulation barrier with insulation blocks that are as standardized as possible. However, the construction of large load bearing structures (such as the hull of a ship) has large dimensional tolerances, e.g. a few centimetres, which may prevent the full planning of the dimensions of the container prior to its construction. As a result, it is necessary to construct at least some of the insulation blocks by measuring from the actual dimensions of the load bearing structure.

One idea underlying the present invention is to provide a sealed and thermally insulating multilayer structured container that makes it easier to overcome at least some of the aforementioned constraints. Another idea underlying the present invention is to provide a sealed and insulating multilayer structure that is easy to implement on large surfaces.

To this end, the invention provides a sealed and thermally insulated container for storing a fluid, comprising an insulating barrier and a sealing barrier arranged on an inner surface of the insulating barrier, the insulating barrier being arranged on a support surface, e.g. substantially multi-faced, bearing an anchoring member and being held on the support surface by said anchoring member,

wherein the insulating barrier has insulating elements arranged in a plurality of parallel rows,

wherein the anchoring member has a bearing element mounted on the support surface between two insulating elements of a first of said parallel rows and movable transversely to said first row relative to the support surface between a retracted position and a deployed position,

in the retracted position, the supporting element is completely housed between the two insulating elements to release the position of a second one of said parallel rows, adjacent to the first one, and

in the deployed position, the support element projects into position over the second row and engages with at least one insulating element of the second row to hold said insulating element of the second row on the support surface.

Thanks to these features, the insulating elements of the second row can be easily put in place when the supporting elements are retracted, and can be reliably held on the supporting surface when the supporting elements are deployed. In addition, since the support member engages with the insulating member laterally from a side of the insulating member facing the first row and does not pass through the insulating member in the thickness direction, the structure of the insulating member of the second row can be relatively simple.

Such a container may have one or more of the following features, according to embodiments.

The anchoring member may be realized in different ways. According to one embodiment, the anchoring member further has a stud fixed to the support surface and projecting inwardly into the space between the two insulating elements of the first row, and a nut screwed onto the stud and capable of tightening the bearing element in the direction of the support surface to lock the position of the bearing element.

The support element can be realized in different ways. According to one embodiment, the support element has a bead with a slot through which the stud passes, such that when the nut is not tightening the bead, the bead can slide in a direction transverse to the first row between a retracted position, in which the bead is completely contained between the two insulating elements, and one or more deployed positions, in which a portion of the bead protrudes beyond the first row to engage with the at least one insulating element of the second row. According to one embodiment, the bead has a U-shaped cross-section.

The insulating element can be realized in different ways, in particular in the form of a flat plate on a flat part of the support surface or in the form of a two-sided block on a corner region of the support surface.

According to one embodiment, the insulating elements of the second row are flat insulating panels having a layer of insulating polymer foam sandwiched between a rigid base sheet and a rigid cover sheet, the rigid cover sheet and the layer of insulating polymer foam having recesses provided in the thickness of the insulating panels to expose bearing zones on the inner surface of the rigid base sheet, said recesses appearing on the edges of the flat insulating panels parallel to and facing the first row, the anchoring members engaging with said bearing zones of the base sheet.

According to one embodiment, the recess provided in the thickness of the insulating plate is a notch oriented perpendicular to said edge of the flat insulating plate. Such notches may be provided at different positions, for example at the end of the edge of the flat insulating plate facing the first row and/or in the central part of this edge of the flat insulating plate.

According to one embodiment, the flat insulating plate has a rectangular parallelepiped shape, and the recesses are provided in corners of the flat insulating plate.

According to one embodiment, the support surface bears a plurality of anchoring members distributed along the insulating elements of the first row and having bearing elements mounted on the support surface between the insulating elements of the first row and movable with respect to the support surface between said retracted position and one or more of said deployed positions,

the bearing elements engage with corresponding regions of the insulating elements of the second row to retain the insulating elements on a support surface. Thus, it may be ensured that the insulating elements of the second row remain on the supporting surface either completely by the movable bearing elements or by a combination of the movable bearing elements with other anchoring members.

According to one embodiment, the support surface has at least two flat regions forming an angle between each other and meeting at an angular region, and the insulating elements of the first row have rows of angular structures arranged along said angular region of the support surface, and the insulating elements of the second row have rows of flat insulating plates arranged on said flat regions of the support surface.

Thanks to these features, the flat insulating panels can be anchored adjacent to the rows of corner structures by means of one or more anchoring members located between successive corner structures. This arrangement simplifies the positioning and implementation of the anchoring members, especially when the flat insulating plates adjacent to the rows of corner structures have to be dimensioned according to measurements and therefore cannot be standardized.

In the case where the support surface is provided by a secondary barrier, which itself is constituted by a secondary corner structure and a secondary flat insulating plate, this arrangement also has the following advantages: these anchoring members can be positioned relatively close to the corner regions, in particular on the secondary corner structures. Thus, it is possible to facilitate dimensioning of the secondary flat insulating plates according to measurements, since the secondary flat insulating plates adjacent to the secondary corner structure do not need to support these anchoring members for the primary flat insulating plates.

The corner structure can be realized in different ways. According to one embodiment, the corner structure has;

a two-sided insulating block having two faces parallel to the two flat regions and forming an angle therebetween, the faces having a flat outer surface bearing against a corresponding flat region of the support surface and a flat inner surface parallel to the corresponding flat region and spaced from the flat outer surface in the thickness direction, and

a metal corner piece secured to the planar interior surface of the two-sided insulating block to form the hermetic barrier in alignment with the corner region of the support surface.

According to one embodiment, the metal corner piece has a protruding portion protruding relative to the two-sided insulating block in the direction of the corner region,

two successive corner structures in the row are arranged such that a space is present between the two insulating blocks in the direction of the corner region, which space is at least partially covered by the projecting part of the metal corner piece of one of the two successive corner structures,

and said bearing element of the anchoring member is mounted on the support surface between the two insulating blocks of the two corner structures.

According to one embodiment, blocks of insulating material are provided between the protruding portion of the metal corner piece and the support element in the space between the two insulating blocks. By virtue of these features, the insulating barrier can be made substantially continuous, although with spaces between the insulating blocks, in order to limit the convection phenomena.

It may be desirable to have easier access to the anchoring member between the two insulating blocks of the two corner structures. To this end, according to one embodiment, at least one of the two consecutive corner structures has a cut-out formed in the projecting portion of the metal corner piece in alignment with said anchoring member arranged between the two insulating blocks to provide access to said anchoring member.

According to one embodiment, one of said metal corner pieces, the protruding part of which covers said space, has, on its inner surface, a bore for receiving a fixing member for cooperating with the double-sided insulating block to fix said metal corner piece to the double-sided insulating block of the corner structure, the fixing member being able to engage into the bore from the inner surface of said metal corner piece. For example, the fixing member has a screw or rivet, the head of which faces the inside of the container, and the body of which passes through a bore in the metal corner piece to cooperate with the two-sided insulating block.

According to one embodiment, the two-sided insulating block supports an insert mounted on a flat inner surface of at least one face to receive and lock said body of the fixing member in the thickness direction of said at least one face.

According to one embodiment, the insert is mounted on the planar interior surface with a gap in a direction parallel to the planar interior surface. Such a gap particularly allows the position of the metal corner fitting to be adjusted after installation, for example in response to cooling, so that thermal stresses can be reduced.

According to one embodiment, said at least one face of the two-sided insulating block has a recess extending parallel to the angular zone and emerging on said flat inner surface, in which recess the insert is housed in a sliding manner.

According to one embodiment, the width of the recess decreases in the thickness direction towards the flat inner surface to block the insert in the thickness direction.

According to one embodiment, the support surface has a third flat region at one end of the corner region transverse to the corner region, and the last corner structure of the rows of corner structures has, in addition to the facet insulation block, a third facet parallel to the third flat region and forming an angle with the two facets of the facet insulation block.

According to one embodiment, the dimensions of the two-sided insulating block of the penultimate corner structure of the row of corner structures along the direction of the corner region are greater than the dimensions of the corner structure located along the central portion of the corner region, the metal corner piece of the penultimate corner structure comprising two corner piece segments juxtaposed along the direction of the corner region and fixed to the flat inner surface of the two-sided insulating block.

According to one embodiment, the first corner piece segment of the penultimate corner structure is fixed to the double-sided insulating block by means of a fixing member located on the outer surface of the first corner piece segment and inaccessible from the inner surface of the first corner piece segment,

and a second corner piece segment of the penultimate corner structure on the end side of the corner region has on its inner surface the bore for receiving the securing member for cooperating with the two-sided insulation block for securing the second corner piece segment to the two-sided insulation block of the corner structure, the securing member being engageable into the bore from the inner surface of the second corner piece segment.

According to one embodiment, the first corner piece section of the penultimate corner structure has an aperture for passing an anchoring member for fixing the two-sided insulation block to a support surface and the second corner piece section of the penultimate corner structure on the end side of the corner region has a continuous surface outside the or each bore hole receiving the or each fixing member.

Due to these features, the penultimate corner structure can be adjusted quite easily to the dimensions of the support structure in the direction of the corner region in order to take into account manufacturing tolerances of the support structure.

According to one embodiment, the sealing barrier comprises a closing member arranged to straddle the metal corner pieces of two consecutive corner structures, such that the metal corner pieces of the two corner structures are sealingly connected,

the closure member covers the gap between the metal corner pieces and the cut-out of the or each projecting portion which covers the space between the two insulating blocks.

According to one embodiment, the sealing barrier aligned with the or each flat area of the support surface comprises a metal film having a corrugated configuration parallel to the angular zones and a corrugated configuration perpendicular to the angular zones, and flat areas between said corrugated configurations, one edge of the metal film parallel to the angular zones being welded to the metal corner pieces of the continuous angular structure, said corrugated configuration perpendicular to the angular zones being aligned with the gaps between the metal corner pieces of the continuous angular structure.

According to one embodiment, the closure member comprises a corrugated configuration aligned with the corrugated configuration of the metal film perpendicular to the corner regions and two flat portions located on either side of the corrugated configuration and welded to the metal corner pieces of the two corner structures, respectively.

The foregoing features may be used in the construction of an insulating barrier constructed directly on a load bearing structure providing a support surface, or in the construction of a primary insulating barrier constructed on a pre-existing secondary barrier providing the support surface.

According to one embodiment, the insulation barrier is a primary insulation barrier and the sealing barrier is a primary sealing barrier, the container further comprising a secondary insulation barrier having a substantially multi-faceted inner surface covered by the secondary sealing barrier and forming the support surface.

Such a vessel may form part of an onshore storage facility, for example for storing LNG, or be installed in an offshore or offshore floating structure, in particular a methane carrier vessel, a Floating Storage Regasification Unit (FSRU), a Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) unit or other structure.

According to one embodiment, a vessel for transporting a cold liquid product comprises a double shell and the aforementioned container arranged in the double shell.

According to one embodiment, the invention also provides a method of loading or unloading such a vessel, wherein the fluid is transferred from or from the floating or onshore storage facility to or from the vessel's vessel to the vessel's vessel through the insulated pipe.

According to one embodiment, the invention also provides a system for transferring fluids, the system comprising the aforementioned vessel, an insulated pipe arranged to connect a vessel mounted in the hull of the vessel to a floating or onshore storage facility, and a pump for transferring fluids from or from the vessel to the vessel's vessel through the insulated pipe.

The present invention also provides a method for manufacturing the above-described sealed and thermally insulated container, the method comprising:

the provision of a support surface for the support,

mounting an anchoring member on the support surface, the anchoring member having a bearing element mounted in a movable manner relative to the support surface,

mounting the insulating elements of the first row on a support surface such that the bearing element is completely accommodated between two insulating elements of the first row and such that said bearing element is mounted so as to be movable transversely to said first row,

a second row of insulating elements is disposed on the support surface, the second row being parallel to and adjacent to the first row,

moving the support elements to an extended position in which the support elements project to a position over the second row and engage with at least one insulating element of the second row to hold said insulating element of the second row on the support surface, and

locking the support element in the deployed position.

The present invention also provides an angle structure having:

a two-sided insulating block having two faces respectively parallel to each of the two flat regions and forming an angle therebetween, each face having a flat outer surface and a flat inner surface spaced apart from the flat outer surface in a thickness direction, and

a metal corner piece fixed to the flat inner surface of the double-sided insulating block to form a sealing barrier, the metal corner piece having a protruding portion protruding in a direction of the corner with respect to the double-sided insulating block,

wherein the metal corner piece has a bore hole on its inner surface for receiving a securing member for cooperating with the double-sided insulating block to secure the metal corner piece to the double-sided insulating block of the corner structure, the securing member being engageable into the bore hole from the inner surface of the metal corner piece.

Drawings

The invention will be understood more clearly and other objects, details, characteristics and advantages thereof will become more clearly apparent from the following description of several particular embodiments of the invention, given by way of non-limiting illustration only with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 is a schematic cross-section of a thermal insulation barrier of modular construction, with generally parallelepiped modules on a faceted support surface at the corners.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the wall of the sealed and thermally insulated container at the corner regions of the container, with the primary sealing film omitted.

Fig. 3 is a view similar to fig. 2, with the primary corner structure omitted, but showing the primary flat insulating plates adjacent to the primary corner structure.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged perspective view showing the primary angular structure in a row for another angular value in a section taken along the line IV-IV in fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of a detail of the row of primary angular structures.

Fig. 6 is a top view of the wall of the sealed and thermally insulated container at the corner regions of the container, showing the position of the flat insulating plates when the bead is retracted.

Figure 7 is a perspective view showing the arrangement of the secondary corner structures at the intersection between the three walls of the container.

Fig. 8 is a perspective view showing the arrangement of the primary corner structures on the secondary corner structures in fig. 7.

Figure 9 is a perspective view of the container at the intersection between the three walls of the container, partially showing the primary sealing membrane and the primary flat insulating plate.

Fig. 10 is a view similar to fig. 9, showing a primary sealing film covering the primary flat insulating plate.

Figure 11 is a perspective view of the wall of a sealed and thermally insulated container at the corner regions of the container according to another embodiment, and in which the sealing film is omitted.

Figure 12 is a schematic cross-section of the container of the methane carrier vessel and the terminal for loading/unloading the container.

Figure 13 is a perspective view of a corner structure according to another embodiment.

Figure 14 is a perspective view of the insert housed in the corner structure of figure 13.

Fig. 15 shows the walls of the sealed and thermally insulated container, seen from above the primary flat insulating plate, using the corner structure in fig. 13.

Figure 16 is a perspective view of the container wall in figure 15 after the metal corner fitting fixed from the inside of the container is in place.

Detailed Description

By convention, the terms "outer" and "inner" are used to define the relative position of one element with respect to another by reference to the inside and outside of the container.

Hereinafter, a multi-layered structure of a sealed and thermally insulated container for storing liquefied natural gas will be described. Each wall of the container, from the outside towards the inside of the container, comprising a secondary thermal insulation barrier, a secondary sealing film, a primary thermal insulation barrier and a primary sealing film; the secondary thermal insulation barrier comprises juxtaposed secondary insulation elements anchored to the load bearing structure by secondary anchoring members; the secondary sealing film is supported by the secondary insulating member; the primary thermal insulation barrier comprises juxtaposed primary insulating elements anchored to the secondary insulating elements by primary anchoring members 19; the primary sealing membrane is supported by the primary insulating element and will be in contact with the liquefied natural gas contained in the container.

The load bearing structure may be formed in particular of a self-supporting metal sheet or, more generally, of any type of rigid insulation having suitable mechanical properties. The load bearing structure may in particular be formed by a hull or double hull of the vessel. The load bearing structure includes a plurality of walls that define the overall shape of the container, which is generally multi-faceted.

The flat regions of the container may be produced in different ways, for example according to the teachings of WO-A-2016046487 or WO-A-2017006044. The corner regions of the container along the corners of the load bearing structure will be described in more detail below.

Fig. 2 and 3 show the structure of the walls of the container at the corner 10 between the first load bearing wall 11 and the second load bearing wall 12.

In the illustrated embodiment, the angle formed between the first load bearing wall 11 and the second load bearing wall 12 is about 90 °. However, the angle may have any other value, for example about 135 °.

The secondary thermal insulation barrier comprises rows of secondary corner structures 13 arranged along the corners 10, a single secondary corner structure 13 being shown in fig. 2 and 3. The secondary corner structure 13 and the secondary sealing film 15 arranged on its inner surface 14 can be made in different ways, for example according to the teachings of WO-A-2017006044.

The secondary corner structure 13 here comprises a sandwich structure comprising an insulating polymer foam layer 16 sandwiched between two

rigid sheets

17, 18, for example made of plywood. The inner sheet 18 has a network of vertical recesses 19 for receiving the corrugations 24 of the secondary sealing film 15. The corrugations 24 project towards the outside of the container in the direction of the load bearing structure and are each received in a recess 19.

In a variant not shown, the corrugation of the secondary sealing membrane is oriented towards the inside of the container.

The inner sheet 18 is also provided with a plurality of metal plates 20, the metal plates 20 being made of, for example, stainless steel or an alloy having a low coefficient of thermal expansion, in particular

Made for anchoring the edge of the secondary sealing film. The metal plate 20 is fixed in and to a recess made in the inner sheet 18, for example using screws, rivets or clips. Alternatively, the metal plate 20 is secured directly to the insulating polymer foam layer 16, such as by bonding.

The inner sheet 18 is also equipped with an anchoring plate 21 for fixing the primary corner structure 30 against the secondary corner structure 13. Anchor plate 21 is, for example, glued to inner sheet 18 and/or fixed to inner sheet 18, for example using screws, rivets or clips.

In addition, the secondary sealing membrane 15 has a plurality of apertures, through each of which an anchoring member passes, so as to be able to anchor the primary corner structure 30. A cap nut 22 passes through each aperture and has a screw thread on its outer periphery that mates with a threaded hole 23 provided in one of the anchor plates 21. In addition, the cap nut 22 has a threaded blind hole for receiving a stud for securing the primary angle structure 30. The cap nut 22 also comprises a flange which enables the secondary sealing membrane 15 to be sandwiched between said flange and the anchoring plate 21. The periphery of the flange is welded to the secondary sealing membrane 15 to ensure sealing.

The primary thermal insulation barrier comprises a plurality of primary corner structures 30 along the corners 10 of the container. The primary corner structure 30 is a pre-assembled assembly comprising a two-sided insulation block 31 and a corner piece 32. The two-sided insulating block 31 has an inner face on which the corner piece 32 rests and an outer face which rests against the secondary sealing film 15. The double-sided insulating block 31 has a composite structure over its thickness, comprising an insulating polymer foam layer 33, this insulating polymer foam layer 33 being sandwiched between two

plywood sheets

34, 35 bonded to said polymer foam layer 33.

The corner piece 32 is a metal corner piece made of, for example, stainless steel. The corner piece 32 has two lateral wings that are placed against the inner face of the two-sided insulating block 31. Each flank of the corner piece 32 has a stud, not shown, welded to the outer face of said flank and projecting towards the inside of the container, to fix the corner piece 32 to the two-sided insulating block 31 before the primary corner structure 30 is assembled in the container.

Each side wing of the corner piece 32 also has on its inner face a stud 36 projecting towards the inside of the container. The studs 36 enable the welding apparatus to be anchored during welding of the elements of the primary sealing membrane to the corner pieces 32.

As described in WO-A-2017006044, the corner pieces 32 are provided with apertures 37, for example eight in number in each corner piece 32, so as to enable nuts to be fitted on studs (not shown) supported by the plate 21 to secure the primary corner structure 30 to the secondary corner structure 13.

As can be seen more clearly in fig. 2 and 4, the primary corner structures 30 are arranged on the secondary corner structures 13 in rows extending along the edge 10. In this row, two consecutive primary corner structures 30 have a space 38 between two-sided insulating blocks 31. Usually, the insulating joint elements 39 are inserted into the space 38 between the two double-sided insulating blocks 31 so that they ensure the continuity of the thermal insulation.

In at least some of the spaces 38, the secondary corner structures 13 may support anchoring members for cooperation with the primary insulating elements. This case will be described more specifically with reference to fig. 3 to 5. The anchoring element is cut out in its entirety along its center plane of symmetry in fig. 4, so that a half view is sufficient for understanding its structure.

In this embodiment, the anchoring member comprises a plate 40, which plate 40 is fixed to the inner surface of the secondary corner structure 13 between the two plates 21. The plate 40 can be fixed to the secondary corner structure 13 in different ways like the plate 21. The plate 40 has a threaded bore 41 for receiving a cap nut 42 shown in half view in fig. 4. The plate 40 may appear to be aligned with each of the spaces 38 or with some (e.g., one-third) of the spaces 38.

The cap nut 42 passes through an orifice of a secondary sealing membrane, not shown, and has on its outer periphery a thread 43 cooperating with a threaded hole 41 provided in the plate 40. In addition, the cap nut 42 has a blind threaded bore 44 that receives a stud 45. The cap nut 42 also includes a flange 46, the flange 46 enabling the secondary sealing membrane to be sandwiched between the flange and the plate 40. The periphery of the flange is welded to the secondary sealing membrane 15 to ensure sealing.

As can be seen from fig. 4, the stud 45 projects towards the inside in the space 38 between the two insulating blocks 31 on both sides and serves for fixing a bead 50 oriented perpendicularly to the corner 10. The bead 50 here has a U-shaped cross section, the base of which faces the load-bearing structure. In the assembled state as shown, a first portion of the bead 50 extends in the space 38 between the two-sided insulating blocks 31 and has a slot 58 through which slot 58 the stud 45 passes. Nuts 47 screwed onto the studs 45 enable the beads 50 to be tightened against the inner surface of the secondary corner structure 13.

The second portion 51 of the bead 50 protrudes beyond the rows of primary corner structures 30 to press on the primary flat insulating plates 29 adjacent to the rows of primary corner structures 30. The length of the slot 58 enables the length of the second portion 51 projecting beyond the rows of primary corner structures 30 to be adjusted.

Preferably, the slot 58-both

ends

58a and 58b of which are shown in the cross-sectional view of fig. 4-is long enough to enable the complete retraction of the bead 50 into the space 38 between the two side insulating blocks 31. Therefore, before tightening the nut 47, the bead 50 can be made to slide between this retracted position (as shown in fig. 6), which facilitates the installation of the primary flat insulating plates 29 by completely releasing the position of the primary flat insulating plates 29 shown by the chain line at reference numeral 99, and the deployed position shown in fig. 4. The movement of the deployment of the bead 50 is shown by the arrow 98 in fig. 6.

In one embodiment, the length of the primary flat insulating plate 29 is equal to nine times the width of the primary corner structure 30, such that four beads spaced apart from each other by three times the width of the primary corner structure 30 are joined to the primary flat insulating plate 29 along the edge of the primary flat insulating plate 29 facing the corner, i.e., two beads 50 at both ends of the edge, i.e., at both corners of the primary flat insulating plate 29, and two beads in the central region of the edge of the primary flat insulating plate 29. This central region is shown in fig. 3.

As partially shown in fig. 3, the primary flat insulating plate 29 has the general shape of a rectangular parallelepiped with longitudinal edges 26 parallel to the corners 10. The primary flat insulating panel 29 has, for example, a composite structure comprising a layer of insulating polymer foam sandwiched between a rigid base sheet (the uncovered areas 28 of which are visible) and a rigid cover sheet 25. A recess 27 is formed in the rigid cover sheet 25 and the insulating polymer foam layer, which recess 27 extends perpendicular to the corner 10 aligned with the panel 20 and appears on the longitudinal edge 26 to expose an uncovered area 28 of the rigid base sheet.

In the assembled state, the second portion 51 of the bead 50 is fitted in the recess 27 and optionally pressed against the uncovered area 28 of the rigid bottom sheet by means of the gasket 48. Another spacer 49 may be interposed between the other end of the bead 50 and the secondary membrane (not shown). The

spacers

48 and 49 are sized to ensure parallelism between the bead 50 and the bottom sheet of the primary flat insulating plate 29. They are made of a material that is sufficiently flexible to prevent the risk of puncturing, marking or damaging the secondary sealing membrane 15. For example, they may be made of plywood, plastic or epoxy.

The bead 50 assembled in this manner has several advantages: the second portion 51 is a cantilevered length substantially parallel to the flat wall of the container, which is preferably pressed against the primary flat insulating plate 29 at a distance from the edge of the plate. This therefore makes it possible to retain the primary flat insulating plate 29 on the secondary film without requiring complex arrangements on the primary flat insulating plate 29: the flat portion of the bottom sheet may be exposed.

Further, the length of the second portion 51 can be easily adjusted by sliding the stud 45 over the length of the slot 58. Thus, the arrangement can be easily adapted to primary flat insulating plates having different sizes or to notches 27 having different lengths. The length of the notch 27 may be particularly shortened after the cutting of the edge 26 to reduce the width of the insulating plate 29.

Furthermore, since the batten strip 50 is anchored to a stud supported by the secondary corner structure 13, its position is not affected by the size of the secondary flat insulating plate (not shown) adjacent to the secondary corner structure 13. Thus, the arrangement is easily adaptable to secondary flat insulating plates having different sizes.

As shown in fig. 4, each corner piece 32 has two projecting edges 53, and the two projecting edges 53 project in the direction of the corner 10 relative to the double-sided insulating block 31 at the two opposite ends of the corner piece 32. Therefore, the space 38 between the two-sided insulation blocks 31 is partially covered by the two protruding edges 53 on both sides thereof.

In order to leave access to the anchoring member arranged in the space 38, at least each of the two projecting rims 53 on both sides of the anchoring member is provided with a cut-out 54, which cut-out 54 is positioned in vertical alignment with the stud 45 and is formed in an end edge 55 oriented transversely to the corner 10.

Alternatively, as shown in fig. 2, all the projecting edges 53 of all the corner pieces 32 may have such a cutout 54 to make the manufacture uniform.

As can be seen more clearly in fig. 5, the cut-out 54 serves to provide sufficient space between the two projecting rims 53 for the passage of a tightening tool 60, such as a socket wrench or a screwdriver with a cylindrical head 61. Thus, the depth of the cut-out 54 in the direction of the edge 10 can be dimensioned to set a distance D which is slightly larger than the diameter of the cylindrical head 61 between the bottoms of two facing cut-outs 54. The length of the cut-out 54 along the end edge 55 may be substantially equal to this same distance D, for example about 30 mm.

The assembly sequence of the corner regions of the container will now be briefly described:

assembling the secondary insulating barrier and the secondary sealing film 15, including the cap nut 42,

positioning the bead 50 in the retracted position, the bead slot 58 being positioned in alignment with the cap nut 42,

inserting and screwing the stud 45 through the slot 58 of the bead 50 into the cap nut 42, positioning the nut 47 on the stud 45 in the unscrewed position,

positioning the insulating joints 39 between the positions of the primary corner structures 30. Where the bead 50 is present, the insulated joint 39 has a post at its base that is inserted into the hollow U-shaped cross-section of the bead 50. The insulated joint 39 also has a cylindrical well 56 aligned with the cap nut 42, to receive the stud 45 and nut 47,

fixing the primary corner structure 30 to the secondary corner structure 13 on both sides of the insulating joint 39,

mounting primary flat insulating panels 29 adjacent to the rows of primary corner structures 30,

moving the bead 50 to the deployed position, the insulated joint 39 still being held stationary by the stud 45 fitted in the cylindrical well 56,

screwing the nut 47 onto the stud 45 through the cut 54 of the corner piece 32 and the cylindrical well 56 of the insulating joint 39, to effect the fastening of the bead 50,

inserting the cylindrical plug 57 into the cylindrical well 56 to close it,

-bringing the primary sealing film in place.

The flat portions of the container wall on both sides of the corner may be constructed identically or differently, and symmetrically or asymmetrically. Furthermore, although only one corner of the container is described above, other corners of the container may have the same or different arrangements.

With reference to fig. 7 to 10, the structure of the container wall at one end of the corner 10, i.e. at the intersection between three flat walls, will now be described. The three walls shown here form a bottom wall, an end wall and a lower inclined wall, respectively. The lower inclined wall forms an angle of 135 deg. with the bottom wall. The lower inclined wall and the bottom wall are perpendicular to the end wall. This arrangement corresponds, for example, to a container having a general polyhedral shape and comprising two octagonal end walls connected to each other by eight walls, namely a horizontal bottom wall and a horizontal top wall, two vertical side walls, two upper inclined walls each connecting one of the side walls to the top wall, and two lower inclined walls each connecting one of the side walls to the bottom wall.

In this zone, as shown in fig. 7, the rows of secondary corner structures 13 end in a final secondary corner structure 113, this final secondary corner structure 113 being constituted by a set of three insulating plates respectively fixed to the load-bearing structure of each of the three load-bearing walls. The three insulating panels of the last secondary corner structure 113 each have a sandwich structure identical to that of the secondary corner structure 13, i.e. comprising an insulating polymer foam layer 116 sandwiched between two rigid sheets 117, 118, for example made of plywood.

On each of the three insulating plates of the last secondary corner structure 113, the rigid sheet 118 supports

anchorage plates

121 and 140, the structure and function of the

anchorage plates

121 and 140 being identical to that of the anchorage plates 21 and 40 described above in relation to the secondary corner structure 13. In particular, the anchoring plate 121 enables the fixing of the last primary corner structure 130 (fig. 7) to the last secondary corner structure 113.

The plate 40 enables the anchoring member to be fixed between the last primary corner structure 130 and the penultimate primary corner structure 230 (fig. 7) of the row of primary corner structures. The anchor member includes a stud 145 that fits in a slot 158 of the bead 150, as can be seen in fig. 9.

Fig. 8 is also a view of the end region of the corner, additionally showing the primary corner structure assembled on the secondary corner structure in fig. 7. The secondary sealing film is omitted entirely for simplicity of the drawing.

As shown, the last primary corner structure 130 in the row is made up of three insulating blocks, which are respectively disposed against each of the three insulating plates of the last secondary corner structure 113. Furthermore, the insulating blocks of the last primary corner structure 130 each comprise an internal face on which a three-sided corner piece 132 is arranged, the overall structure of this three-sided corner piece 132 being similar to the metallic corner piece 32 of the primary corner structure 30, except for the presence of a third side wing 100 parallel to the lower inclined wall. The corner cube 132 includes, inter alia, studs 136, apertures 137 and rims 153, the structure and function of the studs 136, apertures 137 and rims 153 being similar to that of the studs 36, apertures 37 and rims 53 described above.

The penultimate primary horn structure 230 is shown with reference numerals increased by 200 for elements similar or identical to those of the primary horn structure 30. The double-sided insulating block 231 is longer than the double-sided insulating block 31 and supports two continuous metal corner pieces in the direction of the corners on its inner surface. The metal corner piece 232 is substantially identical to the metal corner piece 32 of the primary corner structure 30, but since the dihedral corner blocks 231 are elongated towards the last primary corner structure 130, the metal corner piece 232 may have a longer dimension along the corner 10 and it protrudes only on one side (not shown) of the dihedral corner blocks 231.

The metal corner fitting 65 is placed beside the metal corner fitting 232 with a small gap therebetween, and the metal corner fitting 65 is fixed to the double-sided insulating block 231 in the same manner as the metal corner fitting 32 of the primary corner structure 30. The metal corner piece 65 has a protruding edge 253, which protruding edge 253 protrudes above the space 138 in the direction of the corner 10 relative to the double-sided insulating block 231. The space 138 is partially covered by two projecting

rims

153 and 253 on both sides thereof.

Ledge 153 and/or ledge 253 may include a cutout to facilitate access to an anchoring member located in space 138. In this case, there is only a cut 254 in the protruding edge 253.

Furthermore, the fixing of the penultimate primary corner structure 230 to the secondary insulating barrier is only performed at the portion furthest from the last primary corner structure 130, i.e. at the portion supporting the metal corner piece 232, which is fixed to the lower penultimate secondary corner structure 13 in the same way as described before. To this end, the metal corner piece 232 also has an aperture 237.

Conversely, the metal corner piece 65 does not include an aperture and may be continuous in that the portion of the two-sided insulating block 231 facing the last primary corner structure 130 spans the gap 66 between the penultimate secondary corner structure 13 and the last secondary corner structure 113 and extends over the last secondary corner structure 113 without being secured to the last secondary corner structure 113.

This arrangement has the advantage of being independent of the precise dimensions of the gap 66 in the secondary insulating barrier, which can be easily adjusted to compensate for manufacturing tolerances.

Furthermore, to adjust the primary insulating barrier to accommodate dimensional manufacturing tolerances of the load bearing structure, the penultimate primary corner structure 230 may be cut as measured, i.e., the ends of the two-sided insulating blocks 231 and the metal corner fitting 65 facing the last primary corner structure 130. This cutting does not cause any complications, since the end portion is not fixed to the secondary insulating barrier. In this case, the cut 254 is added after the metal corner fitting 65 is cut to a desired length.

Fig. 9 shows the same area of the vessel as fig. 8, but with the addition of a last primary flat insulating plate 129 adjacent to the penultimate primary corner structure 230. This primary flat insulating plate 129 has, in a similar manner to the notch 27 in fig. 3, a recess 127 made in alignment with the corner region of the rigid bottom sheet (not shown) to expose said corner region. Fig. 9 also shows a bead 150, which bead 150 is fitted in the recess 127 and pressed onto the uncovered area as described above.

With reference to fig. 9 and 10, the structure of the primary sealing film at the corners of the container will now be described.

The primary sealing film is, for example, a film having two series of corrugations perpendicular to each other. It can be manufactured essentially as described in WO-A-2017006044. The metal sheet 67 of the primary sealing film, which surrounds the corner, is welded along its edge pointing towards the corner to the metal corner fitting 32, 232, 65, 132. Further, the

metal corner pieces

68, 168, 268 are welded across each interface between two consecutive

metal corner pieces

32, 232, 65, 132.

The

corner pieces

68, 168, 268 cover the

apertures

37, 137, 237 and the metal corner piece cutouts 54, 254 effect the continuity of the corrugated configuration of the primary sealing membrane oriented perpendicular to the corner 10.

With reference to fig. 13 to 16, a second embodiment of the construction of the container wall at the end of the corner 10 will now be described. In this embodiment, as shown in the perspective view in fig. 13, the penultimate primary corner structure 1230 has been modified so that a second metal corner fitting 1065 (fig. 16) can be installed from the inside of the container after the installation of the penultimate primary corner structure 1230.

To this end, on the side of the penultimate primary corner structure 1230 facing the last primary corner structure 130, both faces of the two-sided insulating block 231 each have a notch 83, which notch 83 extends parallel to the corner 10 and is present on the inner surface of the inner sheet 235 and on the side of the inner sheet 235 facing the last primary corner structure 130. The recess 83 has a width that increases in the thickness direction from the inner surface, that is, in the illustrated embodiment, the recess 83 has a narrower entrance portion and a wider bottom portion in order.

The insert 84, which is shown in perspective in fig. 14, is received in a sliding manner in the recess 83. The insert 84 has an overall contoured shape with a wider base portion 85 for being received in the bottom portion of the recess 83 and a narrower head portion 86 for being received in the entrance portion of the recess 83. The head portion 86 has a threaded hole 87 (fig. 16) in its upper surface for receiving a set screw 88. Preferably, the insert 84 is slightly narrower than the recess 83, so as to also allow adjustment of the clearance in a direction transverse to the corner 10.

Fig. 15 and 16 show the region of the container wall at the angular end before the primary sealing film is installed. Fig. 15 is a plan view from above of the last primary flat insulating plate 129. It shows that: the second to last primary corner structure 1230 is mounted on the secondary insulating barrier without the second metal corner piece 1065. This therefore frees access to the space 138 between the last primary corner structure 130 and the penultimate primary corner structure 1230. This access from the top, as shown in fig. 15, makes it possible to easily adjust the position of the bead 150 to the deployed position, to bear on the uncovered area 128 of the bottom sheet of the last primary flat insulating plate 129, and to lock the bead 150 in place by tightening the nut 145.

Next, an insulating liner (not shown) is placed in the space 138 and recess 127 to supplement the primary insulating barrier, and then a second metal corner piece 1065 is secured to the penultimate primary corner structure 1230, as shown in fig. 16. To this end, a set screw 88 is engaged into a bore in each of the two faces of the second metal corner piece 1065 and screwed into a threaded hole 87 in the insert 84. Alternatively, rivets may be employed.

The primary membrane may then be implemented as described above.

The metal corner piece 1065 fixed from the inside of the container makes it possible to provide easy access to the anchoring member. This solution can be used for anchor members made in different forms.

Fig. 11 shows another embodiment of the container wall along the corner 10. The primary and secondary sealing membranes are omitted to simplify the illustration. Elements that are similar or identical to elements in fig. 2 to 4 have the same reference numerals increased by 300 and are described only in terms of their differences from elements in fig. 2 to 4.

In this embodiment, the primary corner structure 330 is secured to the secondary corner structure 313 by means of studs 345 disposed in each space 338 between two double-sided insulation blocks 331. To this end, the rigid sheet 334 is slightly wider than the polymer foam layer 333 such that both lateral edges of the rigid sheet 334 are exposed.

The bead 350 has a bore, which may be oblong, through which the stud 345 passes, and the bead 350 presses against the lateral edges of the rigid sheets 334 of the two primary corner structures 330, with the stud 345 disposed therebetween. Each primary corner structure 330 is thus held by two beads 350 engaging with the two lateral edges of its rigid sheet 334. A nut, not shown, is threaded onto each stud 345 to tighten the bead 350 in the direction of the load bearing structure. Cutouts 354 in the edges of metal corner pieces 332 facilitate assembly of studs 345 and seating of nuts in the manner previously described.

Due to this way of fixing the primary corner structure 330, apertures are omitted in the metal corner piece 332, which metal corner piece 332 may thus be continuous.

To anchor the primary flat insulation plates 329 adjacent to the rows of primary corner structures 330 on the secondary barrier, rows of studs 69 may be provided on each side of the rows of primary corner structures 330. This may require the provision of a wider secondary corner structure 313, as shown.

In a variant of fig. 11, not shown, the studs 69 are omitted and the batten strip 350 is made to slide like the batten strip 50 in fig. 6, so as to be able to be positioned in the unfolded position astride the primary corner structures 330 and the primary flat insulating plates 329, to jointly ensure the anchorage of the two insulating elements. To this end, the length of the bead 350 may be increased and the geometry of the primary flat insulating plate 329 may be adjusted to receive the bead 350 in the notch or recess that exposes the bottom sheet.

In one embodiment, the secondary insulating barrier and the secondary sealing film are omitted and the studs anchoring the primary insulating barrier are directly supported by the load bearing walls 11, 12.

The above described techniques for producing sealed and thermally insulated containers for storing fluids may be used in different types of storage, for example for constituting LNG storage in onshore facilities or in floating structures such as methane transport vessels.

The technique described above in the case where the support surface is actually multi-faceted, with flat portions in the support surface meeting at the corners, is also applicable to a near multi-faceted support surface that does not have corners but instead has rounded portions that form connections between the flat portions. The term "corner region" is used to indicate a connection between two flat portions in both cases and may correspond to an actual corner or a rounded portion between two flat portions.

Referring to fig. 12, a cross-sectional view of a methane transport vessel 70 shows a sealed and insulated container 71 having a generally prismatic shape assembled in a double hull 72 of the vessel. The walls of the container 71 comprise a primary sealing barrier to be in contact with the LNG contained in the container, a secondary sealing barrier arranged between the primary sealing barrier and the double hull 72 of the vessel, and two insulating barriers arranged between the primary sealing barrier and the secondary sealing barrier and between the secondary sealing barrier and the double hull 72, respectively.

In a manner known per se, a loading/unloading pipe 73 arranged on the upper deck of the vessel may be connected to the offshore or harbour terminal by means of suitable connectors for transferring LNG cargo from the container 71 or to the container 71.

Fig. 12 shows an example of an offshore terminal comprising a loading and unloading station 75, a subsea pipeline 76 and an onshore facility 77. The loading and unloading station 75 is a fixed offshore facility comprising a mobile arm 74 and a tower 78 supporting the mobile arm 74. The moving arm 74 supports a bundle of insulated flexible tubing 79 that can be connected to the loading/unloading tube 73. The orientable moving arm 74 is suitable for all sizes of methane carrier. Not shown connecting lines run inside the tower 78. The loading and unloading station 75 enables loading of the methane transport vessel 70 from the onshore facility 77 or unloading of the methane transport vessel 70 to the onshore facility 77. The onshore facility 77 comprises a liquefied gas storage vessel 80 and a connecting line 81 connected to the loading or unloading station 75 by the subsea line 76. The subsea pipeline 76 enables transfer of liquefied gas over a long distance of, for example, 5km between the loading or unloading station 75 and the onshore facility 77, which enables the methane carrier 70 to be kept long distances to shore during loading and unloading operations.

In order to generate the pressure required for transferring the liquefied gas, pumps carried on board the vessel 70 and/or pumps provided for onshore facilities 77 and/or pumps provided for loading and unloading stations 75 are applied.

While the invention has been described with reference to several specific embodiments, it is apparent that: the invention is in no way limited to these embodiments and encompasses all technical equivalents of the described devices and combinations thereof falling within the scope of the invention.

Use of the verb "comprise" or "comprise" and its conjugations does not exclude the presence of elements or steps other than those stated in a claim. The use of the indefinite article "a" or "an" for an element or step does not exclude the presence of a plurality of such elements or steps, unless otherwise indicated.

In the claims, any reference signs placed between parentheses shall not be construed as limiting the claim.

Claims

1. A sealed and thermally insulated container for storing a fluid, the sealed and thermally insulated container having an insulating barrier and a sealing barrier disposed on an interior surface of the insulating barrier, the insulating barrier being disposed on a support surface bearing an anchoring member and being retained on the support surface by the anchoring member,

wherein the anchoring member has a bearing element (50, 150) mounted on the support surface between two insulating elements (30, 130, 230, 1230) of a first of the parallel rows and movable transversely to the first row relative to the support surface between a retracted position and a deployed position,

in the retracted position, the support element (50, 150) is completely housed between the two insulating elements (30, 130, 230, 1230) to release a position (99) of a second one of the parallel rows, adjacent to the first one, and

in the deployed position, the bearing elements project into the positions of the second row and engage with at least one insulating element (129) of the second row to retain the insulating elements (29, 129) of the second row on the support surface.

2. The container according to claim 1, wherein the anchoring member further has a stud (45, 145) fixed to the support surface and projecting inwards into the space between the two insulating elements (30, 130, 230, 1230) of the first row, and

a nut (47) screwed onto the stud and capable of tightening the bearing element (50, 150) in the direction of the support surface to lock the position of the bearing element.

3. The container of claim 2, wherein the support element has a bead (50, 150) having a slot (58, 158) through which the stud (45, 145) passes such that the bead is slidable in a direction transverse to the first row between a retracted position and a deployed position when the nut is not securing the bead,

in the retracted position, the bead (50, 150) is completely contained between the two insulating elements (30, 130, 230, 1230) and

in the deployed position, a portion (51) of the bead protrudes beyond the first row to engage with the at least one insulating element (29, 129) of the second row.

4. A container according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the insulating elements of the second row are flat insulating panels (29, 129) having a layer of insulating polymer foam sandwiched between a rigid base sheet and a rigid cover sheet (25), the rigid cover sheet and the layer of insulating polymer foam having recesses (127) provided in the thickness of the insulating panels to expose bearing zones (28) on the inner surface of the rigid base sheet, the recesses appearing on edges (26) of the flat insulating panels parallel to the first row and facing the first row, the anchoring members engaging with the bearing zones (28) of the base sheet.

5. The container according to claim 4, wherein said flat insulating plate has a rectangular parallelepiped shape, said recesses (127) being provided in the corners of said flat insulating plate.

6. Container according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the support surface bears a plurality of anchoring members (45, 145) distributed along the insulating elements of the first row and having bearing elements (50, 150) mounted on the support surface between the insulating elements (30, 130, 230, 1230) of the first row and movable with respect to the support surface between the retracted position and the deployed position,

the bearing elements engage with respective regions of the insulating elements (29, 129) of the second row to retain the insulating elements on the support surface.

7. Container according to any one of claims 1-6, wherein the support surface has at least two flat areas forming an angle with each other and meeting at an angular zone (10),

wherein the first row of insulating elements has rows of corner structures (30, 130, 230, 1230) arranged along the corner regions of the support surface and the second row of insulating elements has rows of flat insulating plates (29, 129) arranged on the flat areas of the support surface.

8. The container according to claim 7, wherein the corner structure (30, 130, 230, 1230) has:

a two-sided insulating block (31, 131, 231) having two faces parallel to the two flat regions and forming an angle therebetween, the faces having a flat outer surface bearing against a corresponding flat region of the support surface and a flat inner surface parallel to the corresponding flat region and spaced from the flat outer surface in the thickness direction, and

a metal corner piece (32, 232, 65, 1065, 132) secured to the planar interior surface of the two-sided insulating block to form the sealing barrier aligned with the corner region of the support surface.

9. Container according to claim 8, wherein the metal corner piece has a protruding portion (53, 153, 253) protruding with respect to the two-sided insulating block in the direction of the corner region,

wherein two consecutive corner structures in the row are arranged such that a space (38, 138) is present between the two insulating blocks in the direction of the corner region, which space is at least partially covered by the protruding portion (53, 153, 253) of the metal corner piece of one of the two consecutive corner structures,

wherein the bearing elements of the anchoring member (45, 145) are mounted on the support surface between the two insulating blocks (31, 131, 231) of the two corner structures.

10. The container according to claim 9, wherein a block of insulating material (39) is provided between the two insulating blocks in the space (38, 138) between the protruding portion (53, 153, 253) of the metal corner piece and the supporting element.

11. The container according to claim 9 or 10, wherein one of said metal corner pieces (1065) whose protruding portion (253) covers said space has, on its inner surface, a bore for receiving a fixing member (88) for cooperating with said insulating block (1230) to fix it to said insulating block of the corner structure, said fixing member being engageable from said inner surface of said metal corner piece (1065) into said bore.

12. The container according to claim 11, wherein the fixing member (88) has a screw or rivet, the head of which faces the inside of the container and the body of which passes through the bore of the metal corner piece to cooperate with the two-sided insulating block.

13. The container of claim 12, wherein the two-sided insulating block supports an insert (84) mounted on a planar interior surface of at least one face to receive and lock a body of the securing member in a thickness direction of the at least one face.

14. The container of claim 13, wherein the insert (84) is mounted on the planar interior surface with a gap in a direction parallel to the planar interior surface.

15. Container according to claim 14, wherein said at least one face of the two-sided insulating block has a recess (83) extending parallel to the corner region (10) and emerging on the flat inner surface, said insert (84) being housed in sliding manner in said recess.

16. The container according to claim 15, wherein the width of the recess (83) decreases in the thickness direction towards the flat inner surface to block the insert (84) in the thickness direction.

17. The container according to any one of claims 8 to 16, wherein the support surface has a third flat area transverse to the corner region (10) at one end thereof, wherein the last corner structure (130) of the rows of corner structures has, in addition to the two-sided insulation block, a third face (100) parallel to the third flat area and forming an angle with the two sides of the two-sided insulation block (130), and

wherein the dimensions of the dihedral insulating blocks (231) of the penultimate corner structures (230) of the rows in the direction of the corner zones are greater than the dimensions of the corner structures located along the central portion of the corner zones, the metal corner pieces of the penultimate corner structures comprising two corner piece segments (232, 1065) juxtaposed in the direction of the corner zones and fixed to the flat inner surface of the dihedral insulating blocks (231),

wherein a first corner piece segment (232) of the penultimate corner structure is fixed to the double-sided insulating block (231) by means of a fixing member located on an outer surface of the first corner piece segment and inaccessible from an inner surface of the first corner piece segment,

and a second corner piece segment (1065) of the penultimate corner structure on the end side of the corner region has in its inner surface the bore for receiving the fixing means for cooperating with the dihedral insulating block (231) to fix the second corner piece segment (1065) to the dihedral insulating block of the corner structure, the fixing means being engageable from the inner surface of the second corner piece segment (1065) into the bore.

18. The container according to claim 17, wherein the first corner piece section (232) of the penultimate corner structure has an aperture (237) for passing an anchoring member for fixing the insulating block (231) to the support surface and the second corner piece section (1065) of the penultimate corner structure on the end side of the corner region has a continuous surface outside the or each bore receiving the or each fixing member.

19. The container of any one of claims 1 to 18, wherein the insulating barrier is a primary insulating barrier and the sealing barrier is a primary sealing barrier, the container further having a secondary insulating barrier (13, 113, 213) having a substantially multi-faceted inner surface covered by a secondary sealing barrier (15) and forming the support surface.

20. Vessel (70) for transporting fluids, having a double housing (72) and a container (71) according to any one of claims 1 to 19 arranged therein.

21. A system for transferring fluids, the system having a vessel (70) according to claim 20, an insulating pipe (73, 79, 76, 81) arranged to connect the container (71) mounted in the vessel's housing to a floating or onshore storage facility (77), and a pump for transferring fluids from or from the container of the vessel to the floating or onshore storage facility through the insulating pipe.

22. A method for loading or unloading a vessel (70) according to claim 20, wherein fluid is transferred from or from a floating or onshore storage facility (77) to the vessel (71) of the vessel through insulated pipes (73, 79, 76, 81).

23. A manufacturing method for manufacturing a sealed and thermally insulated container according to one of claims 1 to 19, the method comprising:

the provision of a support surface for the support,

mounting an anchor member on the support surface, the anchor member having a bearing element (50, 150) mounted in a movable manner relative to the support surface,

mounting the insulating elements (30, 130, 230, 1230) of the first row on the support surface such that the bearing element (50, 150) is completely accommodated between two insulating elements of the first row and such that the bearing element is mounted so as to be movable transversely to the first row,

-arranging a second row of insulating elements (29, 129) on the support surface, the second row being parallel and adjacent to the first row,

moving the support element (50, 150) to a deployed position in which it projects into a position (99) of the second row and engages with at least one insulating element (29, 129) of the second row to retain the insulating element of the second row on the support surface, and

locking the support element in the deployed position.