CN112050070A

CN112050070A - System for constructing partitions by unfolding and folding metal sheets

Info

Publication number: CN112050070A
Application number: CN202010508185.2A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 尼古拉斯·洛兰; 班诺特·莫雷尔
Original assignee: Gaztransport et Technigaz SA
Current assignee: Gaztransport et Technigaz SA
Priority date: 2019-06-06
Filing date: 2020-06-05
Publication date: 2020-12-08
Anticipated expiration: 2040-06-05
Also published as: FR3096906B1; FR3096906A1; SG10202005295XA; KR20200140732A; CN112050070B; RU2020118307A

Abstract

The invention relates to a system (10) for producing a metal separator by unfolding and folding (15) a metal sheet, comprising: -a chassis (16); -at least one driving roller (23) mounted so as to be movable in rotation on said chassis (16) about a first horizontal axis to ensure the advancement of the metal sheet in an advancement direction; -a plurality of forming members (25, 26) for folding the first and second sides of the metal sheet according to a determined angle with respect to the first axis of the drive roller (23), respectively; the unfolding and folding system further comprises a protective film deposition device (27), the protective film deposition device (27) being configured to deposit the protective film (14) on the metal sheet.

Description

System for constructing partitions by unfolding and folding metal sheets

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of sealed and insulated tanks with membranes for storing and/or transporting fluids, such as cryogenic fluids.

More particularly, the present invention relates to a system for constructing a diaphragm from expanded and folded metal sheets, intended to construct a sealing membrane of a fluid storage tank.

Background

In the prior art, and in particular in document FR2968284, there is a sealed and thermally insulated tank for storing liquefied natural gas, comprising a multilayer structure, i.e. comprising, from the outside to the inside of the tank: a secondary insulating barrier, a secondary sealing film, a primary insulating barrier and a primary sealing film fixed on the support structure. The secondary and primary insulating barriers are formed by juxtaposed insulating caissons. The secondary sealing film and the primary sealing film each comprise a continuous metal plate. The metal plate includes a flat central strip and raised side edges that are welded tight to the weld brackets retained on the insulation caisson.

These partitions are formed and deployed inside the tank by means of an unfolding and folding system, as described in document FR 3020773. The unfolding and folding system allows to pay out the metal sheet inside the tank and at the same time fold its sides, forming a partition with raised sides.

The system comprises: a driving roller for ensuring the metal plate to be unfolded; a forming roll for folding the side edges; and a bearing roll for pressing the metal sheet against the forming surface of the forming roll. The forming rolls increase the folding angle in the longitudinal direction of the machine tool so as to gradually fold the convex side edges of the metal sheet.

After the baffle is formed and deployed within the tank, and prior to the loading of the liquefied gas within the tank, the interior surface of the baffle facing the interior of the tank may become contaminated, e.g., dust, which may reduce its surface condition. In particular, the inner surface of the partition is likely to be covered with wood chips, since the wood chips absorb surrounding moisture, thereby causing rusting of the surface. Therefore, the removal of such dust and potential rust marks prior to inspection and commissioning of the gas storage tank results in additional surface treatment operations.

Disclosure of Invention

One idea on which the invention is based is to simply and reliably obtain a satisfactory surface state of the metal separator.

According to a first embodiment, the present invention provides a system for unfolding and folding a metal sheet to create a sealed membrane metal diaphragm for use in constructing a fluid storage tank;

the unfolding and folding system comprises:

-a chassis;

-at least one drive roller mounted for rotational movement on said chassis about a first horizontal axis to ensure advancement of the metal sheet in an advancement direction; and

-a plurality of forming members supported by the chassis, the members comprising at least a first forming member and a second forming member, respectively folding a first side and a second side of the metal sheet according to a determined angle with respect to the first axis; the unfolding and folding system further comprises a protective film and a protective film deposition device configured to deposit the protective film on the metal sheet.

Therefore, with such a system, the separator is protected by the protective film before the inspection of the gas tank, so that a satisfactory surface state of the metal separator is obtained.

In addition, the deposition of the protective film is carried out simultaneously with the unfolding and folding of the separator, so that the influence thereof on the production time of the separator is negligible.

According to other advantageous embodiments, such a folding system has one or more of the following features.

According to one embodiment, the protective film deposition apparatus is mounted on the base plate.

According to one embodiment, the forming member is a forming roll.

According to one embodiment, the protective film deposition device is located downstream of the shaping member in the advancing direction.

According to one embodiment, a protective film deposition device deposits a protective film on a flat central strip of a metal plate,

a flat central strip is formed between the first side edge and the second side edge. Therefore, the protective film is less likely to interfere with the welding operation of the subsequent separator.

According to one embodiment, a protective film deposition apparatus includes:

-a reel wound with a protective film, said reel being mounted for rotary movement on a chassis; and

-an upper roller mounted for rotary movement about a second axis of rotation, the first and second forming members being positioned laterally on either side of the upper roller, when the first and second forming members (25, 26) are projected according to a direction of advancement on a plane orthogonal to the direction of advancement and passing through the second axis, so that the upper roller can press the protective film against the flat central belt.

According to one embodiment, the second axis of rotation is parallel to the first axis of rotation.

According to one embodiment, the protective film deposition device further comprises a lower roller rotatably movable about a third rotation axis parallel to the second rotation axis, the lower roller being located below the upper roller and arranged to allow the flat central strip and the protective film to pass between the lower roller and the upper roller.

According to one embodiment, one of the upper and lower rollers is mounted on a chassis for vertical movement, and the stress member exerts a force on said upper or lower roller having a vertical component directed towards the other of said upper and lower rollers.

According to one embodiment, the protective film is made of a material selected from the group consisting of polyolefins (e.g., polyethylene and polypropylene), polyesters, and polyethylene materials (e.g., polyvinyl chloride or polyvinyl acetate).

According to one embodiment, the protective film is electrostatically charged or has an adhesive-coated surface.

The invention also provides, according to one embodiment, a diaphragm method for unfolding and folding a metal plate to create a sealing membrane for constructing a fluid storage tank, the method comprising:

-unwinding the metal sheet on a reel and ensuring its advancement along an advancement direction by means of at least one driving roller movable in rotation according to a first horizontal axis;

-folding the first and second lateral edges of the metal sheet according to a determined angle with respect to the first axis;

-depositing a protective film on the metal sheet while it is being unrolled.

According to one embodiment, the protective film is deposited on a flat central strip of the metal plate, the flat central strip being located between the first side edge and the second side edge.

According to one embodiment, the protective film is deposited 2 to 7cm from the first and second side edges.

According to one embodiment, the unfolding of the metal plate, the folding of the first and second sides of the metal plate, and the deposition of the protective film are performed in a gas tank.

Drawings

The invention will be better understood and other objects, details, characteristics and advantages thereof will become more apparent from the following description of several specific embodiments thereof, given by way of illustration and not of limitation, with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view, partially in section, of a hermetically insulated tank wall comprising a sealed membrane composition with a barrier.

Fig. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a separator equipped with a protective film.

Fig. 3 is a schematic view of an unfolding and folding system.

Fig. 4 is a schematic view of a lateral block of the first forming unit of the unfolding and folding system of fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a schematic view of a lateral block of the last forming unit of the unfolding and folding system of fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a schematic view of a plane cross section of fig. 3 in a direction orthogonal to the advancing direction of the metal plate.

Detailed Description

By convention, the terms "outer" and "inner" are used to define the relative position of one element with respect to another, i.e. with respect to the interior and exterior of the tank.

Figure 1 shows the wall of a sealed and thermally insulated tank. The sealed, thermally insulated tank is used to store a liquefied gas selected from, for example, Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and liquefied petroleum gas.

The tank wall comprises a support structure 1 from outside to inside; a secondary insulating barrier 2 formed by insulating caissons 3 juxtaposed on the support structure 1 and anchored to the support structure 1 by secondary fixing means 4; a secondary sealing membrane 5 supported by the insulating caisson 3; the primary heat insulation barrier 6 is composed of the heat insulation caissons 7, the heat insulation caissons 3 are juxtaposed on the secondary sealing film 5 and are fixed on the primary sealing film 5 through primary fixing members 8; and a primary sealing membrane 9, supported by the insulating caisson 7, intended to come into contact with the liquid inside the tank.

The support structure 1 may be, in particular, a self-supporting metal plate, in general any type of rigid partition having suitable mechanical properties. The support structure may in particular be constituted by a hull or a double hull. The support structure includes a plurality of tank walls defining the overall form of the air storage tank.

Each

insulating caisson

3, 7 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape. Each insulated

caisson

3, 7 comprises parallel floor and cover plates. The support net is inserted between the bottom plate and the cover plate at a right angle. The support screens are placed parallel to each other and form compartments between them for accommodating the powdered insulating liners.

The primary sealing film 9 and the secondary sealing film 5 are composed of a continuous sheet of metal 10, the metal sheets 10 being placed alternately with welding brackets 11 welded thereto.

For example, the metal plate 10 is made of

The preparation method comprises the following steps: that is, alloys of iron and nickel, whose coefficients of expansion are generally in the range of 1.2.10^-6And 2.10^-6K^-1While other metals or alloys are possible, such as stainless steel, aluminum, or high manganese content iron alloys with an expansion coefficient of 7.5.10^-6K^-1Left and right.

Each metal plate 10 comprises in the width direction a flat central strip 12 for supporting the insulating

caissons

3, 7 and the cover plates of the raised sides 13. The raised sides 13 are at right angles to the flat central strip 12. The purpose of the metal plate 10 is to extend substantially from one end to the other end of each wall of the tank. The raised sides 13 of the metal plate 10 are welded tightly to the welding brackets 11 held on the insulating

caissons

3, 7.

As shown in fig. 2, the metal plate 10 of the primary sealing film 8 is provided with a protective film 14 on its inner surface (i.e., the surface in contact with the liquefied gas) when it is unfolded. The function of said protective film 14 is to protect the metal sheet 10 during the production of the can body, in particular to prevent the ingress of dust, and to remove it before the can body is put into use, i.e. before it is first filled with liquefied gas.

It is also possible to cover the metal sheet 10 of the secondary sealing film 5 with a protective film 14, which protective film 14 is removed before the insulating caisson 7 of the primary insulating barrier 6 is in place.

The protective film 14 is located on the inner surface of the flat metal strip 12 of the metal plate 10 and does not cover the convex side 13 thereof. Thus, the protective film 14 does not interfere with the welding of the projecting side 13 to the welding holder 11. This is advantageous in that the protective film 14 is positioned at a distance of 2 to 7cm, for example, at a position of about 5 cm, from each of the two convex side edges 14. Therefore, the protective film 14 is spaced from the side edges 13 of the projections sufficiently not to be damaged by a welder that welds the side edges 14 of the projections to the weld brackets 11. Specifically, this distance allows the protective film 14 to be not damaged by the rollers of the electric wheel welder, nor by the heating of the side edges of the projections due to the welding of the electrode wheels.

The protective film 14 is made of a polymer. This is advantageous in that the protective film 14 is made of polyolefin such as polyethylene and polypropylene, polyester or polyethylene material such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC) or polyvinyl acetate.

The protective film 14 has the advantage of a thickness of between 0.05 and 1 mm, for example about 0.1 mm.

According to one embodiment, the protective film 14 is attached to the metal plate 10 by electrostatic adhesion, in which case the protective film is advantageously of a material such as polyvinyl chloride.

According to another embodiment, the protective film 14 is attached to the metal plate 10 by an adhesive. For example, the adhesive is selected from acrylic glue, silicone glue or rubber in emulsion or solution form.

Referring to fig. 3, we observe a system for unfolding and folding 15 a metal sheet to produce a metal sheet 10.

The unfolding and folding system 15 comprises a chassis 16, a series of forming

units

17, 18, 19 supported by the chassis 15 and a reel support element 34.

The chassis 16 is equipped with wheels 20 to allow displacement of the unfolding and folding system 15.

The metal sheet to be unwound is supplied in the form of a reel 21, the reel 21 being mounted for rotary movement on a reel support member 17. The unfolding and folding system 15 also comprises a guide 22 suitable for ensuring that the metal sheet has a minimum radius of curvature between the reel 21 and the forming

units

17, 18, 19, so as to ensure that the metal sheet is not damaged when being unfolded. In the embodiment shown in fig. 3, the guide 22 is an element with a curved guide surface. The curvilinear guide surface may obviously be provided with a plurality of rollers mounted for rotation to reduce the friction between the curvilinear guide surface and the metal sheet to be spread.

The forming

units

17, 18, 19 can simultaneously spread the metal sheet in the advancing direction (arrow f1) to form the convex side 13 of the metal sheet 10. The forming

units

17, 18, 19 progressively fold the convex sides 13 of the metal sheet through successive steps until the desired final configuration position is formed, said convex sides 13 extending in the final configuration at right angles to the flat central strip 12, when leaving the final forming unit 19.

In the embodiment shown, the unfolding and folding system 15 is provided with three forming

units

17, 18, 19. Furthermore, for example, the first forming unit 17 folds the metal sheet by 30 ° with respect to the side edges of the flat central band 12, the second forming unit 18 folds the metal sheet back by 60 °, the third forming unit 19 and the last forming unit 19 fold the side edges back into their final configuration in which they extend substantially at right angles to the flat central band 12.

Each forming

unit

17, 18, 19 comprises two side pieces. One of the side blocks of the first forming unit 17 is schematically shown in fig. 4. The side blocks of the second forming unit 18 are of substantially the same construction as the side blocks shown, only the angle of inclination of the forming surfaces being different.

Each lateral block comprises a bottom driving roller 23, which bottom driving roller 23 is mounted so as to be movable in rotation on the chassis about a horizontal axis and is intended to ensure that the metal sheet advances in the advancing direction f 1. The drive roller 23 is driven to rotate by a not-shown motor through a not-shown transmission. Each side block further comprises an upper bearing roller 24, which upper bearing roller 24 is mounted on the chassis for rotational movement along a horizontal axis, which is parallel to the horizontal axis of the drive roller 23. The bearing roller 24 faces the drive roller 23 and keeps the metal plate in contact with the drive roller 23. Furthermore, each side piece comprises a forming roll 25 mounted for rotational movement relative to the chassis 16 so that the side edges of the metal sheet can be folded back. For this purpose, the forming rolls 25 have forming surfaces inclined with respect to a horizontal axis to fold the lateral edges of the metal sheet according to a determined angle. The forming surfaces of the forming rolls 25 press the side edges of the metal sheet against the bearing rolls 24 to form them.

As shown in fig. 4, the shaping rollers 25 of the remaining

shaping units

17, 18, except for the shaping roller of the last shaping unit 19, are in the form of conical or thrust-conical rotation. Each forming roller 25 moves rotationally about the central axis of the cone. Therefore, the folding angle of the forming roll 25 corresponds to the angle formed by the intersection of the generatrix of the conical surface with the horizontal plane. As an example, the tapered surface of the forming roll 25 of the first forming unit 17 has an inclination angle of 30 ° with respect to the horizontal plane, and the tapered surface of the forming roll 25 of the second forming unit 18 has an inclination angle of 60 ° with respect to the horizontal plane.

The forming rollers 26 of the last forming unit 19, one of which forming rollers 26 is shown in fig. 5, are partly cylindrical forming surfaces. The forming roll 26 is mounted for rotational movement about the central axis of the cylinder. The base line of the cylindrical forming surface is vertical so that the forming rollers 26 fold the raised side edges of the sheet metal back at right angles to the flat central strip 12.

For more details on the structure and operation of the forming

units

17, 18, 19 reference is made to document FR 3020773.

Returning to fig. 3, it can be seen that the unfolding and folding system 15 also comprises a protective film deposition device 27 mounted on the chassis 16. The protective film deposition device 27 includes a support member 28 on which a reel 29 is rotatably mounted. The protective film 14 is wound on a reel 29. The support element 28 is oriented so that the axis of the reel 29 is horizontal and parallel to the axis of the drive roller 23 of the forming

unit

17, 18, 19.

Further, the protective film deposition device 27 includes at least two rollers, i.e., a lower roller 30 and an upper roller 31, vertically positioned on either side of the metal plate 10. The upper and

lower rollers

30, 31 are each mounted for rotary movement about a respective axis which is horizontal and parallel to the axis of the drive rollers of the forming

units

17, 18, 19.

In the embodiment shown, the protective film deposition device 27 is positioned at the output of the last forming unit 19, i.e. downstream of the last forming unit 19 in the direction of advancement f1 of the metal sheet. Said upper roller 31 has a length less than the length of the flat central strip 12 and is positioned facing on the flat central strip 12 of the metal sheet 10 between the convex sides 12. In other words, as shown in fig. 6, the forming

rollers

25 and 26 are projected on a plane orthogonal to the advancing direction, pass through the rotation axis of the upper roller 31, and are positioned at both sides of the upper roller 31 in side view. As shown in fig. 6, the bulging portion of the forming roll is indicated by a dotted line.

For depositing the protective film 14, one end of the protective film 14 is positioned between the upper roller 31 and the flat central strip 12 of the metal sheet 10. Thus, the protective film 14 is pressed against the flat central strip 12, so that when the metal sheet is unwound, the reel 29 is unwound and the protective film 14 is deposited on the flat central strip 12.

Advantageously, the upper roller 31 is vertically movable in order to ensure that the protective film 14 is pressed against the plate with sufficient force. Further, the stress member 33 exerts a load having a vertically downward component on the upper roller 31. For example. The stress member 33 is an elastic member or a power cylinder.

Alternatively, the pivot axis of the upper roller 31 is fixed relative to the chassis 16, while the lower roller 30 is vertically movable relative to the chassis 16 of the abduction and folding system 15. In this case, the stress member exerts a force on the lower roller 30 in the opposite direction, i.e. with a vertically upward component.

According to one embodiment, the lower roller 30 is also rotated by a motor through a transmission, not shown.

Although the invention has been described with respect to several specific embodiments, it is clear that the invention is in no way limited thereto and that the invention covers all technical equivalents of the means described and combinations thereof if said method belongs to 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.

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

Claims

1. A system (10) for constructing a metal diaphragm (10) of a fluid storage tank sealing membrane using expanded and folded (15) sheet metal, said expanded and folded system (15) comprising:

-a chassis (16);

-at least one driving roller (23) mounted so as to be movable in rotation on said chassis (16) about a first horizontal axis to ensure the advancement of the metal sheet in an advancement direction; and

-a plurality of forming members (25, 26) supported by said chassis and comprising at least a first forming member and a second forming member, respectively folding a first side and a second side of said metal sheet according to determined angles with respect to said first axis; (ii) a The unfolding and folding system (15) further comprises a protective film (14) and a protective film deposition device (27), the protective film deposition device (27) being configured to deposit the protective film (14) on the metal sheet.

2. Unfolding and folding system (15) according to claim 1, characterized in that said protective film deposition means (27) are located at a downstream position of said forming members (25, 26) along said advancement direction.

3. Unfolding and folding system (15) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that said protective film deposition means (27) are arranged to deposit said protective film (14) on a flat central strip (12) of said metal sheet (10), said flat central strip (12) being formed between said first and second lateral edges (13).

4. Unfolding and folding system (15) according to claim 3, characterized in that said protective film deposition means (27) comprise:

-a reel (29) on which said protective film (14) is wound, said reel (29) being rotatably mounted on said chassis (16); and

-an upper roller (31) mounted for rotary movement about a second axis of rotation, said first and second forming members (25, 26) being positioned laterally on either side of said upper roller (31), when said first and second forming members (25, 26) are projected according to a direction of advancement on a plane orthogonal to said direction of advancement and passing through said second axis, so that said upper roller (31) can press said protective film (14) against said flat central band (12).

5. Unfolding and folding system (15) according to claim 4, characterized in that said prime number protection film deposition device (27) further comprises a lower roller (30) mounted to move about a third rotation axis parallel to said second rotation axis, said lower roller (30) being located below said upper roller (31) and arranged to allow said flat central strip (12) and said protection film (14) to pass between said lower roller (30) and said upper roller (31).

6. A deployment and folding system (15) according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that one of said upper roller (31) and said lower roller (30) is mounted vertically movable on said chassis, and the strain member exerts a force on said upper roller (31) and said lower roller (30) having a vertical component directed towards the other of said upper roller (31) or said lower roller (30).

7. Unfolding and folding system (15) according to any of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that said protective film (14) is made of a material selected from the group consisting of polyolefins, polyesters and polyethylene-based materials.

8. Unfolding and folding system (15) according to any of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that said protective film (14) is electrostatically charged or has an adhesive-coated surface.

9. Method for unfolding and folding metal plate to produce structure

A method of partitioning a sealing membrane of a fluid storage tank, the method comprising:

-unwinding the metal sheet on a reel (29) and ensuring its advancement along an advancement direction by means of at least one drive roller (23) movable in rotation according to a first horizontal axis;

-folding the first and second lateral edges (13) of the metal sheet according to a determined angle with respect to the first axis;

-depositing a protective film (14) on said metal plate when it is unfolded.

10. -unfolding and folding method according to claim 9, characterized in that said protective film (14) is deposited on said flat central strip of said metal sheet, which is located between said first and second lateral edges (13).

11. The unfolding and folding method according to claim 10, characterized in that said protective film (14) is deposited 2 to 7cm from said first and second lateral edges (13).

12. The unfolding and folding method according to one of claims 9 to 11, characterized in that said protective film (14) is made of a material selected from the group consisting of polyethylene and polyvinyl compounds.

13. The unfolding and folding method according to any one of claims 9 to 12, characterized in that said protective film (14) is electrostatically charged or has a surface intended to be pressed against a metal plate coated with an adhesive.

14. -unfolding and folding method according to any one of claims 9 to 13, characterized in that the unfolding of the metal sheet, the folding of the first and second sides (13) of the metal sheet, and the deposition of the protective film are carried out inside the tank.