EP3526512A1

EP3526512A1 - Thermally insulating sealed tank

Info

Publication number: EP3526512A1
Application number: EP17720191.0A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Marc BOYEAU; Antoine PHILIPPE; Sébastien DELANOË; François Durand; Anthony DE FARIA; Vincent Berger
Original assignee: Gaztransport et Technigaz SA
Current assignee: Gaztransport et Technigaz SA
Priority date: 2016-10-13
Filing date: 2017-04-03
Publication date: 2019-08-21
Anticipated expiration: 2037-04-03
Also published as: EP3526512B1

Abstract

The invention relates to a thermally insulating sealed tank which includes a plurality of tank walls defining an inside space of the tank. An anchoring and positioning member includes: a projecting element (62) arranged between a plurality of insulating blocks (8), a clamping element (39) attached to the projecting element in order to clamp said insulating blocks against the support wall, and a positioning wedge (64) inserted onto the projecting element (62) and arranged between the support wall and the clamping element (39), the positioning wedge including an abutment surface (5) facing a rising direction (100) of the support wall. A lateral surface (11) of at least one of the insulating blocks (8) abuts against the abutment surface (5) of the positioning wedge (64), so that the positioning wedge holds the lateral surface of the insulating block at a predetermined distance from the projecting element (62).

Description

WATERPROOF AND THERMAL INSULATING TANK

Technical area

The invention relates to the field of sealed and thermally insulating tanks with membranes. In particular, the invention relates to the field of sealed and thermally insulating tanks for the storage and / or transport of liquid at low temperature, such as tanks for the transport of liquefied petroleum gas (also called LPG) having, for example a temperature between -50 ° C and 0 ° C, or for the transport of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) at about -162 ° C at atmospheric pressure. These tanks can be installed on the ground or on a floating structure. In the case of a floating structure, the tank may be intended for the transport of liquefied gas or to receive liquefied gas used as fuel for the propulsion of the floating structure.

Technological background

It is known, for example by WO-A-2013093262, FR-A-2973098 or WO-A-

2016046487 a sealed and thermally insulating tank having a plurality of tank walls defining an interior space of the tank, said tank walls including at least one non-horizontal tank wall, the non-horizontal tank wall comprising:

a non-horizontal support wall,

a plurality of anchoring members disposed on an inner surface of the support wall,

a thermally insulating barrier comprising a plurality of insulating blocks juxtaposed in a repeated pattern on the inner surface of the support wall and anchored to the support wall by means of the anchoring members, and

a waterproof membrane carried by said thermally insulating barrier, wherein each anchoring member comprises:

a projecting element disposed between several of said insulating blocks juxtaposed and projecting towards the interior space of the tank,

a clamping element attached directly or indirectly to the projecting element and extending transversely to the projecting element to cooperate with blocks insulants between which the projecting element is arranged to clamp said insulating blocks against the support wall.

When the anchoring of the insulating block to the support wall is achieved solely by clamping or clamping against the non-horizontal support wall, it is desirable to avoid gravity, possibly combined with accelerations due to the movements of the ship to the sea, can cause displacement of the insulating blocks by sliding on the support wall.

Indeed, it could result in several disadvantages. For example, the insulation material of the insulating block can be damaged by rubbing against parts of the anchoring members or the displacement of the insulating blocks can create thermal bridges by promoting convection phenomena in the areas where the insulation would be more continuous. In addition, such displacements can locally cause additional elongations in the sealed membrane if it is fixed on the insulating blocks, and therefore undesirable concentrations of stresses.

summary

One idea underlying the invention is to provide a membrane wall structure that solves at least some of these disadvantages. Another idea underlying the invention is to provide a diaphragm wall structure whose manufacture combines reliability and simplicity.

For this, the invention provides a sealed and thermally insulating vessel having a plurality of vessel walls defining an interior space of the vessel, said vessel walls including at least one non-horizontal vessel wall, in particular a vertical vessel wall or oblique in the earth's gravity field, the non-horizontal cell wall comprising:

a non-horizontal support wall,

a waterproof membrane carried by said thermally insulating barrier, in which anchoring members comprise one or more anchoring and positioning members.

According to embodiments, such a tank may comprise one or more of the following characteristics.

According to one embodiment, the or each anchoring and positioning member comprises:

a projecting element projecting towards the interior space of the tank in an insulating block or next to one or more insulating blocks,

a clamping element attached directly or indirectly to the projecting element and extending transversely to the projecting element to cooperate with an insulating block in or beside which or insulating blocks between which the projecting element is arranged to clamp the or the insulating blocks against the support wall, and

a positioning wedge cooperating with the projecting element, for example engaged on the projecting element, and arranged above (that is to say towards the inside of the tank) or below (ie outwardly of the vessel) of the clamping member in a thickness direction of the vessel wall, the positioning wedge having an abutment surface facing an upward direction of the support wall, the rising direction being parallel or oblique to a steeper direction of the support wall (i.e. a direction that rises with respect to the earth's gravity field),

and an inner or outer side surface of at least one of the insulating blocks in which the projecting element is disposed or beside which or the projecting element is disposed abuts against the abutment surface of the positioning block, so that the positioning wedge maintains the lateral surface of said at least one insulating block at a predetermined distance from the projecting element.

Thanks to these characteristics, it is possible to position the insulating blocks, or at least some of them, with certainty with respect to the anchoring members disposed in or next to the insulating blocks, preventing their sliding downwards. the support wall. The repeating unit formed by the insulating blocks can therefore be made accurately, in particular by catching a part of the deviations from a perfectly periodic pattern. Such differences are due in particular to the manufacturing tolerances of the support wall, which may be a wall of a supporting structure in which the tank is sealed and thermally insulating is constructed or a secondary thermally insulating barrier covered with a secondary waterproof membrane.

The positioning shims can also be used to position the insulating blocks in a horizontal direction of the support wall, also to make up for deviations from a perfectly periodic pattern.

The positioning wedge can be mounted in different ways on the protruding element between the support wall and the clamping element, which makes it possible to fix the positioning wedge easily and reliably in the vessel wall. It is important that the positioning wedge does not disassemble accidentally during the life of the tank.

In order to be able to catch differences of different amplitudes that may occur during the manufacture of such a tank, particularly because of manufacturing tolerances, it is desirable to have an inventory of positioning shims having different dimensions.

According to one embodiment, the positioning wedge is selected from a predetermined set of positioning wedges having different dimensions, to adjust the predetermined distance between the lateral surface of said at least one insulating block and the projecting element. Such a batch can be manufactured with dimensions progressing systematically along a predetermined scale, for example with a pitch of one or more millimeters.

According to one embodiment, the positioning wedge has a housing for receiving the projecting element. This housing can for example pass through the positioning wedge in a thickness direction of the positioning wedge.

According to one embodiment, a first abutment surface, for example parallel to the direction of thickness and / or width of the insulating block, is located at a first predetermined distance from the housing and oriented in a first direction around the housing and a second abutment surface is located at a second predetermined distance from the housing and oriented in a second direction around the housing, the locating wedge being configured to engage the protruding member in a first position in which the first abutment surface is turned towards the rising direction of the wall of support and in a second position in which the second abutment surface is turned towards the rising direction of the support wall.

Thus, the same positioning wedge can be used to make two different adjustments depending on the amplitude of the deviations to catch up, which limits an inventory of different positioning wedges to be used in the manufacture of the tank.

According to one embodiment, the first abutment surface and the second abutment surface are two opposite parallel surfaces of the positioning wedge disposed on either side of the housing.

According to one embodiment, the or each anchoring and positioning member comprises at least two projecting elements disposed between several of said insulating blocks juxtaposed and projecting towards the interior space of the tank.

In this case, the positioning wedge may have two housings passing through the positioning wedge in a direction of thickness of the positioning wedge to receive the two projecting elements, a first abutment surface parallel to the direction of thickness being located at a first predetermined distance from a first housing and a second abutment surface parallel to the first abutment surface being located at a second predetermined distance from a second housing, the locating wedge being configured to engage both protruding members in a first position in which the first abutment surface is facing the upward direction of the support wall for receiving the side surface of the insulating block and in a second position in which the second abutment surface is facing the upward direction of the support wall to receive the lat surface erale of the insulating block, the second position being permuted with respect to the first position.

The positioning wedge may be formed of a single piece or of several pieces.

According to a multi-piece embodiment, the positioning wedge comprises a support body having a lateral surface configured as a first abutment surface and a setting insert or an adjustment band having a predetermined thickness mounted on the first abutment surface in parallel. at the first abutment surface, a surface of the insert of setting or adjustment band being configured as a second abutment surface spaced from the first abutment surface by the predetermined thickness of the adjustment insert or adjustment band, the adjustment insert or adjustment band being removably mounted on the support body for selectively uncovering the first abutment surface or covering the first abutment surface with the adjustment insert or adjustment band, so that the lateral surface of said at least one insulating block stop against selectively the first or the second abutment surface of the positioning wedge.

In this case, the positioning wedge may further comprise one or more additional adjustment strips superimposed on the adjustment strip removably to allow the predetermined distance between the lateral surface of said at least one insulating block and the projecting element to be adjusted. .

Thus, the same positioning wedge can be used to make two different adjustments, or more, depending on the amplitude of the deviations to catch up, which limits an inventory of the different positioning wedges to be used in the manufacture of the tank. The adjustment insert or adjustment band and the or each additional adjustment band may be mounted on the support body by any appropriate method, for example gluing, screwing, snapping or interlocking.

According to another embodiment in several parts, the support body has a first fastener and the adjustment insert has a lateral surface configured as a second fastener adapted to removably attach to the first fastener for mounting the insert. on the support body, the adjustment insert having the lateral surface configured as a second abutment surface opposite the second attachment.

In this case, the adjustment insert can be selected from a predetermined set of adjustment inserts having different dimensions to adjust the predetermined distance between the lateral surface of said at least one insulating block and the projecting element. Such a batch can be manufactured with dimensions progressing systematically along a predetermined scale, for example with a pitch of one or more millimeters. The first and second fasteners can be made in different ways, for example as tenon and mortise, screw and tapped hole, plug and socket, etc.

The abutment surface and the lateral surface of the at least one insulating block may have different geometries. Preferably the abutment surface and the lateral surface of said at least one insulating block are flat and parallel.

The insulating blocks can be made in different ways. According to one embodiment, one or each parallelepipedic insulating block comprises a box in which the heat-insulating lining is housed, said box comprising a bottom panel, a cover panel and optionally side panels developing between said bottom panel and the cover panel. According to another embodiment, one or each parallelepiped insulating block comprises a bottom panel and a cover panel with an interposed foam block forming the heat-insulating lining.

Preferably, one or each insulating block comprises a bottom panel and the lateral surface of the insulating block abuts against the positioning wedge has a lateral surface of said bottom panel. Thus, the positioning wedge can be simply placed on the support surface at the same level as the bottom panels.

In this case, the bottom panel may have a generally rectangular shape with a re-entrant cutout at the four corners of the bottom panel, and an outer side surface of the re-entrant cutout of the bottom panel abuts against the positioning wedge.

According to one embodiment, the re-entrant cut-out of the bottom panel comprises two external lateral surfaces parallel to a lengthwise direction and a width direction of the bottom panel respectively and disposed in abutment with two mutually perpendicular abutment surfaces of the positioning wedge. .

According to another embodiment, the recessed cutout of the bottom panel has an external lateral surface oblique with respect to a direction of length and a width direction of the bottom panel and disposed in abutment against the abutment surface of the positioning block. . According to one embodiment, the sealed membrane of the or each vessel wall comprises a first series of undulations developing in a first direction, and a second series of undulation developing in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction.

The undulations of the waterproof membrane can be formed in different ways. According to embodiments, the corrugations project towards the interior of the vessel with respect to the flat portions, or the corrugations project towards the outside of the vessel with respect to the flat portions and are housed in grooves in the cover panels of the insulating blocks. In case of presence of several membranes, these embodiments are combinable.

The anchoring and positioning members may be arranged in different ways with respect to the insulating blocks. In particular, the anchoring and positioning member may be positioned to anchor or contribute to anchoring a single insulating block or several insulating blocks simultaneously, for example two, three or four insulating blocks.

According to one embodiment of the anchoring and positioning member, the projecting element is disposed between several of said juxtaposed insulating blocks and one or more of the insulating blocks between which the projecting element is disposed have an external lateral surface abutting against the stop surface of the positioning wedge.

According to one embodiment, the insulating blocks are arranged in the form of a plurality of rows parallel to one another, each row extending for example along a horizontal level line of the tank wall or obliquely, and anchoring and positioning member is disposed at an interface between at least two insulating blocks of a row. The stop surface of the positioning wedge cooperates with an external lateral surface of each of the at least two insulating blocks of the row, so that the positioning wedge maintains the external lateral surface of each of the at least two insulating blocks of the row. at a predetermined distance from the projecting element.

Advantageously, the anchoring and positioning member is disposed between an upper row of the insulating blocks located on the support surface above the anchoring and positioning member and a lower row of the insulating blocks located on the support surface below the anchoring and positioning member, and the abutment surface of the positioning wedge cooperates with an external lateral surface of each of the at least two insulating blocks of the upper row.

According to one embodiment, the anchoring and positioning member is disposed at an interface between at least two insulating blocks of the upper row and at an interface between at least two insulating blocks of the lower row. , the clamping element being configured to cooperate with the at least two insulating blocks of the upper row and the at least two insulating blocks of the lower row to clamp said insulating blocks against the support wall.

Thus, the anchoring and positioning member can contribute to simultaneously anchoring at least four insulating blocks.

According to another embodiment of the anchoring and positioning member, the projecting element is engaged in a housing formed in the thickness of an insulating block at a distance from the edges of the insulating block, the housing being delimited by a internal side surface of the insulating block, the inner lateral surface being in abutment against the abutment surface of the positioning shim.

The clamping element and the projecting element can be made in different ways. According to embodiments, the clamping element has a form of cross or rectangular plate. According to one embodiment, the projecting element comprises a threaded stud.

The support wall may be a wall of a supporting structure in which the sealed and thermally insulating tank is constructed.

In this case, the thermally insulating barrier may be unique and the waterproof membrane may be unique. Alternatively, the thermally insulating barrier may be a secondary heat-insulating barrier and the waterproof membrane a secondary waterproof membrane,

the vessel wall further comprising a primary heat-insulating barrier disposed on the secondary waterproof membrane and a primary waterproof membrane carried by said primary heat-insulating barrier. A shim is preferably arranged around the projecting element of the anchoring and positioning member and between the bearing structure and the positioning shim in the thickness direction of the vessel wall, the wedge of thickness having an inner surface on which the insulating blocks between which the projecting element is disposed are held in abutment by the clamping element.

The support wall may be a secondary heat-insulating barrier covered with a secondary waterproof membrane. In this case, the thermally insulating barrier is a primary thermally insulating barrier of the vessel wall, the impervious membrane carried by said primary heat-insulating barrier being a primary waterproof membrane, the vessel wall further comprising a secondary heat-insulating barrier covered by a secondary waterproof membrane and forming said support wall.

Preferably in this case, the protruding member of the anchoring and positioning member is attached to the secondary thermally insulating barrier and protrudes from the inner surface of the secondary waterproof membrane.

Such a tank can be part of an onshore storage facility, for example to store liquefied gas or be installed in a floating structure, coastal or deep water, including a LNG tanker, a LPG transport vessel, a floating unit storage and regasification (FSRU), a floating production and remote storage unit (FPSO) and others.

According to one embodiment, a vessel for the transport of a cold liquid product comprises a shell and a said tank disposed in the hull.

According to one embodiment, the invention also provides a method of loading or unloading such a vessel, in which a cold liquid product is conveyed through isolated pipes from or to a floating or land storage facility to or from the vessel vessel.

According to one embodiment, the invention also provides a transfer system for a cold liquid product, the system comprising the abovementioned vessel, insulated pipes arranged to connect the vessel installed in the hull of the vessel to a floating storage facility. or terrestrial and a pump for driving a flow of cold liquid product through the insulated pipelines from or to the floating or land storage facility to or from the vessel vessel. Brief description of the figures

The invention will be better understood, and other objects, details, characteristics and advantages thereof will appear more clearly in the course of the following description of several particular embodiments of the invention, given solely for illustrative and non-limiting purposes. with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a cut-away perspective view of a tank portion for the transport and / or storage of liquefied gas, illustrating a flat tank wall according to a first embodiment.

* Figure 2 is a sectional view of an anchoring member according to one embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the anchoring member of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a view from above of a detail of the flat tank wall of FIG. 1,

FIG. 5 is a cut-away perspective view of a tank portion for the transport and / or storage of liquefied gas, illustrating a flat tank wall according to a second embodiment.

Figure 6 is a perspective view of a clamping member according to one embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of a detail of the flat tank wall of FIG. 5.

* Figure 8 is a top view of a series of positioning wedges having different dimensions according to one embodiment.

* Figure 9 is a top view of a series of positioning wedges having different dimensions according to another embodiment.

* Figure 10 is a top view of a positioning wedge having a peelable adjustment band. Fig. 11 is an enlarged perspective view of the positioning wedge of Fig. 10 with the adjustment band partially removed.

Figures 12 and 13 are two perspective views of a positioning wedge having removable adjustment bands, in a disassembled state and in a mounted state.

Figures 14 and 15 are two perspective views of a support body showing two opposite faces of the support body.

Figure 16 is a perspective view of a series of adjustment inserts mountable to the support body of Figures 14 and 15 and having different thicknesses.

• Figure 17 is a schematic sectional view along the line XVII-XVII of Figure 18 of an insulating block in a flat tank wall according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 18 is a schematic top view of the insulating box of FIG. 17. FIG. 19 is a view similar to FIG. 7, showing the positioning wedge obtained by mounting the insert on the support body.

Figure 20 is a top view of a planar vessel wall according to a fourth embodiment.

Figure 21 is a top view of a switchable positioning shim in two mutually permuted positions.

Figure 22 is a top view of a planar vessel wall according to a fifth embodiment.

Fig. 23 is a top view of a planar vessel wall according to a sixth embodiment.

* Figure 24 is a schematic cutaway representation of a LNG tank vessel or LPG transport and a loading / unloading terminal of this vessel.

Detailed description of embodiments The figures are described below in the context of a support structure constituted by its internal walls of a double hull of a ship for the transport of liquefied gas. Such a carrier structure has a well known polyhedral geometry.

Each wall of the supporting structure carries a respective tank wall.

According to a first embodiment, each of the tank walls is composed of a single thermally insulating barrier carrying a single membrane that is tight in contact with a fluid stored in the tank, such as liquefied petroleum gas comprising butane and propane. propene or the like and having an equilibrium temperature between -50 ° C and 0 ° C.

Referring to Figures 1 to 4, will now be described in more detail a flat wall of the vessel. In this respect, it should be noted that the plane wall is made in a periodic pattern in both directions of the plane, which pattern can be repeated over more or less large areas depending on the dimensions of the surfaces to be covered. Therefore, the number of heat insulating elements 8 shown is not limiting can be modified in one direction or the other depending on the needs arising from the geometry of the carrier structure. In addition, on a large flat wall, there may exist locally or singular areas where the pattern must be modified to bypass an obstacle or accommodate a particular equipment. FIG. 1 illustrates a vertical or oblique wall of the tank according to the first embodiment. The arrow 100 indicates the steeper direction of the vessel wall and is oriented in the upward direction.

The thermally insulating barrier of the tank wall consists of a plurality of parallelepipedal heat-insulating elements 8 anchored on the entire supporting wall 1. The heat-insulating elements 8 together form a flat surface on which is anchored a waterproof membrane 12, illustrated in a manner flayed. The heat-insulating elements 8 are juxtaposed according to a regular rectangular mesh. The heat-insulating elements 8 are anchored on the load-bearing wall 1 by means of anchoring members 10 arranged at each node of the regular rectangular mesh.

Each insulating element 8 comprises a bottom panel 17, two longitudinal side panels 21, two transverse side panels 22 and a cover panel 19. All these panels are rectangular in shape and delimit an internal space of the heat insulating element. The bottom panel 17 and the cover panel 19 develop parallel to each other and parallel to the supporting wall 1. The side panels 21, 22 develop perpendicularly to the bottom panel 17 and connect the bottom panel 17 and the cover panel 19 on the whole periphery of the insulating element. Carrier spacers not shown may be arranged between the bottom panel 17 and the cover panel 19 in the inner space of the heat insulating element, parallel to the longitudinal side panels 21. The transverse side panels 22 developing perpendicularly to the panels longitudinal side 21 comprise orifices 23. These through holes 23 are intended to allow the circulation of inert gas in the thermally insulating barrier. The panels and carrier struts are attached by any suitable means, for example screws, staples or points, and together form a box in which is disposed a not shown heat seal. This heat-insulating lining is preferably non-structural, for example pearlite or glass wool or low-density polymer foam, for example of the order of 10 to 50 kg / m- ³ .

The bottom panel 17 has longitudinal flanges 11 protruding from the longitudinal side panels 21 and transverse flanges 56 projecting from the transverse side panels. Cleats 57 are carried by the longitudinal flanges 11, at the corners of the heat-insulating element 8 to cooperate with the anchoring members 10.

FIG. 1 also shows the caulk beads 60 on which a heat-insulating element 8 rests. These caulk beads 60 are preferably non-adhesive in order to allow sliding play of the heat-insulating element 8 with respect to the load-bearing wall 1. anchoring of the heat-insulating elements 8 to the supporting wall is carried out each time by means of four anchoring members 10 arranged at the four corners, in which an anchoring member 10 cooperates each time with four adjacent heat-insulating elements 8.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the anchoring members 10 are arranged at the corners of each heat-insulating element 8. Each batten 57 of the heat-insulating elements 8 co-operates with a respective anchoring member 10, the same bearing member 10 co-operating with the batten 57 of four adjacent heat insulating elements 8. The angles of the adjacent heat insulating elements 8 comprise a clearance jointly forming a chimney in line with the anchoring member 10. This chimney allows access to the fastener 10 during assembly. This chimney is filled with a heat-insulating lining 41 and covered with a shutter plate 42 so as to form a flat surface with the lining panels of the heat-insulating elements 8.

Figures 2 and 3 show an embodiment of the anchor member

10. A stud 38 is developed perpendicularly to the carrier wall 1. One end of the stud 38 opposite the carrier wall 1 comprises a thread. A support plate 39 of rectangular shape comprises a central orifice through which the stud 38 passes. A nut 40 is mounted on the threaded end of the stud 38. The support plate 39 of each stud 38 is thus held in abutment by said nut 40 against a tank-side face of the battens 57. FIG. 1 also shows a stack of Beileville washers 37 inserted between the support plate 39 and the nut 40 to resiliently press the support plate 39 onto the heat-insulating elements 8.

At the outer end, the threaded stud 38 is screwed into a split nut 61 housed in a hollow base 62. The hollow base 62 containing the split nut 61 has been previously welded to the supporting wall 1. Thus, the mounting of the threaded stud 38 is simple. Alternatively the threaded stud 38 can be directly welded to the carrier wall 1.

A shim 63 is placed on the carrier wall 1 around the hollow base 62 to receive the corners of the four adjacent heat insulating elements 8 which will rest thereon. Thickness shims 63 and caulk beads 60 serve to make up for flatness defects in the load-bearing wall and thus to provide a flat surface for resting the heat-insulating elements 8.

Furthermore, a positioning shim 64 protruding above the shim 63 is mounted on the shim 63, around the hollow base 62. The shims 64 serve as a stop for positioning the corners 8. Specifically, the longitudinal flange 11 is exactly the length of the longitudinal side panel 21 and the transverse flange 56 is exactly the length of the transverse side panel 22, so that the end surfaces of the longitudinal flange 1 1 and the transverse flange 56 at the corner form two orthogonal surfaces, which delimit a re-entrant cutout 9 with respect to the rectangular contour of the bottom panel 17, and which can come into contact with two corresponding facets of the positioning wedge 64. The positioning wedge 64 and the shim 63 could be made in one piece, but this would require greatly increasing the number of shims to cover all the dimensional combinations.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged top view of the tank wall perpendicular to an anchoring member 10 and more precisely shows the position of the four heat-insulating elements 8 with respect to the positioning wedge 84. The wedge of 63 and the support plate 39 are sketched in broken lines.

With respect to the direction of greater slope 100, the insulating blocks are arranged in the form of a plurality of rows parallel to horizontal level lines, namely here an upper row 3 and a lower row 4. 10 is anchored between the upper row 3 and the lower row 4 and at an interface between two heat insulating elements 8 of the upper row 3 and at an interface between two heat insulating elements 8 of the lower row 4. Thus , the support plate 39 cooperates both with the two heat-insulating elements 8 of the upper row 3 and the two heat-insulating elements 8 of the lower row 4 to clamp the four heat-insulating elements 8 against the supporting wall 1.

The positioning shim 64 is arranged on the high side of the hollow base 62 and has a first abutment surface 5 facing upwards from the supporting wall which abuts the end surfaces of the longitudinal flange 11 of the two heat-insulating elements. 8 of the upper row 3. This stop ensures a certain and durable positioning of the heat-insulating elements 8 along the direction of greater slope 100.

Furthermore, the positioning wedge 64 has a second abutment surface 6 turned towards the side which abuts the end surfaces of the transverse flange 56 of the two heat-insulating elements 8 located on the right of FIG. certain and durable positioning of the heat-insulating elements 8 along the direction perpendicular to the direction of greater slope 100. Because of the positioning sets, a gap then remains between the opposite surface 7 of the positioning wedge 64 and the surfaces of end of the transverse flange 56 of the two heat-insulating elements 8 located on the left of FIG. Of course, the choice to abut the heat insulating elements 8 by the right side or the left side is technically equivalent if the rows of heat insulating elements 8 are horizontal. On the other hand, if the rows of heat-insulating elements 8 are oblique, it is preferable to stop the side of the heat-insulating element 8 where the lowest corner is located. Thus, the abutment position of the heat-insulating element 8 against the positioning wedge 64 is a stable position under the effect of the weight of the heat-insulating element 8.

By placing the heat-insulating elements 8 against the positioning shims 64, it can be seen that the anchoring member 10 also provides a positioning function for the heat-insulating elements 8. In the embodiment described above, it is preferable to that all the anchoring members 10 are anchoring and positioning members so that all the heat-insulating elements 8 of the wall are reliably positioned. In one embodiment, the positioning wedge 64 could be omitted from some of the anchoring members 10, especially if the anchoring members 10 were even more numerous. The positioning shim 64 has internal recesses facing the two heat insulating elements 8 of the upper row 3 to give flexibility when placing the shim 64 on the base 62 and thus to facilitate its installation .

Returning to FIG. 1, the waterproof membrane 12 consists of a plurality of metal plates juxtaposed to each other with overlap. These metal plates are preferably rectangular in shape. The metal plates are welded together to seal the waterproof membrane. Each insulating element 8 has on one tank side two perpendicular anchoring strips 14 housed in respective countersinks and screwed or riveted to the cover panels. The anchor strips 14 are preferably arranged parallel to the corrugations 13. The anchor strips 14 develop on a central portion of the counterbores in which they are housed. Thermal protections 54 are housed in the ends of the countersinks.

The corners and edges of the metal plates are situated in line with the anchoring strips 14 of the heat-insulating elements 8 which support the waterproof membrane 12. The metal plates of the waterproof membrane 12 are welded to the anchoring strips 14 on which they rest . Thermal protections 54 prevent the degradation of the heat-insulating elements 8 during the welding of the metal plates to each other along their edges. The thermal protections 54 are made of a heat-resistant material, for example a composite material based on glass fibers. The welding of the metal plates on the anchor strips 14 makes it possible to retain the waterproof membrane 12 on the insulating barrier.

In order to allow the deformation of the watertight membrane in response to the various stresses experienced by the vessel, in particular in response to the thermal contraction resulting from the charging of liquefied gas in the vessel, the metal plates comprise a plurality of corrugations 13 oriented towards the vessel. inside the tank. More particularly, the waterproof membrane 12 comprises a first series of corrugations 13 and a second series of corrugations 13 forming a regular rectangular pattern.

Figure 1 also shows that each corrugated metal plate has a thickness shift in a raised edge area 86 along two out of four edges, the other two edges being flat. The raised edge area 86 serves to cover the flat edge region of an adjacent metal plate and will eventually be welded thereto continuously to provide a tight connection between the two metal plates. The raised edge area 86 is obtained by a folding operation also known as jogging.

The technique described above for producing a tank with a single sealed membrane can also be used in different types of tanks, for example to form a double membrane tank for liquefied natural gas (LNG) in a land installation or in a floating structure like a LNG carrier or other. In this context, it can be considered that the waterproof membrane illustrated in the previous figures is a secondary waterproof membrane, and a primary insulating barrier and a primary waterproof membrane, not shown, must be added to this secondary waterproof membrane. In this way, this technique can also be applied to tanks having a plurality of thermally insulating barrier and superimposed waterproof membranes. A second embodiment of the planar tank wall, more particularly adapted to a double-diaphragm tank, will now be described with reference to FIGS. 5 to 7.

In Figure 5, there is shown in broken view the multilayer structure of a sealed and thermally insulating tank for storing a fluid.

The wall of the tank comprises, from the outside to the inside of the tank, a secondary thermal insulation barrier 201 comprising insulating blocks 202 juxtaposed and fixed to the supporting structure 203, a secondary waterproof membrane 204 carried by the blocks insulators 202 of the secondary thermal insulation barrier 201, a primary thermal insulation barrier 205 comprising insulating blocks 206 juxtaposed and anchored to the insulating blocks 202 of the secondary thermal insulation barrier 201 by primary retaining members and a membrane primary seal 207, carried by the insulating blocks 206 of the primary thermal insulation barrier 205 and intended to be in contact with the cryogenic fluid contained in the tank.

The supporting structure 203 may in particular be a self-supporting metal sheet or, more generally, any type of rigid partition having suitable mechanical properties. The support structure 203 may in particular be formed by the hull or the double hull of a ship. The supporting structure 203 has a plurality of walls defining the general shape of the vessel, usually a polyhedral shape.

The secondary thermal insulation barrier 201 comprises a plurality of insulating blocks 202 bonded to the carrier structure 203 by means of adhesive resin cords, not shown. The resin beads must be sufficiently adhesive to insure alone the anchoring of the insulating blocks 202. Alternatively or in combination, the insulating blocks 202 may be anchored by means of the aforementioned anchoring members 10 or similar mechanical devices placed on the periphery of the blocks. insulators 202 or in the interior of the insulating blocks 202. The insulating blocks 202 have substantially a rectangular parallelepiped shape.

As illustrated in FIG. 5, the insulating blocks 202 are juxtaposed in parallel rows and separated from each other by interstices guaranteeing a functional assembly play. The insulating blocks 202 of the secondary thermally insulating barrier carry primary anchoring members 219, for example threaded studs or metal rods, and the primary thermally insulating barrier comprises a plurality of juxtaposed rectangular parallelepiped insulating blocks 206 anchored to the primary anchoring members. .

The secondary waterproof membrane 204 comprises for example a plurality of corrugated metal plates each having a substantially rectangular shape. The corrugated metal plates are arranged offset from the insulating blocks 202 of the secondary thermal insulation barrier 201 so that each of said corrugated metal plates extends together over at least four adjacent insulating blocks 202.

The secondary waterproof membrane 204 has cutouts for projecting the primary anchoring members 219 over the secondary waterproof membrane 204, and edges of the cutouts of the secondary waterproof membrane 204 are sealingly welded to anchors metallic insulating blocks 202 of the secondary thermally insulating barrier around the primary anchoring members 219. Preferably, these cuts are made on the edges of the rectangular plates, but they can also be made in a flat portion located within a rectangular plate.

For example, the insulating blocks 202 each comprise an insulating polymeric foam layer sandwiched between an inner rigid plate which forms a cover panel and an outer rigid plate which constitutes a bottom panel. The inner and outer rigid plates are, for example, plywood boards bonded to said insulating polymeric foam layer. The insulating polymer foam may in particular be a polyurethane-based foam. The polymeric foam is advantageously reinforced by glass fibers contributing to reducing its thermal contraction.

The inner plate 210 has two series of two grooves, perpendicular to each other, so as to form a network of grooves. Each series of grooves is parallel to two opposite sides of the insulating blocks 202. The grooves 5 are intended to receive corrugations 13 protruding towards the outside of the tank, formed on the metal sheets of the sealing barrier. secondary 204. Each corrugated metal plate has a first series of parallel corrugations 13 extending in a first direction and a second series of parallel corrugations 13 extending in a second direction. The directions of the series of corrugations 13 are perpendicular. Each of the series of corrugations 13 is parallel to two opposite edges of the corrugated metal plate. The corrugations 13 protrude towards the outside of the vessel, that is to say in the direction of the carrier structure 203. The corrugated metal plate comprises between the corrugations 13 a plurality of planar portions. At each crossing between two corrugations 13, the metal sheet has a node zone. The knot area has a central portion having an apex projecting outwardly of the vessel.

The secondary waterproof membrane 204 is, for example, made of Invar®: that is to say an alloy of iron and nickel whose expansion coefficient is typically between 1, 2 × 10 ⁶ and 2 × 10 ^-6 K ^-1 , or in an iron alloy with a high manganese content whose expansion coefficient is typically of the order of 7 × 10 ^-6 K ^-1 . Alternatively, the secondary waterproof membrane 204 may also be made of stainless steel or aluminum.

For the realization of the primary thermal insulation barrier 205 and the primary waterproof membrane 207, various known techniques can be employed, for example as taught in WO-A-2016046487.

As shown in Figure 5, the primary thermal insulation barrier 205 here comprises a plurality of insulating blocks 206 of substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape. The insulating blocks 206 are offset relative to the insulating blocks 202 of the secondary thermal insulation barrier 201 so that each insulating block 206 extends over several insulating blocks 202 of the secondary thermal insulation barrier 201, for example on four or eight insulating blocks 202.

Like the heat-insulating elements 8 of the first embodiment, the insulating blocks 206 are able to move by sliding on the secondary waterproof membrane 204 if they are only held by clamping. To avoid this, at least on a non-horizontal wall or on all the walls, at least some of the primary anchoring members 219, for example those located at the corners located at the bottom of the insulating blocks 206, are configured as organs. anchor and for primary positioning so that the insulating blocks 206 of the wall are reliably positioned. For this, a positioning wedge may be arranged similarly to the positioning wedge 84 of the first embodiment.

The attachment of an insulating block 206 of the primary thermal insulation barrier 205 to an anchoring and primary positioning member carried by the secondary thermal insulation barrier 201 may be carried out, in one embodiment, in the manner FIG. 7 is a view from above of the primary thermal insulation barrier 205 directly above the zone VII of FIG. 5, showing an embodiment of the anchoring member and of FIG. primary positioning.

The primary anchoring and positioning member has a stud 15 projecting from the secondary waterproof membrane 204 in a square shaped recess formed between the adjacent corners of four of the insulating blocks 206. The recess 30 is formed at the by means of a re-entrant cut-out 7 formed in each corner of each insulating block 206, the insulating block 206 comprises a diagonal groove 18 which discovers an area 29 of the external rigid plate adjacent to the re-entrant cut-out 7.

A clamping element 65 in the form of a cross sketched in FIG. 7 comprises lugs 68 housed inside the diagonal grooves 18 and bearing against the zone 29 of the outer plate uncovered inside the groove, so that sandwiching the outer plate between a lug 68 and an insulating block 202 of the secondary thermal insulation barrier 201. The clamping element 65 is engaged on the stud 15. Moreover, a not shown nut cooperates with the thread of the stud 15 so as to secure the clamping element 65,

A positioning wedge 16 is engaged on the stud 15 between the clamping element 65 and the secondary diaphragm portion 204 uncovered at the bottom of the clearance 30. For this, the clamping element 65 may be formed as illustrated in FIG. 6, with a generally domed shape comprising a central portion 67 in which the positioning wedge 16 can be accommodated, and lugs 68 bent towards the outer side of the vessel relative to the central portion 67. The end of each leg 68 has a portion parallel to the central portion 67 to support flat on the zone 29 of the outer plate. The central portion 67 has a bore 66 for the passage of the stud 15.

The positioning wedge can be realized in different ways. In the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 8, the positioning wedge 16 has a bore 20 with a slot 21 to provide an elastic clearance for engaging the positioning wedge 16 on a suitable portion of the stud 15. A surface planar stop 22 is disposed at a predetermined distance from the bore 20 and rotated in the rising direction of the operating vessel wall. A side surface of the outer plate of the two insulating blocks 206 located higher than the positioning wedge abuts against the flat abutment surface 22. This side surface is located here in the recess cutout 7 formed in the corner of the insulating block 206 .

FIG. 8 shows a set of positioning shims 16 having different dimensions for adjusting the predetermined distance between the lateral surface of the insulating block 206 and the stud 15. This batch is here manufactured with dimensions progressing systematically along a predetermined scale, for example with a pitch of three millimeters. A mark 24 indicating the size of the shim 16 may be printed or engraved thereon to facilitate assembly operations. The mark 24 here indicates the dimension as a deviation from a nominal dimension marked "0". A color code may be used alternately or in combination with the mark 24.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 9, the positioning wedge 25 is asymmetrical and has a bore 26 for receiving the stud 15, a first abutment surface 27 located at a first predetermined distance from the bore 26 and oriented in a direction. first direction and a second abutment surface 28 located at a second predetermined distance from the bore 26 and oriented in a second direction, opposite to the first abutment surface 27.

The positioning wedge 25 can be engaged on the stud 15 in two positions rotated 180 ° relative to each other, so that the first abutment surface 27 or the second abutment surface 28 is turned towards the rising direction and receives the lateral surface of the insulating blocks 206 located more high. Otherwise the abutment surfaces 27 and 28 could be oriented at 90 ° from each other or at another angle. A greater number of abutment surfaces could be provided.

Figure 9 shows a set of positioning wedges 25 having different dimensions, knowing that each copy already provides two dimensions corresponding to two settings. Marks 24 indicating the two dimensions can be used as in the positioning wedge 16.

Figures 10 and 11 illustrate a locating wedge 31 having a support body 32 having a side surface 33 configured as a first abutment surface and an adjusting band 34 having a predetermined thickness mounted on the first abutment surface. A surface 35 of the adjustment band 34 is configured as a second abutment surface spaced from the first abutment surface by the predetermined thickness of the adjustment band. The adjustment band 34 is removably mounted on the support body 32. Thus, depending on whether the adjustment band 34 is present or absent, the positioning block 31 also provides two dimensions corresponding to two settings. Marks 24 indicating the two dimensions can be used as in the positioning wedge 16.

In the embodiment of FIGS. 12 and 13, the positioning wedge 44 comprises a support body 45 provided with a bore 46 and a plurality of adjustment bands 47 removably superposed on the support body 45 to allow the distance to be adjusted. between the abutment surface 48 and the bore 46. The adjustment strips 47 are here mounted with screws 49, but other joining techniques are possible.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 14 to 16 and 19, the positioning wedge 50 comprises a support body 51 having two opposite lateral surfaces configured as dovetail tenons 52. Alternatively, more or less two tail pegs. dovetail could be provided. An adjusting insert 53 has a lateral surface configured as a dovetail groove 54 is adapted to engage one or the other of the dovetail pins 52 to removably attach the insert of adjustment 53 on the support body 51. The adjustment insert 53 has a lateral surface 55 configured as an abutment surface opposite the dovetail groove 54.

Figures 14 and 15 show two faces of the support body 51. Figures 16-18 show a predetermined batch of three adjustment inserts 53 having different dimensions. FIG. 19 is a view similar to FIG. 7 showing the use of the positioning shim 50 for positioning the insulating blocks 206 with respect to the stud 15.

FIG. 21 schematically illustrates, in two different positions, an anchoring and positioning member 82 that can be used in the tank walls described above. The anchoring and positioning member 82 comprises two projecting elements 83, 84 arranged between several of said insulating blocks juxtaposed and project towards the interior space of the tank.

The positioning wedge 85 has two housings 86, 87 passing through the positioning wedge 85 according to the thickness to receive the two projecting elements 83, 84. A first abutment surface 88 is located at a first distance b from the center of the housing 86 and a second abutment surface 89 parallel to the first abutment surface 88 is located at a second distance B from the center of the housing 87.

The positioning wedge 85 can be engaged on the two salient elements 83, 84 in the two positions shown, the second position being permuted with respect to the first position.

Figure 20 schematically illustrates another vessel wall employing anchoring and positioning members 90 arranged at the corners of the insulating blocks 91. The waterproof membrane is omitted.

Here, the insulating blocks 91 have an octagonal contour from a rectangle whose corners have been cut obliquely. The oblique surfaces 92 situated at the bottom of the insulating blocks 91 cooperate with the equally oblique abutment surfaces 95 of two positioning blocks 93.

To hold the positioning wedges 93 and the clamping element (not shown) the anchoring and positioning member 90 here comprises five projecting rods 94 and each positioning wedge 93 is engaged on two of them. A greater or lesser number of protruding stems could, however, be planned. For the rest, the implementation may be similar to the embodiments described above.

The periodic pattern with which the insulating blocks are arranged is not necessarily a regular rectangular mesh. FIGS. 22 and 23 illustrate a different pattern, in which the insulating blocks have a rectangular contour and comprise insulating blocks 96 whose length is oriented in the direction of greatest slope 100, and insulating blocks 97 whose width is oriented according to the direction of greater slope 100, alternated with each other.

In FIG. 22 and FIG. 23, the lateral surface 98 located at the bottom of an insulating block 97 cooperates with two positioning shims 99 situated at two longitudinal ends of the insulating block 97. To hold the positioning shims 99 and the element clamping device (not shown) the anchoring and positioning member 101 here comprises five or seven protruding rods 102 and each positioning wedge 99 is engaged on two of them. A greater or lesser number of protruding stems could, however, be expected. For the rest, the implementation may be similar to the embodiments described above.

The positioning shims 99 are rectangular plates which are employed in two different orientations between FIG. 22 and FIG. 23. In FIG. 22, the abutment surface is parallel to the width of the positioning shim 99. A longitudinal dimension of the positioning wedge 99 thus serves to adjust the positioning of the insulating block 97 relative to the anchoring and positioning member 101.

In FIG. 23, the abutment surface is parallel to the length of the positioning wedge 99. A transverse dimension of the positioning wedge 99 thus serves to adjust the positioning of the insulating block 97 with respect to the anchoring member and positioning 101.

The positioning shims described above can be used in a similar way with anchoring members made differently, for example the anchoring members taught in FR-A-2887010, FR-A-2973098 or WO-A-2013093262. .

FIGS. 17 and 18 show yet another embodiment of the vessel wall in which, unlike the previous embodiments, the positioning wedge 364 cooperates with an internal lateral surface of a block 308. The elements similar or identical to those of Figure 1 bear the same reference numeral increased by 300.

More specifically, the insulating block 308 is part of a repeated series of insulating blocks which covers a support surface 301 on which are fixed projecting rods 338 for anchoring the insulating blocks 308. To accommodate the rod 338 and a clamping member 339 which will then be fixed thereto, the insulating block 308 each comprises a housing formed at a distance from the edges, for example in a central zone of the insulating block 308, in the thickness of the insulating block 308.

In the example shown, the insulating block comprises a block of insulating material 58, for example polyurethane foam, sandwiched between a cover panel 319 and a bottom panel 317, for example of plywood. The housing here comprises a chimney 59 which traverses the entire thickness of the cover panel 319 and the block of insulating material 58 to reveal a zone 69 of the bottom panel on which the clamping member 339 exerts pressure in the mounted position.

The housing further comprises a bore 309 formed through the bottom panel 317 in the extension of the chimney 59 to receive the rod 338. To position the insulating block 308 relative to the rod 338, the positioning wedge 364 is engaged on the rod 338 and cooperates with the inner side surface of the bore 309. Thus it is an inner side surface of the bottom panel 317 which comes into contact with the positioning wedge 364.

Alternatively, the shim 364 could be positioned higher in the chimney 59, above or below the clamping element 339, including providing a protective coating on the area of the insulating material where the shim positioning comes in contact. The chimney 59 is filled with a heat-insulating lining 341 after the insertion of the clamping element 339.

The positioning wedge 364 may have different shapes, designed to come into contact with one or more zones of the inner lateral surface of the bore 309. In the example of FIG. 18, the elliptical shape of the positioning wedge 364 presents two stop zones oriented obliquely with respect to the direction of greater slope 100. In the example, the elliptical shape is asymmetrical so as to allow the shim to be used to position the panel in two different cases by rotating the shim 180 °. The cutting line XVII- XVI! goes through one of the two stop zones. Other forms are conceivable, including regular or irregular polygonal shapes.

For simplicity, the positioning shims described above are preferably made of injection-molded plastic, for example high-density polyethylene. Other materials, especially metal, can also be used. In addition, the mounting of the positioning wedges by engagement on a rod, stud or other protruding element of the anchoring member can be realized very quickly.

Referring to Figure 24, a cutaway view of a LNG tank 70 shows a sealed and insulated tank 71 of generally prismatic shape mounted in the double hull 72 of the ship. The wall of the tank 71 comprises a primary sealed barrier intended to be in contact with the liquefied gas contained in the tank, a secondary waterproof barrier arranged between the primary waterproof barrier and the double hull 72 of the ship, and two insulating barriers arranged respectively between the primary watertight barrier and the secondary watertight barrier and between the secondary watertight barrier and the double hull 72. In a simplified version, the vessel comprises a single hull.

In a manner known per se, loading / unloading lines 73 arranged on the upper deck of the ship can be connected, by means of appropriate connectors, to a marine or port terminal for transferring a cargo of liquefied gas from or to the tank 71.

FIG. 24 represents an example of a marine terminal comprising a loading and unloading station 75, an underwater pipe 76 and an onshore installation 77. The loading and unloading station 75 is a fixed off-shore installation comprising an arm mobile 74 and a tower 78 which supports the movable arm 74. The movable arm 74 carries a bundle of insulated flexible pipes 79 that can connect to the loading / unloading pipes 73. The movable arm 74 can be adapted to all gauges of LNG carriers . A connection pipe (not shown) extends inside the tower 78. The loading and unloading station 75 enables the loading and unloading of the LNG tank 70 from or to the shore facility 77. liquefied gas storage tanks 80 and connecting lines 81 connected by underwater pipe 76 to the loading or unloading station 75. Underwater pipe 76 allows the transfer of the liquefied gas between the loading or unloading station 75 and the onshore installation 77 over a large distance, for example 5 km, which makes it possible to keep the LNG ship 70 at a great distance from the coast during operations loading and unloading.

In order to generate the pressure necessary for the transfer of the liquefied gas, pumps on board the ship 70 and / or pumps equipping the shore installation 77 and / or pumps equipping the loading and unloading station 75 are used.

Although the invention has been described in connection with several particular embodiments, it is obvious that it is not limited thereto and that it comprises all the technical equivalents of the means described and their combinations if they are within the scope of the invention.

The use of the verb "to include", "to understand" or "to include" and its conjugated forms does not exclude the presence of other elements or steps other than those set out in a claim.

In the claims, any reference sign in parentheses can not be interpreted as a limitation of the claim.

Claims

1 sealed and thermally insulating vessel having a plurality of vessel walls defining an interior space of the vessel, said vessel walls including at least one non-horizontal vessel wall, the non-horizontal vessel wall comprising:

a non-horizontal support wall (1, 204),

a plurality of anchoring members (10, 219) disposed on an inner surface of the support wall,

a thermally insulating barrier having a plurality of insulating blocks (8, 206, 91, 96, 97, 308) juxtaposed in a repeating pattern on the inner surface of the support wall and anchored to the support wall by means of anchoring, and

a waterproof membrane (12, 207) carried by said thermally insulating barrier, wherein the anchoring members comprise an anchoring and positioning member, said anchoring and positioning member comprising:

a projecting element (62, 38, 15, 94, 102, 338) projecting towards the interior space of the tank in or next to an insulating block,

a clamping element (39, 65) attached directly or indirectly to the projecting element and extending transversely to the projecting element to cooperate with the insulating block (8, 206, 91, 96, 97, 308) in or which side the projecting element is arranged to clamp said insulating block against the support wall, and

a positioning wedge (64, 16, 25, 31, 44, 50, 93, 85, 99, 364) cooperating with the projecting element (62, 38, 15, 94, 102) and arranged above or below under the clamping member (39, 65, 339) in a thickness direction of the vessel wall, the positioning wedge having a stop surface (5, 22, 27, 28, 33, 35, 48, 55, 88, 89, 95) facing an upward direction of the support wall, the rising direction being parallel or oblique to a steeper direction (100) of the support wall,

wherein a side surface (11, 7, 92, 98, 309) of the insulating block (8, 206, 91, 96, 97, 308) in or beside which the projecting member is disposed abuts against the surface of abutment of the positioning wedge, so that the positioning wedge maintains the lateral surface of said insulating block at a predetermined distance from the projecting element (62, 38, 15, 94, 102, 338). 2 tank according to claim 1, wherein the projecting element (62, 38, 15, 94, 102) of an anchoring and positioning member is disposed between several of said insulating blocks juxtaposed, and at least one of the insulating blocks between which the projecting element (62, 38, 15, 94, 102) is arranged has an external lateral surface (11, 7, 92, 98) abutting against the abutment surface of the positioning wedge.

3 tank according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the projecting element (338) of an anchoring and positioning member is engaged in a housing (309, 59) formed in the thickness of the insulating block (308) to distance from the edges of the insulating block, the housing (309, 59) being delimited by an internal lateral surface of the insulating block, the internal lateral surface being in abutment against the abutment surface of the positioning shim (364).

4 tank according to one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the abutment surface and the side surface of said at least one insulating block are flat and parallel.

Vessel according to one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the positioning wedge (25) has a housing (26) for receiving the projecting element, a first abutment surface (27) located at a first predetermined distance from the housing and oriented in a first direction around the housing and a second abutment surface (28) at a second predetermined distance from the housing and oriented in a second direction about the housing, the locating wedge being configured to engage the element protruding into a first position in which the first abutment surface is facing the upward direction of the support wall and in a second position in which the second abutment surface is facing the upward direction of the support wall.

The vessel of claim 5, wherein the first abutment surface (27) and the second abutment surface (28) are two opposite, parallel surfaces of the locating wedge disposed on either side of the housing.

7 tank according to one of claims 1 to 4, wherein said anchoring and positioning member comprises at least two projecting elements (83, 84) disposed between a plurality of said insulating blocks juxtaposed and projecting towards the interior space of the tank,

the positioning wedge (85) presenting two recesses (86, 87) passing through the hold positioning in a direction of thickness of the positioning wedge for receiving the two projecting elements, a first abutment surface (88) located at a first predetermined distance (b) from a first of the housings and a second abutment surface ( 89) parallel to the first abutment surface located at a second predetermined distance (B) from a second one of the housings, the positioning wedge being configured to be engaged on the two projecting elements in a first position in which the first surface of stop is facing the rising direction of the support wall for receiving the lateral surface of the insulating block and in a second position in which the second abutment surface is turned towards the rising direction of the support wall for receiving the lateral surface of the block insulator, the second position being permuted with respect to the first position,

Vessel according to one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the positioning wedge (31) comprises a support body (32, 45, 51) having a lateral surface configured as a first abutment surface (33, 52) and a an adjusting insert (34, 47, 53) having a predetermined thickness mounted on the first abutment surface parallel to the first abutment surface, a surface of the adjusting insert being configured as spaced second abutment surface (35, 55) of the first abutment surface by the predetermined thickness of the adjusting insert, the adjusting insert (34, 47, 53) being removably mounted on the support body for selectively uncovering the first abutment surface or covering the first abutment surface with the adjusting insert, so that the lateral surface of said at least one insulating block selectively abuts against the first or second abutment surface of the locating wedge .

9 tank according to claim 8, wherein the adjusting insert (34, 47, 53) is mounted on the support body by gluing, screwing, clutching or interlocking.

Tank according to claim 8 or 9, wherein the adjusting insert (34, 47) is configured as a control band and the positioning block (44) further comprises one or more additional control strips (47) superimposed on each other. the adjustment strip removably to allow to adjust the predetermined distance between the lateral surface of said at least one insulating block and the projecting element. 11 tank according to claim 10, wherein the or each additional adjustment band (47) is mounted on an underlying adjusting strip by gluing, screwing, snap or interlocking.

Tank according to one of claims 8 to 9, wherein the adjusting insert (53) is selected from a predetermined batch of adjusting inserts having different dimensions, for adjusting the predetermined distance between the lateral surface of said at least one an insulating block and the projecting element.

Tank according to one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the positioning wedge (16, 25) is formed in one piece.

A vessel according to claim 13, wherein the positioning wedge (16, 25) is selected from a predetermined set of positioning wedges having different dimensions, for adjusting the predetermined distance between the lateral surface of said at least one insulation block and the salient element.

Vessel according to one of Claims 1 to 14, in which the insulating blocks (8, 206, 91) are arranged in the form of a plurality of rows parallel to one another (3, 4), in which a body of anchoring and positioning (10, 15) is disposed at an interface between at least two insulating blocks (8, 206) of a row, and wherein the abutment surface (5, 22, 27, 28, 33 , 35, 48, 55, 88, 89) of the positioning wedge (64, 16, 25, 31, 44, 50) cooperates with an external lateral surface of each of the at least two insulating blocks of the row, so that the positioning wedge maintains the outer lateral surface of each of the at least two insulating blocks of the row at a predetermined distance from the projecting element.

Tank according to claim 15, wherein the anchoring and positioning member (10, 15) is disposed between an upper row (3) of the insulating blocks located on the support surface above the body of the body. anchoring and positioning and a lower row (4) of the insulating blocks located on the support surface below the anchoring and positioning member, wherein the abutment surface (5, 22, 27, 28, 33, 35, 48, 55, 88, 89) of the locating wedge (64, 16, 25, 31, 44, 50) cooperates with an outer side surface of each of the at least two insulating blocks of the upper row.

A vessel according to claim 16, wherein the anchoring and positioning member (10, 15) is disposed at an interface between at least one two insulating blocks (8, 208) of the upper row (3) and at an interface between at least two insulating blocks (8, 206) of the lower row (4), the clamping element (39, 65) ) being configured to cooperate with the at least two insulating blocks of the upper row and the at least two insulating blocks of the lower row to clamp said insulating blocks against the support wall,

Tank according to claim 17, wherein the clamping element (85) has a cross shape.

19 tank according to one of claims 1 to 18, wherein the support wall is a wall (1) of a bearing structure in which the sealed and thermally insulating tank is constructed.

Tank according to claim 19, wherein a shim (83) is arranged around the projecting member (82, 38) of the anchoring and positioning member (10) and between the bearing structure and the positioning wedge (64) in the thickness direction of the vessel wall, the shim (63) having an inner surface on which the insulating blocks (8) between which the projecting element is arranged are held in abutment by the clamping element.

The vessel according to one of claims 1 to 20, wherein said thermally insulating barrier is a primary thermally insulating barrier (205) of the vessel wall, the impervious membrane carried by said primary thermally insulating barrier being a primary waterproof membrane (207). ), the vessel wall further comprising a secondary heat-insulating barrier (201) covered with a secondary waterproof membrane (204) and forming said support wall.

A vessel according to claim 21, wherein the protruding member (15) of the anchoring and positioning member is attached to the secondary heat-insulating barrier (201) and protrudes from the inner surface of the watertight membrane. secondary (204).

Tank according to one of Claims 1 to 22, in which each insulating block (8, 206) comprises a bottom panel (17, 29) and the lateral surface (1 1, 7) of the insulating block abuts against the hold. positioning means has a side surface of said bottom panel.

Vessel according to claim 23, wherein the bottom panel (17, 29) has a generally rectangular shape with a re-entrant cutout (9, 7) at the four corners of the bottom panel, in which a surface external side of the recessed cutout of the bottom panel is in abutment with the positioning wedge (64, 16, 25, 31, 44, 50).

Vessel according to claim 24, wherein the recess (9) of the bottom panel has two outer side surfaces (11, 56) parallel to a length direction and a width direction respectively of the bottom panel (17) and arranged abutting against two mutually perpendicular abutment surfaces (5, 6) of the positioning wedge (64).

Vessel according to claim 24, wherein the recessed cutout of the bottom panel has an outer side surface (92) oblique to a length direction and a width direction of the bottom panel and abutting against the abutment surface (95) of the positioning wedge (93).

27 Vessel (70) for the transport of a cold liquid product, the vessel comprising a hull (72) and a vessel according to one of claims 1 to 26 disposed in the hull.

A method of loading or unloading a vessel (70) according to claim 27, wherein a cold liquid product is conveyed through insulated pipes (73, 79, 76, 81) to or from a floating or land storage facility (77) to or from the vessel vessel (71).

A transfer system for a cold liquid product, the system comprising a ship (70) according to claim 27, insulated pipes (73, 79, 76, 81) arranged to connect the tank (71) installed in the hull of the vessel. ship to a floating or land storage facility (77) and a pump for driving a flow of cold liquid product through the insulated pipelines from or to the floating or land storage facility to or from the vessel vessel.