GB1048596A - Cryogenic storage tank - Google Patents

Abstract

1,048,596. Storing liquefied gas. TEXAS EASTERN TRANSMISSION CORPORATION. May 29, 1964, No. 22296/64. Heading F4P. In a tank, Fig. 2B (not shown), for storing liquefied gas having an outer supporting concrete shell 13, 14 provided with a lining of insulation 25, a lining of sheet material 32 impervious to liquid or vapour is disposed between the insulation 25 and a layer of non- rigid material 29, and the insulation 25, the sheet 32 and the material 29 are held in place by outwardly urged shoes 37 which abut the material 29. The insulation 25 is composed of a plurality of blocks 26 arranged in layers 27, 28 with the joints 31 between the blocks in adjacent layers being staggered. The blocks 26 and the layer of material 29 are preferably made of a cellular expanded plastic, e.g. urethane. The shoes 37, Fig. 4 (not shown), are supported by a plurality of vertically extending members 38 and are urged outwardly against the material 29 by compression springs 39 disposed between abutments 41 located at the ends of adjacent shoes. A modified method of supporting and outwardly urging the shoes 37 is described with reference to Fig. 5 (not shown). To allow for expansion and contraction, the concrete wall 14 of the outer shell is separated from the concrete floor 13 by a plate 16, a layer of " Teflon 21 " (Trade Mark) and a sheet-metal shield 22. The concrete wall and floor may be integral and the wall 14 is preferably prestressed with a wrapping of wire 23. In order to prevent the formation of frost and ice below the tank, gas to be liquefied is passed through conduits 12, Fig. 1 (not shown), disposed below the tank before being liquefied by equipment 56 and injected into the tank through a conduit 57. A pump 59 is provided for withdrawing liquefied gas from the tank. A series of narrow grooves 51, 49 are provided respectively in the wall 14 and the floor 13 to collect vapour which permeates through the sheet 32. The roof insulation 25 is supported by hangers, Fig. 2A (not shown), secured to the roof 15, and the space 33 therebetween may be purged of vapour by introducing purge gas through inlets 54 and withdrawing gas through an outlet 55.