KR101960213B1 - An apparatus for feeding a combustible gas to a gas consuming member and liquefying the combustible gas - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a facility (1) for feeding a combustible gas to a gas consuming member (3, 4, 5) and liquefying the combustible gas, the facility (1) comprising: - a sealing and adiabatic tank (2); - a forced vaporization device (10), the forced vaporization device comprising: - a vaporization chamber (13, 14) intended to contact a combustible gas; And an inlet circuit (11) arranged to draw the liquid phase combustible gas stream from the tank (2) and to vaporize it in the internal space (15) of the gasification chambers (13, 14); - a heat exchanger (20) comprising a first channel (25) connected to the gasification chambers (13, 14) to heat the combustible gas vaporized in the gasification chambers (13, 14); A three-way connector is connected to the first channel 25 of the heat exchanger 20 and to the compressor 27 connected to the three-way connector 29 to deliver the first portion of the combustible gas stream to the gas consuming member 5 And conveying a second portion of the combustible gas stream to the second channel (26) of the heat exchanger (20) to cool the second portion of the combustible gas; And an expansion device 33 connected to the outlet 26b of the second channel 26 of the heat exchanger 20 upstream and connected to the return circuit 34 downstream from the tank 2.

Description

An apparatus for feeding a combustible gas to a gas consuming member and liquefying the combustible gas

The present invention relates to the field of facilities for the treatment of flammable gases such as liquefied natural gas (LNG).

The present invention more particularly relates to a device for feeding a combustible gas to a gas consuming member on the one hand and liquefying the combustible gas on the other hand.

Liquefied natural gas is stored in a liquid / vapor two-phase equilibrium state at a cryogenic temperature in a sealed thermal insulation tank. The insulating barrier of a liquefied natural gas storage tank is the field of heat flow that tends to heat the contents of the tank, which is reflected by the evaporation of liquefied natural gas. Gas derived from natural evaporation is sent to the gas consuming member and used to upgrade it. Thus, for example, in a methane tanker, the vaporized gas is used to feed a power generator to supply the electricity needed for the function of the onboard equipment, or a powertrain to propel the ship. However, although this practice makes it possible to upgrade the gas derived from natural evaporation in the tank, it can not reduce the amount.

Thus, the prior art, in particular US 2015/031 6208, discloses a facility capable of both upgrading a portion of the gas resulting from natural evaporation through one or more gas consuming members and liquefying another part of the gas derived from natural evaporation do. Such a facility includes a collection circuit that collects the vapor phase gas in the gas head space of the tank and then transports it to a heat exchanger for heating within it. Upon exiting the exchanger, the heated gas stream is compressed to a high pressure consistent with the operating conditions of the gas consuming member. The first portion of the compressed gas is then transported to and combusted within the one or more vapor phase gas consuming members while the second portion of the compressed gas is returned to the exchanger and the vapor phase collected in the gas head space of the tank To transfer heat to the gas stream. The second portion of the cooled gas is then depressurized in the expansion device and, in the expansion device, is partially liquefied by the line-Thomson effect, further reducing the temperature of the gas stream during its expansion. Upon exiting the expansion device, the phase separator returns the liquid phase to the tank and allows the liquid phase and the vapor phase to separate before transferring the gas phase back to the vapor phase gas collection circuit upstream of the heat exchanger.

This arrangement is particularly advantageous in that the compression of the gas stream is used for both making a portion of the gas stream compatible with the operating conditions of the gas consuming member and enabling subsequent re-liquefaction of other portions of the gas stream. Thus, the installation is simplified and the cost of additional re-liquefaction functions is limited.

However, this type of installation is not entirely satisfactory. In particular, under certain critical operating conditions, for example, when the tank is only partially filled, the re-liquefaction yield is low. When the tank is only partially filled, the temperature of the vapor present in the gas head space of the tank is very likely to rise significantly above the equilibrium temperature of the gas. Thus, the exchange of heat between the gas stream collected in the tank and the second part of the compressed gas to be liquefied is insufficient to re-liquefy most of the second part of the compressed gas.

In addition, the remelting efficiency of such a facility also depends on the distribution between the first portion of the combustible gas being conveyed to the gas consuming member (s) and the second portion of the combustible gas being returned to the exchanger. Specifically, when the demand of the gas consuming member increases, and as a result, the amount of the gas returned to the exchanger decreases, the amount of gas to be liquefied decreases sharply.

In addition, the gas-phase natural gas derived from natural evaporation is richer in the composition of volatile components, such as nitrogen, than the liquid natural gas in the liquid state stored in the tank. Thus, for liquefied natural gas gasses having a molar concentration of 0.5%, the gas derived from natural evaporation can have a nitrogen concentration of about 14% to 15%. In addition, the use of an expansion device at the outlet of which the steam phase is returned to the vapor phase gas collection circuit while using line-Thomson expansion causes nitrogen to concentrate in the gas stream treated by the installation. Thus, a portion of the compressed gas being conveyed to the one or more gas consuming members may have a nitrogen concentration that is much higher than 20%. Now, a high concentration of nitrogen causes incomplete combustion of the gas in the gas consuming member and results in operating defects in the gas consuming member.

Finally, although the method allows the gas to be re-liquefied, at the source, it can not limit the natural evaporation of the liquefied gas stored in the tank.

The concept forming the basis of the present invention is to propose a facility for feeding a combustible gas to a gas consuming member and re-liquefying the combustible gas, with a good flammable gas re-liquefaction yield.

According to one embodiment, the present invention provides a facility for feeding a combustible gas to a gas consuming member and for liquefying the combustible gas; These facilities include:

A sealed thermal insulation tank comprising an interior space intended to be filled with flammable gas in a liquid-vapor two-phase equilibrium state;

- Forced Evaporation Device - Forced Evaporation Device

A gasification chamber, the gasification chamber being intended to be in contact with a combustible gas and comprising a heat exchange wall for exchanging heat between the internal space of the gasification chamber and the combustible gas; And

- an inlet circuit, the inlet circuit comprising:

o an inlet that appears in the internal space of the tank, arranged to draw a liquid phase flammable gas stream from the internal space of the tank; And

o the pressure loss member appearing in the internal space of the gasification chamber so that the drawn combustible gas stream is vaporized in the internal space of the gasification chamber;

A heat exchanger comprising a heat exchange wall for transferring heat from the first and second channels to the first channel, the first channel and the second channel each comprising an inlet and an outlet; The inlet of the first channel being connected to the gasification chamber to heat the combustible gas stream vaporized in the gasification chamber in the heat exchanger;

A compressor connected upstream of the outlet of the first channel of the heat exchanger to compress the heated combustible gas stream in the heat exchanger and connected downstream to the three-way connector, the three-chamber connector comprising a first portion of the combustible gas stream, The compressor being capable of carrying a second portion of the combustible gas stream to the inlet of the second channel of the heat exchanger to cool the second portion of the combustible gas stream; And

An expansion device connected upstream to the outlet of the second channel of the heat exchanger and connected downstream to the return circuit leading to the tank, the expansion device comprising: an expansion device arranged to reduce a second portion of the combustible gas stream resulting from the second channel of the heat exchanger Device.

Thus, the vapor phase intended to be transported to the inlet of the first channel of the exchanger is obtained via a forced vaporization process, the temperature of which can be controlled to remain close to the liquid-vapor equilibrium temperature at the storage pressure regardless of the charge level of the tank have. Thus, the re-liquefaction yield for the second portion of the stream is significantly improved.

In addition, this forced vaporization device allows vaporization of the liquefied gas without the use of an external heat source, as opposed to the use of forced vaporization equipment using seawater, intermediate liquid, or power exchange or heat exchange with a combustion gas derived from a particular burner Can be performed. Thus, the combustible gas acts as a heat source for the blown part. Thus, when the gasification chamber is arranged in the inner space of the tank, the forced gasification device cools and condenses the vapor phase resulting from the natural evaporation present in the gas head space of the tank and / Permits cooling of the liquid phase of the gas stored in the tank at a temperature below the temperature, thereby limiting natural evaporation.

Thus, the combination of the forced vaporization device described above and the heat exchanger described above has a synergistic effect. Specifically, on the one hand, it is possible to substantially increase the degree of re-liquefaction of the expansion device at the heat exchanger outlet by supplying a gas stream derived from the above-described vaporization device to the heat exchanger. On the other hand, because the cooling power of the forced vaporization device increases with the flow rate of the vaporized gas stream inside the gasification chamber, its use upstream of the facility where only a portion of the stream is directed towards the gas consuming member, .

Moreover, by using the vapor phase derived from the forced vaporization process, the content of the highest volatile compound is substantially equal to the content of the liquid phase of the gas stored in the tank. The concentration of the highest volatile compound in the treated gas stream is limited and substantially constant over time. Thus, when the combustible gas is composed of a gas mixture comprising nitrogen, this leads to a reduction in the nitrogen concentration of the steam phase being treated in the facility, so as to remain within a range compatible with the correct functioning of the gas consuming member. In addition, the liquefaction yield will be greater as the vapor phase gas at the facility entrance has less volatile component-rich composition. As a result, the use of the vapor phase derived from the forced vaporization method makes it possible to increase the degree of liquefaction during depressurization in the expansion device.

As a result, the thermodynamic condition of the gas entering the exchanger is optimal and does not change over time, because the concentration of the highest volatile compound and the temperature of the gas stream entering the exchanger do not depend on the charge level or thermal history of the tank.

According to embodiments, such a facility may include one or more of the following features.

According to one embodiment, the inlet circuit inlet is located at the bottom of the tank near the base of the tank to draw out the liquid phase of the combustible gas stored in the tank, regardless of the level of charge of the tank

According to one embodiment, the gasification chamber is located in the interior space of the tank, and thus the heat exchange wall allows heat exchange between the internal space of the gasification chamber and the combustible gas stored in the tank.

According to one embodiment, the installation includes a pump arranged to produce a combustible gas stream and to apply pressure (P1) below the storage pressure of the combustible gas in the internal space of the tank to the internal space of the vaporization chamber.

According to one embodiment, the pump is a vacuum pump capable of applying pressure (P1) between 12 and 95 kPa (absolute pressure) to the interior space.

According to one embodiment, the pump is located downstream of the first channel of the heat exchanger between the first channel and the compressor.

According to one embodiment, the inlet circuit includes a pressure regulator upstream of the pressure loss member.

According to one embodiment, the inlet circuit comprises an additional pump which is capable of sucking the liquefied liquid phase gas stream upstream of the pressure regulator and producing a delivery pressure greater than the maximum hydrostatic pressure that can be achieved in the inner space of the tank at the inlet circuit inlet .

According to one embodiment, the inlet circuit may include one or more pressure loss members.

According to one embodiment, the inlet circuit comprises a plurality of pressure loss members formed of atomizing nozzles capable of atomizing the liquefied gas inside the gasification chamber.

According to another embodiment, the or each pressure loss member is selected from a variation of an inlet circuit flow cross-section, a porous material or an isentropic pressure reducing machine.

According to one embodiment, the heat exchange wall comprises a fin for increasing the exchange surface area of the gasification chamber.

According to an alternative variant, the forced vaporization device comprises two vaporisation chambers, one of which is located in the upper part of the tank, between the internal space of the vaporisation chamber and the gas phase of the combustible gas stored in the tank And the other is disposed in the lower portion of the tank to allow heat exchange between the internal space of the gasification chamber and the liquid phase of the combustible gas stored in the tank.

According to an advantageous variant, each vaporization chamber is connected to the inlet of the inlet circuit inlet and to the inlet of the first channel of the heat exchanger via a circuit part, which connects the other vaporization chamber to the inlet of the inlet circuit and to the first Are arranged in parallel with corresponding circuit portions connecting to the inlet of the channel. Preferably, each of the two circuit portions arranged in parallel has a flow control valve.

According to an advantageous variant, the compressor is a multi-stage compressor. Advantageously, the compressor comprises a plurality of compression stages and a plurality of intermediate heat exchangers, each intermediate heat exchanger being disposed at one of the compression stages.

According to one embodiment, the expansion device is an expansion valve, also known as a Joule-Thomson valve.

According to one embodiment, the expansion device is a turboexpander.

According to one embodiment, the installation comprises a phase separator connected to the return device leading from the upstream to the expansion device and downstream to the tank on the one hand and to the return pipe connected to the inlet of the first channel of the heat exchanger Include; The phase separator is arranged to carry the liquid phase of the combustible gas stream to the return circuit and convey the gas phase of the combustible gas stream to the return pipe.

According to one embodiment, the combustible gas is a gas mixture of the LNG or LPG type comprising nitrogen.

According to one embodiment, the combustible gas is a gas mixture comprising nitrogen and the nitrogen is the highest volatile component of the gas mixture.

According to one embodiment, the present invention provides a method for dispensing a combustible gas to a gas consuming member and liquefying the combustible gas by the apparatus described above; This way:

- withdrawing a stream of liquefied combustible gas from a tank containing a flammable gas in the liquid-vapor two-phase equilibrium state from the tank and returning it to the vaporization chamber;

- depressurizing the liquefied gas stream in the interior space of the gasification chamber;

- performing heat exchange between the reduced pressure combustible gas stream in the gasification chamber and the combustible gas contained in the tank through the wall of the gasification chamber to vaporize the withdrawn gas stream by absorbing heat from the combustible gas contained in the tank;

Conveying a vapor phase combustible gas stream between the gasification chamber and the inlet of the first channel of the heat exchanger;

Transferring heat from the second channel to the first channel of the heat exchanger;

Compressing the combustible gas stream exiting the first channel of the heat exchanger;

Conveying a first portion of the compressed combustible gas stream to the gas consuming member and returning a second portion of the compressed gas stream to an inlet of a second channel of the heat exchanger; And

Conveying a second portion of the combustible gas stream from the second channel of the heat exchanger to the expansion device;

And conveying at least one liquid phase portion of the second portion of the reduced pressure combustible gas stream to the tank.

According to one embodiment, to reduce the liquefied gas stream in the gasification chamber, a pressure P1 below the storage pressure of the liquefied combustible gas is produced in the tank by a vacuum pump.

According to an advantageous variant, the pressure P1 is between 12 and 95 kPa (absolute pressure), for example about 50 kPa (absolute pressure).

According to one embodiment, the present invention provides a vessel comprising the above-described facility.

According to one embodiment, the present invention also provides a method for loading or unloading a flammable gas to such a vessel through which the cryogenic gas is delivered from a floating or land based storage facility to a vessel's tank or vice versa.

According to one embodiment, the present invention also provides a flammable gas delivery system comprising a vessel as described above, a cryogenic delivery pipe arranged to connect the tank installed in the hull of the vessel to a floating or land based storage facility, And a pump to drive the combustible gas stream from the floating or land based storage facility to the vessel's tank or vice versa.

According to another embodiment, the present invention provides a facility for feeding a combustible gas to a gas consuming member and for liquefying the combustible gas; These facilities include:

A sealed thermal insulation tank comprising an interior space intended to be filled with flammable gas in a liquid-vapor two-phase equilibrium state;

- Forced Evaporation Device - Forced Evaporation Device

a vapor phase gas collection circuit comprising an inlet arranged to receive a liquid phase flammable gas stream in the interior space of said tank, said inlet being present in the interior space of said tank; And

o the vapor phase gas stream present in the tank is sucked through the inlet and the vaporization of the liquid phase in the tank is promoted and the liquefied gas contained in the tank is introduced into the liquid having a temperature below the liquid-vapor equilibrium temperature of the liquefied gas at atmospheric pressure - a compressor capable of holding a pressure (P1) below atmospheric pressure in the tank so as to be in a vapor two-phase equilibrium state;

A heat exchanger comprising a first and a second channel and a heat exchange wall for transferring heat from the second channel to the first channel, the first channel and the second channel each comprising an inlet and an outlet; The inlet of the first channel is connected to a vapor phase gas collection circuit to heat the combustible gas stream vaporized in the tank in the heat exchanger; The compressor is connected upstream to the outlet of the first channel of the heat exchanger to compress the heated combustible gas stream in the heat exchanger and is connected downstream to the three chamber connector and the three chamber connector connects the first portion of the combustible gas stream to the gas consumption Carrying a second portion of the combustible gas stream to the inlet of the second channel of the heat exchanger for transport to the member and to cool the second portion of the combustible gas stream; And

An expansion device connected upstream at the outlet of the second channel of the heat exchanger and connected downstream to the return circuit leading to the tank is arranged to decompress the second part of the combustible gas stream coming from the second channel of the heat exchanger .

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The present invention will now be better understood from the following description of some specific embodiments of the invention given by way of illustration only and not by way of limitation with reference to the accompanying drawings, It will be clearer.
1 is a schematic view of a facility for feeding a combustible gas to a gas consuming member and for liquefying the combustible gas;
2 is a schematic view of a ship and a delivery system for loading / unloading a combustible gas;
- figure 3 shows, on the one hand, the speed at which the combustible gas is fed to the engine through the equipment according to figure 1 for gases having respective temperatures of -40 ° C, -120 ° C and -160 ° C at the inlet of the heat exchanger (curves a, b and c) of the gas (in units of kilograms / hour) resorbed as a function of the flow rate (in knots units) and, on the other hand, (Curve d, e) of the gas that can be re-liquefied by the forced vaporization device depending on whether or not the gas is liquid.
4 is a schematic view of a facility for feeding a combustible gas to a gas consuming member according to another embodiment and for liquefying the combustible gas;

In the specification and claims, the term "combustible gas" has a generic character and refers to a gas mixture consisting of a single pure material or a plurality of components without distinguishing.

In Fig. 1, there is illustrated a facility 1 for feeding a combustible gas to one or more gas consuming members, on the one hand, and liquefying a combustible gas, on the other hand. Such a facility 1 may be installed on a land or floating structure. In the case of a floating structure, the installation 1 may be for a liquefied natural gas cargo ship such as a methane tanker or for a liquefied or regasified barge, or more generally for any vessel with a gas consuming element

The plant 1 illustrated in Fig. 1 comprises three different types of combustible gas consuming elements, namely a burner 3, a generator 4 and an engine 5 for propelling the ship.

The burner 3 may be incorporated into a power production facility or integrated into a gas combustion unit (GCU). The power production facility may in particular include a steam generating boiler. The steam may be for feeding to the steam turbine for energy production and / or for feeding the ship to the heating network. The burner 3 can function as a flammable gas whose nitrogen concentration is high, for example 30% to 35% larger than the standard gas combustion unit, but which can be far exceeded by supplying fuel .

The generator 4 includes, for example, a diesel / natural gas mixed feed heat engine of DFDE (dual-fuel diesel electric) technology. Such a heat engine can burn a mixture of diesel and natural gas or use one or the other of these two combustible materials. The natural gas supplied to such a heat engine must have a pressure on the order of a few bar to several tens of bar, for example about 6 to 8 bar (absolute pressure). In addition, in order to allow functions compatible with this heat engine, the natural gas must have a nitrogen concentration below the limiting operating concentration of about 15% to 20%.

The engine 5 for propelling the boat is, for example, a dual fuel two-stroke low-speed engine of the "ME-GI" technology developed by MAN. This engine 5 uses natural gas as a combustible material and a small amount of pilot fuel injected before natural gas injection to ignite the natural gas. To feed to this engine 5, the natural gas must first be compressed at high pressures between 150 and 400 bar (absolute pressure), in particular between 250 and 300 bar (absolute pressure). In addition, such engines are highly sensitive to the quality of natural gas, and to enable adaptive function, the natural gas must have a nitrogen concentration that does not exceed a threshold value of 15% to 20%.

The installation (1) includes a sealed and adiabatic tank (2). According to one embodiment, the tank 2 is a membrane tank. By way of example, such membrane tanks are described in patent applications WO 14/057221, FR 2 691 520 and FR 2 877 638. Such membrane tanks are intended to store flammable gases at substantially the same or slightly higher pressure than the atmospheric pressure. According to another alternative embodiment, the tank 2 may also be a self-contained tank, and in particular may have a parallelepiped, prismatic, spherical, cylindrical or multi-leafed configuration. Certain types of tanks 2 allow gas storage at pressures substantially greater than atmospheric.

The tank 2 includes an internal space 7 intended to be filled with a combustible gas. The flammable gases are in particular liquefied natural gas (LNG), which is mainly methane and also one or more other hydrocarbons such as ethane, propane, n-butane, i-butane, n-pentane, i-pentane, neopentane, ≪ / RTI > The combustible gas may also be a mixture of hydrocarbons derived from ethane or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), an essential oil essentially containing propane and butane.

The combustible gas is stored in the internal space (7) of the tank (2) in a liquid-vapor two-phase equilibrium state. Thus, the gas is present in the vapor phase of the upper portion 8 of the tank 2 and in the liquid phase of the lower portion 9 of the tank 2. The equilibrium temperature of the liquefied natural gas corresponding to the liquid-vapor two-phase equilibrium state is about -162 ° C when stored at atmospheric pressure.

The facility 1 takes in the liquid phase combustible gas stream in the internal space 7 of the tank 2 and depressurizes it so that the liquid liquefied in the internal space 7 of the tank 2 And a forced vaporization device 10 for cooling the gas.

The forced vaporization device 10 includes an inlet circuit 11 that includes an inlet portion 12 that is immersed in a liquid phase and is capable of transporting the collected liquid phase gas stream to one or more of the gasification chambers 13,14.

The vaporization chambers 13 and 14 are immersed in the combustible gas stored in the tank 2. Each of the chambers 13 and 14 includes an inner space 15 and a heat exchange wall for exchanging heat between the inner space 15 and the combustible gas stored in the tank 2.

According to one embodiment, the vaporization chambers 13, 14 are shown, which, in combination with the heat exchange walls of the vaporization chambers 13, 14, allows to increase its exchange surface area with the combustible gas contained in the tank 2 Which is not provided with a pin.

The inlet circuit 11 also includes a pressure loss member not shown in the internal space 15 of the gasification chambers 13 and 14 so as to vaporize the taken combustible gas stream in the internal spaces of the gasification chambers 13 and 14 .

Further, when functioning, the internal space 15 of the vaporization chambers 13, 14 is disposed at a pressure less than the pressure existing in the internal space 7 of the tank 2. To this end, the installation includes a vacuum pump 17 dimensioned to hold the internal space 15 of the vaporization chambers 13, 14 at an absolute pressure less than the pressure present in the internal space 7 of the tank 2 do. For example, when the combustible gas is liquefied natural gas and is stored in the tank at atmospheric pressure, the operating absolute pressure present in the gasification chambers 13, 14 is between 12 and 95 kPa (absolute pressure), for example about 50 kPa (Absolute pressure).

The operation principle of the forced vaporizing device 10 is as follows. When the liquid phase flammable gas is introduced into the tank 2 and then depressurized in the vaporization chambers 13 and 14, the temperature of this decompressed combustible gas is reduced. As a result, since the taken combustible gas is placed in thermal contact with the combustible gas remaining in the tank 2 through the vaporization chambers 13 and 14, it is at least partially vaporized and is present in the tank 2 To withdraw the heat necessary for its vaporization from the combustible gas which is present in the tank 2, which allows the combustible gas remaining in the tank 2 to be cooled.

According to one embodiment, the inlet circuit 11 includes a plurality of pressure loss members formed of atomizing nozzles capable of atomizing the liquefied gas inside the internal space 15 of each of the gasification chambers 13, 14. Advantageously, the spray nozzle atomizes the liquefied gas finely and homogeneously into the inner walls of the gasification chambers 13, 14. Alternatively, each pressure loss member is selected from an inlet circuit flow cross-section, a porous material, or a variation of a isentropic pressure reducing machine.

The vacuum pump 17 is controlled by a control unit 30 which is capable of controlling the vacuum pump 17 as a function of the nominal flow rate. The vacuum pump has a flow rate / pressure characteristic that is configured such that the generated vacuum is between about 12 and 95 kPa (absolute pressure), for example about 50 kPa (absolute pressure), relative to the operating flow rate of the plant.

The inlet circuit 11 includes an unillustrated pressure regulator upstream of the pressure loss member for limiting the pressure of the liquefied gas at the inlet of the forced vaporization device 10 to a critical pressure. This pressure regulator is capable of regulating the pressure of the liquefied gas entering the inlet circuit 11 irrespective of the hydrostatic pressure applied by the liquefied gas in the tank 2 and consequently irrespective of the charge level of the tank 2 Keep it constant. For example, the pressure threshold applied by the pressure regulator is about the atmospheric pressure.

Further, in the illustrated embodiment, the inlet circuit 11 is provided upstream of the pressure regulator with an additional pump 18, which can generate a return pressure higher than the hydrostatic pressure exerted by the liquefied gas inside the tank 1, Is included in the height of the lead-in portion to the circuit (11). This arrangement is advantageous in that the driving pressure in the pressure loss member is accordingly increased, which on the one hand can limit the number of pressure loss members and on the other hand it ensures a greater stability of the flow rate.

In the illustrated embodiment, the forced vaporization device 10 includes two vaporization chambers 13, 14 located in the interior space 7 of the tank 2. One of the vaporization chambers 14 is disposed in the bottom portion 9 of the tank 2 and thus the heat exchange between the internal space 15 of the vaporization chamber 14 and the liquid phase combustible gas stored in the tank 2 . ≪ / RTI > This vaporization chamber 14 thus allows cooling of the liquid phase of the combustible gas remaining in the chamber 2 to below its equilibrium temperature. Thus, the liquid phase of the combustible gas remaining in the tank 2 becomes a self-cooled thermodynamic state.

The other vaporization chamber 13 is located in the upper part 8 of the tank 2, i.e. in the gas head space and thus in the vapor phase 13 remaining in the internal space 15 of the vaporization chamber 13 and in the tank 2. [ Is intended to allow heat exchange between the combustible gases. This vaporization chamber 13 thus allows condensation and / or cooling of the gas phase of the combustible gas resulting from the natural evaporation in the internal space 7 of the tank 2.

In one embodiment, which is not shown, the installation may include a secondary containment and thermal insulation tank connected to the above-described tank 2 via a transfer pipe and a return pipe. The facility 1 also includes a pump circulating liquefied gas between the main tank and the auxiliary tank through the transfer pipe and the return pipe. The auxiliary tank has a smaller capacity than the tank 2, and the forced vaporization device 10 is accommodated in the auxiliary tank. Such an embodiment is advantageous in that it allows for better homogenization of the temperature of the liquefied gas and limits the generation of thermal stratification inside the tank 2. This auxiliary tank also permits variants of the embodiment to be connected to several tanks 2 so that the auxiliary tank can share the forced vaporization device 10.

Returning to Fig. 1, it is observed that the forced vaporization device 10 is connected downstream to the vapor phase gas collection circuit 19 leading to the heat exchanger 20 located outside the tank 2. In the illustrated embodiment, the two vaporization chambers 13, 14 are arranged in parallel with each other. In other words, each of the vaporization chambers 13, 14 is connected on the one hand to the inlet 12 immersed in the liquid phase and on the other hand a circuit part parallel to the corresponding circuit part of the other vaporization chamber 13, 14 To the vapor phase gas collection circuit (19). Each of the two parallel portions is provided with valves 21, 22 for adjusting the gas flow rate through each of the two gasification chambers 13, 14. This arrangement also makes it possible to choose to use one or the other of the two vaporization chambers 13, 14 depending on, for example, whether to condense the vapor phase or to cool the liquid phase.

In another embodiment, the vaporization chambers 13, 14 are arranged in series. In another embodiment, the forced vaporization device 10 includes only one vaporization chamber 13, 14, which is preferably located in the upper portion 8 or lower portion 9 of the tank 2, .

Moreover, in the illustrated embodiment, the installation 1 comprises an inlet 23 that appears in the gas head space of the tank 2, i. E., Exceeds the maximum filling height of the tank 2. The inlet 23 is connected to the vapor phase gas collection circuit 19 via a valve 24. This arrangement operates the facility 2 by operating the facility 1 without using the forced vaporization device 10 or by combining the vapor phase derived from the natural evaporation with the vapor phase derived from the forced evaporation device 10 . In this case, the facility 1 may include a branching circuit (not shown) in parallel with the vacuum pump 17 for bypassing the facility 1 when it is operated without using the forced vaporization device 10 .

The heat exchanger 20 includes a first and a second heat exchanging walls 25a and 26a and an outlet 25b and 26b and a heat exchange wall for transferring heat from the second channel 26 to the first channel 25, Channels 25,26. To optimize heat exchange, the heat exchanger 20 is a countercurrent exchanger. The inlet 25a on the first channel 25 is connected to the vapor phase gas collection circuit 19 to heat the gas stream exiting the forced vaporization device 10.

The pump 17 described above is located downstream of the first channel 25 of the heat exchanger 20 and is connected to the first channel 25 of the heat exchanger 20 from the forced vaporization device 10 or the gas head space, Thereby allowing the gas stream to be sucked in. The outlet 25b of the first channel 25 is connected to the compressor 27 via a pump 17 which returns the gas stream in the direction of the compressor 27. The compressor 27 is for compressing the gas stream at a pressure compatible with the operation of the gas consuming member.

In the illustrated embodiment, the compressor 27 is a multi-stage compressor. In other words, the compressor 27 is provided with a plurality of compression stages 27a, 27b, 27c, 27d and 27e and intermediate heat exchangers 28a and 28b arranged at the outlets of the respective compression stages 27a, 27b, 27c, 27d and 27e , 28c, 28d, 28e. The intermediate heat exchangers 28a, 28b, 28c, 28d, 28e are for cooling the compressed gas between the two compression stages. For example, the heat exchangers 28a, 28b, 28c, 28d, and 28e provide an exchange with, inter alia, seawater so that the compressed gas stream can be at a temperature substantially equal to the temperature of the seawater.

According to an embodiment not shown, the vacuum pump 17 may be constituted by a first compression stage of the compressor 27.

The compressor 27 is dimensioned as a function of the combustible gas consuming member to be fed, in particular as a function of the pressure level at which the combustible gas is to be fed and its maximum feed rate. Thus, when one of the gas consuming members is an ME-GI type engine 5 as described above, the compressor 27 is typically operated such that the gas stream leaving the compressor 27 is between 250 and 300 bar (absolute pressure) Dimensions are set to have pressure.

Downstream of the compressor 27 the plant 1 delivers a first portion of the gas stream to the engine 5 to propel the ship and a second portion of the gas stream to the second channel 26 of the heat exchanger 20 And a three-way connector 29 for conveying it to the inlet 26a of the housing. The three-way connector 29 is controlled by the control unit 30. [ The control unit 30 therefore controls the inlet 26a and the engine 5 of the second channel 26 of the heat exchanger 30 as a function of the combustible gas demand of the engine 5 and / The ratio of the gas circulating in each case can be changed.

Further, in the case where the combustible gas consuming member has different feed pressures as in the illustrated embodiment, the installation 1 includes an intermediate three-chamber connector 31 disposed between the two compression stages 27b, 27c , Thus making it possible to divert a portion of the gas stream to the gas consuming member, in this case the burner 3 and the generator 4, before the outlet of the compressor 27. This arrangement makes it possible to convert the combustible gas into a combustible gas consuming member when the combustible gas reaches the delivery pressure corresponding to the consumable member.

According to a preferred embodiment, the operating flow rate of the vacuum pump 17 and the compressor 27 is constant and substantially corresponds to the maximum feed rate of the gas consuming member. Thus, the control unit 30 serves to adapt the flow rate of the gas stream carried on the three-way connector 29, 31 to the gas consuming member as a function of its demand.

The second portion of the combustible gas stream is cooled while the heat is transferred from the second channel 26 of the heat exchanger 20 to the vapor phase gas exiting the vapor phase gas collection circuit 19.

The outlet 26b of the second channel 26 of the heat exchanger 20 is connected to an outlet 26b of the second channel 26 of the heat exchanger 20 where the combustible gas stream is expanded to a pressure substantially equal to the pressure present in the tank 2, And is connected to the phase separator 32 via the device 33. [ As a result, the gas stream undergoes an expansion that at least partially leads to a reduction in its temperature and its liquefaction through the joule-Thomson effect. The expansion device 32 is, for example, an expansion valve.

A phase separator 32, also referred to as a mist separator, allows the liquid phase to separate from the gas phase. Downstream, the phase separator 32 is connected to the return circuit 34 leading to the tank 2 on the one hand and to the return pipe 35 connected to the vapor phase gas collection circuit 19 on the other hand. Thus, the phase separator 32 returns the liquid phase of the combustible gas to the tank 2, while the vapor phase returns to the inlet 25a of the first channel 25 of the heat exchanger 20.

An embodiment of a previously described facility that functions as a liquefied natural gas stored at atmospheric pressure will be described below.

The liquefied natural gas is stored in the tank 2 in a two-phase equilibrium state at a temperature of about -162 占 폚. The liquid natural gas is then aspirated into the vaporization chambers 14, 15 of the forced vaporization device 10 where there is a pressure of atmospheric pressure, for example, of the order of 50 kPa (absolute pressure). The drawn liquid phase natural gas stream is vaporized in the gasification chambers 14, 15 to extract heat from the natural gas remaining in the tank 2.

The steam phase gas stream being conveyed to the inlet 25a of the first channel 25 of the heat exchanger 20 is thus pressurized to a pressure of about 50 kPa (absolute pressure) and to a two- phase equilibrium temperature of the gas in the tank 2 Lt; RTI ID = 0.0 > 165 C. < / RTI >

After being heated by the heat exchanger 20 and compressed by some or all of the compression stages 27a, 27b, 27c, 27d, 27e of the compressor 27, the first portion of the gas stream is cooled by a function of its respective need To the at least one gas consuming member. Upon exiting the compressor 27, a second portion of the gas stream, typically having a high pressure between 250 and 300 bar and a temperature between approximately 20 and 80 degrees Celsius, is conveyed to the second channel 26 of the heat exchanger 20 And is cooled therein. When exiting the second channel 26 of the heat exchanger 20, the gas stream typically has a temperature on the order of -140 ° C. The gas stream is then depressurized by expansion valve 33 and then conveyed to phase separator 32 which separates the liquid phase and the gas phase to return the liquid phase to tank 2 and the gas phase And returns to the inlet 25a of the first channel 25 of the heat exchanger 20.

Thus, by using the forced evaporation device 10 of the type described above, the gas stream at the inlet 25a of the first channel 25 of the heat exchanger 20 is independent of the charge level of the tank 2, , It is understood that the temperature of the gas derived from the natural evaporation of the tank 2 has a temperature of about -140 캜 and is likely to be between -140 캜 and -50 캜. Thus, the use of the forced vaporization device 10 makes it possible to obtain a particularly high level of conversion of the liquid phase line-Thomson decompression. The use of the forced evaporation device 10 also makes it possible to extract heat from the combustible gas stored in the tank to limit natural evaporation phenomena.

Referring to Fig. 3, the engine 5 for propelling the ship is equipped with a re-liquefied natural (not shown) unit of kg / hour at the expansion device 33 as a function of the speed of the ship fed the natural gas stream entering from the plant of Fig. The flow rate of the gas is observed. The operating flow rate of the vacuum pump 17 and the compressor 27 is 4700 kg / hour.

The curves a, b and c indicate the temperature of the expansion device 33 at the inlet 25a of the first channel 25 of the exchanger 20 when the temperatures of the gases are -40 ° C, -120 ° C and -160 ° C, respectively Liquefied natural gas at the outlet. Thus, the forced vaporization device 10 is used upstream of the heat exchanger 20 to provide a first channel 25 of the heat exchanger 20 close to the liquid-vapor equilibrium temperature of the natural gas at atmospheric pressure, The re-liquefaction level of the expansion device may be less than 10%, depending on the proportion of gas returned to the inlet 26a of the second channel 26 of the heat exchanger, To 80%.

Further, considering that the tank 2 has a thermal leakage of about 400 kW and a ship having an operating flow rate of the vacuum pump 17 of 4700 kg / hour, the forced vaporization device 10 generates about 650 kW of cooling power Which can primarily compensate for thermal leakage and secondly to cool the liquid phase of the natural gas remaining in the tank 2 to below its equilibrium temperature and / or to reduce the natural temperature of the internal space 7 of the tank 2 The gas phase of the natural gas resulting from evaporation can be condensed and / or cooled. The surplus cooling power versus equilibrium is equivalent to a liquefaction capacity (indicated by curve d) of about 1500 kg / hour to 1700 kg / hour, which can be stored by lowering the temperature of the liquid phase natural gas stored in the tank And / or can be used to recondense the gas phase of the natural gas in the gas head space of the tank (2).

For comparison purposes, curve e in Fig. 3 represents the liquefaction capability of the forced vaporization device 13 connected directly to the engine 5 for propelling the ship, as shown in Fig. In this case, the flow rate of the vaporized natural gas stream in the gasification chamber corresponds to the requirement of the engine 5. Thus, under these circumstances, the forced vaporization device allows the thermal leakage to be equilibrated only at a speed of only 18 knots or more, and thus the liquid phase of the natural gas remaining in the tank 2 for a velocity greater than 18 knots, Cooling and / or condensing and / or cooling the gas phase of the natural gas resulting from the natural evaporation of the internal space of the tank.

Therefore, it should be noted that according to the present invention, the forced vaporization device can operate in the entire region substantially independently of the actual consumption of the gas consuming member.

Furthermore, by using the steam phase derived from the forced vaporization method at the inlet 25a of the first channel 25 of the heat exchanger 20, the nitrogen content of the gas stream circulating in the plant can be controlled by the liquefaction It never exceeded 10% for natural gas, and in most cases it was observed to be 5%. The conversion balance to the line-Thomson decompression at the expansion device 33 is substantially unaffected by this low nitrogen content and the risk of sending steam with excess nitrogen concentration to the gas consuming members 3, 4, Removed.

Fig. 4 shows a facility 1 according to another embodiment. The installation 1 differs from the installation of Figure 1 in that the outlet 26b of the second channel 26 of the heat exchanger 20 is connected to an expansion device formed by the turboexpander 36. [ This turboexpander 36 makes it possible to generate energy using the expansion of the gas stream at the outlet 26b of the second channel 26 of the heat exchanger 20. [

Energy is used here to drive one or more compressors 37 to compress the gas stream at the outlet 25b of the first channel 25 of the heat exchanger 20. [ To this end, the turboexpander 36 has a shaft 38 connected to a compressor 37. Thus, the expansion of the compressed gas stream in the turboexpander 36 makes it possible to drive the compressor 37 to compress the gas stream.

In another embodiment, not shown, the vaporization chamber (s) 13, 14 may be replaced by the application of negative pressure in the internal space of the tank 2. Such an embodiment is suitable, for example, when the natural gas that may be contained in the cargo has a low nitrogen concentration, either intrinsically or due to a pre-reduction of its nitrogen content.

In this embodiment, the vapor phase gas collection circuit 9 is connected directly to the inlet 23 appearing in the gas head space of the tank 2. Subsequently, a negative pressure of several tens of millibars is generated by the compressor 17 and forced evaporation occurs directly in the inner space of the tank 2. Specifically, by generating a negative pressure in the internal space of the tank 2, the vaporization of the liquid phase is promoted, which also causes the liquefied gas to flow at a temperature below the liquid-vapor equilibrium temperature of the liquefied gas at atmospheric pressure Phase two-phase equilibrium state with the liquid-vapor two-phase equilibrium state. As a result, the vaporization of the gas is fully utilized to cool the liquefied gas stored in the tank by extracting latent heat of vaporization. In other words, this embodiment is capable of maintaining a liquefied gas in a cooled thermodynamic state, enabling its storage in the tank at atmospheric pressure or its transfer to the tank, and at the same time, low or even zero evaporation of the liquefied gas Level.

In this embodiment, since the preferential vaporization of nitrogen is not controllable since evaporation occurs over the entire volume of the tank, there is no benefit associated with the control of nitrogen. However, in this embodiment, the gas phase outlet of the phase separator 32 is selected such that the vapor phase is selectively returned to the inlet 25a of the first channel 25 of the heat exchanger 20, It may be contemplated to limit the nitrogen rich state of the gas stream at the inlet 25a of the first channel 25 of the heat exchanger 20 by providing a three-way connector to the three- This new gas outlet can therefore be used as a purge which can be activated intermittently in the case of a gas mixture in which the nitrogen becomes too rich compared to the operating threshold of the consuming member 4,

In order to allow the internal space of the tank to be in a negative pressure state, several configurations and operating arrangements may be found to be necessary. The tank shall be in a vacuum-sealed condition to prevent ambient air from entering the tank. Thus, sealing of the sealing flange and other intersections is preferentially created by welding. In addition, the pressure relief valve is selected so that the leakage level is zero even if back pressure is applied.

Also, when the tank is a membrane tank based on a thermal barrier, the pressure of the insulating barrier is significantly higher than the pressure present in the insulating space of the tank, which is higher than the pressure present in the sealing membrane, It is possible to damage the sealing membrane in contact with the substrate and to cause its peeling. Additionally, atomization of the liquefied gas in the gas head space of the tank may enable to limit thermal layering.

2 shows a delivery system 40 for loading / unloading flammable gases such as liquefied natural gas and for forming an interface between a floating or land based installation and a vessel 41 not shown. The vessel 41 has a facility for feeding the combustible gas to the gas consuming member and liquefying the combustible gas as described above. By way of example, the fluid sealing and insulating tanks, which are not shown, are generally in the form of prongs and are mounted on the ship's double hull.

Product delivery is guaranteed by an immersed cryogenic line marked 42. The delivery system 40 that forms the interface between the floating or land based installation and the vessel 41 is adapted to receive the cryogenic line 42 immersed in the flexible transmission pipe 46, 45 and at least one platform 43 that supports the storage / handling gantry 44. Each flexible transmission pipe 46 is intended to be connected to the manifold 47 of the vessel via a connecting module 48. The manifold 47 of the vessel is connected to the tank by a loading / unloading pipeline arranged in the upper deck of the vessel 41 to deliver the liquefied gas from the tank or into the tank.

The main function of the gantry 44 is to enable handling and storage of the transfer portions, i.e., the moving ends of each connecting module 48 and the flexible transfer pipe 46, by the crane and the winch.

Depending on the embodiment, the delivery system comprises three parallel flexible transmission pipes 46, two of which enable delivery of liquefied natural gas between the floating or land based installation and the vessel, while the third delivery The pipe allows gas to be delivered to balance the pressure in the gas head space of the tank of the ship.

The onboard pump of the vessel 41 is used and / or a pump is installed in the onshore infrastructure and / or a pump is installed in the delivery system 40 to create the pressure required for the delivery of the liquefied gas.

Although the present invention has been described in connection with a number of specific embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited in any way, and that all technical equivalents of the described means and combinations thereof, It is clear.

The "include" or "accept" and its conjugations do not exclude the presence of elements or steps other than those listed in the claims.

For this reason, the methods and equipment implemented in accordance with some non-limiting embodiments of the present technology may be expressed as shown in the numbered clauses as follows.

[1] A facility (1) for feeding a combustible gas to a gas consuming member (3, 4, 5) and liquefying the combustible gas, the facility (1) comprising:

- a sealed thermal insulation tank (2) comprising an inner space (7) intended to be filled with flammable gas in a liquid-vapor two-phase equilibrium state;

- Forced vaporization device (10) - The forced vaporization device

- a gasification chamber (13, 14), intended to come into contact with a combustible gas and comprising a heat exchange wall for exchanging heat between the internal space (15) of the gasification chambers (13, 14) and said combustible gas; And

- an inlet circuit (11), the inlet circuit comprising:

o an inlet (12) appearing in the internal space (7) of the tank (2), arranged to draw a liquid phase flammable gas stream from the internal space (7) of the tank (2); And

o the pressure loss member appearing in the internal space (15) of the gasification chambers (13, 14) so that the drawn combustible gas stream is vaporized in the internal space (15) of the gasification chambers (13, 14);

- a heat exchanger (20) comprising a heat exchange wall for transferring heat from the first and second channels (25, 26) and the second channel (26) to the first channel (25) And the second channel 26 each include an inlet 25a, 26a and an outlet 25b, 26b; The inlet 25a of the first channel 25 is connected to the gasification chambers 13 and 14 to heat the combustible gas stream vaporized in the gasification chambers 13 and 14 in the heat exchanger;

A compressor connected upstream from the outlet 25b of the first channel 25 of the heat exchanger 20 and downstream from the three-way connector 29 to compress the heated combustible gas stream in the heat exchanger 20 Wherein the three-way connector is capable of transporting a first portion of the combustible gas stream to the gas consuming member (5) and a second channel (26) of the heat exchanger (20) to cool the second portion of the combustible gas stream Capable of carrying a second portion of the combustible gas stream to an inlet (26a) of the combustor; And

- an expansion device (33, 36) upstream connected to the outlet (26b) of the second channel (26) of the heat exchanger (20) and connected downstream to the return circuit (34) leading to the tank (2); The expansion device (33) is arranged to reduce the second portion of the combustible gas stream entering from the second channel (26) of the heat exchanger (20).

[2] The apparatus according to item 1, wherein the vaporization chambers 13 and 14 are located in the inner space 7 of the tank 2, and thus the heat exchange walls are provided in the vaporization chambers 13 and 14 Permitting heat exchange between the internal space 15 and the combustible gas stored in the tank 2.

[Item 3] A facility (1) according to Clause 2, wherein a flammable gas stream is produced and a pressure less than the storage pressure of the combustible gas in the internal space (7) of the tank (2) And a pump (17) arranged to apply to the pump (15).

[Item 4] The facility 1 according to item 2 or 3, wherein the forced vaporization device 10 includes two vaporization chambers 13 and 14, one of the two vaporization chambers 13 is a tank 2, To allow heat exchange between the internal space 15 of the gasification chamber 13 and the gas phase of the combustible gas stored in the tank 2 and the other to allow the gasification of the gasification chamber 14, Is disposed in the lower portion (9) of the tank (2) to allow heat exchange between the internal space (15) of the tank (2) and the liquid phase of the flammable gas stored in the tank (2).

[Item 5] The apparatus 1 according to item 4, wherein each of the vaporization chambers 13 and 14 is connected to the inlet 12 of the inlet circuit 11 and the inlet 12 of the first channel 25 of the heat exchanger 20 25a of the heat exchanger 20 via a circuit portion which connects the other vaporization chambers 13,14 to the inlet 12 of the inlet circuit 11 and to the inlet of the first channel 25 of the heat exchanger 20 25a. ≪ / RTI >

[Item 6] The facility 1 according to Clause 4, wherein flow control valves 21 and 22 are provided in each of the two circuit portions arranged in parallel.

[Clause 7] The facility (1) according to any of items 1 to 6, wherein the compressor includes a plurality of compression stages (27a, 27b, 27c, 27d, 27e) and a plurality of intermediate heat exchangers (28a, 28b, 28c, 28d , 28e, and each of the intermediate heat exchangers is disposed at the outlet of one of the compression stages 27a, 27b, 27c, 27d, 27e.

[Item 8] The facility according to any one of clauses 1 to 7, wherein the expansion devices (33, 36) are a turboexpander or an expansion valve.

[Clause 9] An installation according to any one of clauses 1 to 8, characterized in that it is provided with an expansion device (33) upstream and a return circuit (34) leading from the downstream side to the tank (2) And a phase separator (32) connected to a return pipe (35) connected to the inlet (25a) of the first channel (25) of the exchanger (20) The phase separator 32 is arranged to carry the liquid phase of the combustible gas stream to the return circuit 34 and to convey the gas phase of the combustible gas stream to the return pipe 35.

[Item 10] A method for supplying a combustible gas to a gas consuming member and liquefying the combustible gas by an apparatus according to any one of Clauses 1 to 9,

- withdrawing from the tank a stream of liquefied combustible gas from a tank (2) comprising a flammable gas in a liquid-vapor two-phase equilibrium state and returning it to the vaporization chambers (13, 14);

- depressurizing the liquefied gas stream in the internal space (15) of the gasification chambers (13, 14);

- performing heat exchange between the reduced pressure combustible gas stream in the gasification chambers 13 and 14 and the combustible gas contained in the tank 2 through the walls of the gasification chambers 13 and 14, Vaporizing the withdrawn gas stream by absorbing heat from the combustible gas;

Conveying a vapor phase combustible gas stream between the gasification chamber (13, 14) and the inlet (25a) of the first channel (25) of the heat exchanger (20);

- transferring heat from the second channel (26) to the first channel (25) of the heat exchanger (20);

Compressing the combustible gas stream exiting the first channel (25) of the heat exchanger (20);

Conveying a first portion of the compressed combustible gas stream to the gas consuming members 3 and 4 and a second portion of the compressed gas stream to the inlet 26a of the second channel 26 of the heat exchanger 20, ; And

Conveying a second portion of the combustible gas stream from the second channel of the heat exchanger to the expansion device (33); And

- conveying at least one portion of the second liquid phase portion of the decompressed combustible gas stream to the tank (2).

[Clause 11] The method according to clause 10, wherein a pressure P1 below a storage pressure of the liquefied combustible gas is applied by a vacuum pump 17 to the tank (not shown) to reduce the liquefied gas stream in the gasification chambers 13, (2).

[Item 12] The method of clause 11, wherein the pressure P1 is between 12 and 95 kPa (absolute pressure).

[Item 13] A ship 41 including the facility 1 according to any one of the items 1 to 9.

[Clause 14] A method for loading or unloading a ship (41) according to clause 13, wherein the combustible gas is passed through a cryogenic transfer pipe (42, 46) from a floating or land based storage facility to a vessel's tank or vice versa do.

[Item 15] A system for delivering flammable gas, the system comprising a vessel 41 according to clause 13, a cryogenic delivery pipe 42, 46 arranged to connect a tank installed in the ship's hull to a floating or land based storage facility, And a pump for driving the combustible gas through the cryogenic transfer pipe from the floating or land based storage facility to the tank of the vessel or vice versa.

Claims (15)

An apparatus for feeding a combustible gas to a gas consuming member and liquefying the combustible gas:
A sealed thermal insulation tank comprising an interior space intended to be filled with flammable gas in a liquid-vapor two-phase equilibrium state;
- Forced Evaporation Device - Forced Evaporation Device
A gasification chamber, said gasification chamber being intended to be in contact with a combustible gas and comprising a heat exchange wall for exchanging heat between the internal space of the gasification chamber and said combustible gas; And
- an inlet circuit, the inlet circuit comprising:
o an inlet which appears in the internal space of the tank, arranged to draw a liquid phase flammable gas stream from the internal space of the tank; And
o the pressure loss member appearing in the internal space of the gasification chamber so that the drawn combustible gas stream is vaporized in the internal space of the gasification chamber;
A heat exchanger comprising a first and a second channel and a heat exchange wall for transferring heat from the second channel to the first channel, the first channel and the second channel each comprising an inlet and an outlet; The inlet of the first channel being connected to the gasification chamber to heat the combustible gas stream vaporized in the gasification chamber in the heat exchanger;
A compressor connected upstream of the outlet of the first channel of the heat exchanger to compress the heated combustible gas stream in the heat exchanger and connected downstream to the three-way connector, the three-chamber connector comprising a first portion of the combustible gas stream, The compressor being capable of carrying a second portion of the combustible gas stream to the inlet of the second channel of the heat exchanger to cool the second portion of the combustible gas stream; And
An expansion device connected upstream at the outlet of the second channel of the heat exchanger and connected downstream to the return circuit leading to the tank
;
Wherein the expansion device is arranged to reduce the second portion of the combustible gas stream entering from the second channel of the heat exchanger. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the vaporization chamber is located in an internal space of the tank, and thus the heat exchange wall allows heat exchange between the internal space of the gasification chamber and the combustible gas stored in the tank. 3. The installation according to claim 2, comprising a pump arranged to produce a combustible gas stream and to apply pressure in the internal space of the tank below the storage pressure of the combustible gas to the internal space of the gasification chamber. 4. The method of claim 2 or 3, wherein the forced vaporization device comprises two vaporization chambers, one of the two vaporisation chambers being disposed in the upper portion of the tank, for controlling the internal space of the vaporisation chamber and the gas Phase, and the other being arranged in the lower part of the tank to allow heat exchange between the internal space of the gasification chamber and the liquid phase of the flammable gas stored in the tank. 5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein each vaporization chamber is connected to the inlet of the inlet circuit and to the inlet of the first channel of the heat exchanger via a circuit portion, wherein the other vaporization chamber is connected to the inlet of the inlet circuit and to the outlet of the heat exchanger Equipment arranged in parallel with the corresponding circuit part connecting to the inlet of one channel. 6. The apparatus of claim 5, further comprising: a circuit portion connecting one of the two vaporization chambers to the inlet of the inlet circuit and the inlet of the first channel of the heat exchanger; and the other vaporization chamber being connected to the inlet of the inlet circuit and the inlet of the first channel of the heat exchanger In which the flow control valve is provided in each of the circuit portions connected to the fuel cell. 4. The installation according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the compressor is a multi-stage compressor comprising a plurality of compression stages and a plurality of intermediate heat exchangers, each of the intermediate heat exchangers being disposed at an outlet of one of the compression stages. 4. A plant according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the expansion device is a turboexpander or an expansion valve. 4. The heat exchanger according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises a return pipe connected upstream to the expansion device and to the return circuit leading from the downstream to the tank on the one hand and to the inlet of the first channel of the heat exchanger on the other hand, And a phase separator connected to the phase separator; Wherein the phase separator is arranged to carry the liquid phase of the combustible gas stream to the return circuit and convey the gas phase of the combustible gas stream to the return pipe. A method for supplying a combustible gas to a gas consuming member and liquefying the combustible gas by an equipment according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
- withdrawing a stream of liquefied combustible gas from a tank containing a flammable gas in the liquid-vapor two-phase equilibrium state from the tank and returning it to the vaporization chamber;
- depressurizing the liquefied gas stream in the interior space of the gasification chamber;
- performing heat exchange between the reduced pressure combustible gas stream in the gasification chamber and the combustible gas contained in the tank through the wall of the gasification chamber to vaporize the withdrawn gas stream by absorbing heat from the combustible gas contained in the tank;
Conveying a vapor phase combustible gas stream between the gasification chamber and the inlet of the first channel of the heat exchanger;
Transferring heat from the second channel to the first channel of the heat exchanger;
Compressing the combustible gas stream exiting the first channel of the heat exchanger;
Conveying the first portion of the compressed combustible gas stream to the gas consuming member and returning the second portion of the compressed gas stream to the inlet of the second channel of the heat exchanger; And
Conveying a second portion of the combustible gas stream from the second channel of the heat exchanger to the expansion device; And
Conveying at least one portion of the second liquid phase portion of the decompressed combustible gas stream to the tank. 11. The method of claim 10 wherein a pressure P1 below a storage pressure of the liquefied combustible gas is produced in the tank by a vacuum pump to reduce the liquefied gas stream in the gasification chamber. 12. The method of claim 11, wherein the pressure P1 is between 12 and 95 kPa (absolute pressure). A ship comprising a facility according to any one of claims 1 to 3. 14. A method for loading or unloading a vessel according to claim 13, wherein the combustible gas is delivered through a cryogenic transfer pipe from a floating or land-based storage facility to a vessel's tank or vice versa. A system for delivering flammable gases, comprising: a vessel according to claim 13; a cryogenic delivery pipe arranged to connect the tank installed in the hull of the ship to a floating or land based storage facility; and a tank of the ship from a floating or land- And conversely a pump for driving the combustible gas through the cryogenic transfer pipe.

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