WO2017207938A1

WO2017207938A1 - Insulating block and thermally-insulating sealed tank built into a polyhedral load-bearing structure

Info

Publication number: WO2017207938A1
Application number: PCT/FR2017/051376
Authority: WO
Inventors: Sébastien DELANOE; Cédric Morel; Thomas CREMIERE
Original assignee: Gaztransport Et Technigaz
Priority date: 2016-06-01
Filing date: 2017-06-01
Publication date: 2017-12-07
Also published as: FR3052227B1; KR20190039675A; CN109477611A; CN109477611B; KR102332824B1; FR3052227A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a parallelepiped insulating block (307) including a rectangular bottom plate (326) and a rectangular cover plate parallel to the bottom plate and spaced apart from the bottom plate in the direction of the thickness of the insulating block by supporting pillars (324, 325, 274), in which the cover plate of an insulating block includes a network of beams attached to the upper ends of the supporting pillars, each beam resting on a plurality of said supporting pillars in order to distribute the pressure forces on said supporting pillars, and a continuous covering web (278) arranged on the network of beams which is less thick than the beams, the network of beams including an edge beam (280) arranged along one edge of the insulating block and resting on the two main supporting pillars (274) arranged at the ends of said edge.

Description

THERMALLY INSULATING INSULATING BLOCK AND TANK INTEGRATED INTO A POLYEDRIATE CARRIER STRUCTURE

Technical area

The invention relates to the field of sealed and thermally insulating tanks, with membranes, for storing and / or transporting fluid, such as a cryogenic fluid.

Watertight and thermally insulated membrane tanks are used in particular for the storage of liquefied natural gas (LNG), which is stored at atmospheric pressure at about -162 ° C. These tanks can be installed on the ground or on a floating structure.

Technological background

In a liquefied gas storage tank at low temperature, an essential function of the tank wall is to isolate the cargo to limit the heat flow causing the evaporation of the cargo, and also to protect the hull of the cryogenic temperatures in the tank. case of a vessel tank. But the vessel wall must also support the hydrodynamic loading of the cargo, which therefore implies a compressive strength.

One possible option to perform these functions is to make the tank wall with a layer of homogeneous material that is both insulating and structurally resistant to compression. Examples of such vessels are available in the literature, for example US-A-4116150 and WO-A-2013124573. However, the insulating material used in these examples, namely reinforced polyurethane foam, is expensive. In addition, it is difficult to find a structural insulating material that optimizes both mechanical strength and thermal insulation.

Another possible option is to make the tank wall with heterogeneous insulating blocks comprising mechanically strong carrier parts and insulating materials arranged between the carrier parts. Like the Insulating materials are at least partially released from the hydrodynamic loading in this case, there is a wider choice of insulation materials available. Examples of such vessels are available in the literature, for example publications FR-A-2867831, FR-A-2989291 and WO-A-2013182776. In FR-A-2867831, the insulating block is a box having parallel interior partitions defining compartments filled with expanded perlite or aerogels. FR-A-2989291 the insulating block is a similar box filled with fibrous materials. In one embodiment, small section pillars are used in place of the parallel partitions. In WO-A-2013182776, it is intended to cast an insulating foam between bearing pillars. In all cases, the overall heat flux transmitted by such an insulation block results both from the fibers transmitted by the carrier parts and from the fluxes transmitted by the insulating interlayer materials.

summary

An idea underlying the invention is to provide an arrangement of the vessel wall adjacent an edge joining two bearing walls forming an angle, including an obtuse angle.

Another idea underlying the invention is to provide an insulating block at least some carrier parts are manufactured in thin materials having good mechanical strength, to maximize the volume occupied by non-structural insulating materials.

For this purpose, according to a first object, the invention provides a sealed and thermally insulating tank integrated in a polyhedral carrier structure comprising a plurality of substantially planar bearing walls, the vessel comprising a plurality of tank walls disposed on the load-bearing walls, in which the vessel wall disposed on a supporting wall comprises, successively in a thickness direction from the outside to the inside of the tank, a secondary insulation barrier, a secondary sealing barrier, a primary insulation barrier , and a primary sealing barrier intended to be in contact with a product contained in the tank,

wherein the secondary insulation barrier consists essentially of parallelepipedic secondary insulating blocks juxtaposed in a repeating pattern on the carrier wall and the primary insulation barrier consists essentially of parallelepipedic primary insulating blocks superimposed on the secondary insulating blocks,

in which a secondary insulating block and a primary insulating block which is superimposed on said secondary insulating block are retained on the carrier wall by retaining members arranged around the superimposed secondary and primary insulating blocks, each retaining element comprising a lower portion integral with the carrier wall, a secondary fastening portion overlying the lower portion and cooperating with a plurality of secondary insulating blocks adjacent to the retainer and a primary fastening portion surmounting the secondary fastening portion and cooperating with a plurality of primary insulative blocks adjacent to the retainer,

in which the secondary sealing barrier comprises a metal membrane consisting essentially of metal elements juxtaposed on the secondary insulating blocks and sealed to each other and the primary sealing barrier comprises a metal membrane consisting essentially of metal elements juxtaposed on the primary insulating blocks and welded to each other in a sealed manner.

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

According to an embodiment of the tank, along an edge of the supporting structure joining two adjacent supporting walls forming an angle between them, the secondary insulation barrier of each tank wall comprises a longitudinal row of insulating border blocks. and the primary isolation barrier of each vessel wall comprises a longitudinal row of primary boundary insulating blocks superimposed on the secondary edge insulating blocks,

wherein each secondary edge insulation block and each primary edge insulation block has a first longitudinal edge parallel to the edge and located on the side opposite the edge and a second longitudinal edge parallel to the edge and located on the side of the edge. 'fish bone,

wherein the first longitudinal edge of the primary edge insulation block is aligned with the first longitudinal edge of the secondary edge insulation block while the second longitudinal edge of the primary edge insulation block is set back from the second longitudinal edge of the secondary border insulating block, the primary edge insulating block being narrower than the secondary edge insulating block, in which the retaining members which retain the primary and secondary edge insulating blocks on the load-bearing wall comprise a first row of retaining members disposed at each corner terminating the first longitudinal edge of the primary and secondary edge insulating blocks, the secondary attachment portion of each first row retaining member cooperating with two secondary edge insulating blocks and two other secondary insulating blocks adjacent to the retaining member, in particular two current point secondary insulating blocks, and the primary fastening portion of each first-row retaining member cooperating with two primary edge insulating blocks and two other blocks primary insulators adjacent to the retaining member superimposed on said two aut secondary insulation blocks, in particular two primary current point insulating blocks, and

wherein the retaining members which retain the primary and secondary edge insulating blocks on the bearing wall comprise a second row of retaining members disposed between the transverse edges of the secondary edge insulating blocks at a distance from the second longitudinal edge of the insulating blocks of the secondary border, the secondary attachment portion of each retaining member of the second row cooperating with two secondary edge insulating blocks located on either side of the retaining member in the longitudinal direction and the primary fastening portion each retaining member of the second row cooperating with two primary edge insulating blocks located on either side of the retaining member in the longitudinal direction.

According to one embodiment, each secondary edge insulating block and / or each secondary current point insulating block comprises:

a rectangular bottom plate,

a rectangular-shaped cover plate parallel to the bottom plate and spaced from the bottom plate in a thickness direction of the secondary edge insulating block, the cover plate of the secondary edge insulating block having a plurality of zones; fasteners located on the edges of the cover plate to cooperate with anchoring members arranged around the secondary edge insulating block,

a thermally insulating gasket disposed between the bottom plate and the plate lid,

and supporting pillars of more rigid material than the insulating lining extending in the thickness direction between the bottom plate and the cover plate to take up pressure forces, each bearing pillar having a small size section relative to a longitudinal dimension and a transverse dimension of the secondary border insulating block, said bearing pillars comprising main bearing pillars arranged vertically above each of said attachment zones,

wherein each main bearing pillar comprises at least two thin sails crossing at right angles.

According to one embodiment, each primary edge insulating block and / or each primary current point insulating block comprises:

a rectangular bottom plate,

a rectangular shaped cover plate parallel to the bottom plate and spaced from the bottom plate in a thickness direction of the primary edge insulating block,

a thermally insulating gasket disposed between the bottom plate and the cover plate,

and carrying pillars of more rigid material than the insulating lining extending in the thickness direction between the bottom plate and the cover plate to take up pressure forces, each bearing pillar having a small size section relative to a longitudinal dimension and a transverse dimension of the primary edge insulating block, said bearing pillars comprising main bearing pillars arranged at the four corners of the primary edge insulating block to cooperate with the retaining members,

each main bearing pillar comprises at least two thin webs intersecting at right angles, a thin web of support having, successively along the thickness direction of the insulating block, a wider lower portion in contact with the bottom plate and a narrower upper portion in contact with the cover plate, such that a free edge of the thin bearing web facing outward of the primary edge insulating block has a shoulder surface positioned between the wider lower portion and the upper portion being narrower and perpendicular or oblique to the thickness direction of the insulating block,

the corner area of the cover plate has a cut-out the shoulder surface of the thin support web to provide an access window for accessing the shoulder surface,

and the primary attachment portion of each retaining member comprises a primary bearing member held in abutment with the shoulder surface of the thin bearing web of each of the two primary edge insulating blocks.

According to one embodiment, the attachment zones of the secondary border insulating block consist of two corner attachment zones respectively disposed at two corners of the cover plate located at the ends of the first longitudinal edge of the insulating block of secondary border and two intermediate attachment zones respectively disposed along the two transverse edges of the cover plate,

Preferably in this case, the two intermediate attachment areas are spaced from the corners of the cover plate, so that the attachment areas of the secondary edge insulator block are entirely located on the remote cover plate of a second longitudinal edge of the secondary border insulating block. With these features, it is possible to extend the secondary edge insulation block in the direction of the edge beyond the second row of retainers, so as to minimize the gap between the secondary edge insulating blocks located on both carrier walls on each side of the ridge.

Different materials having a suitable strength can be used for the cover plate, the bottom plate and the supporting pillars, for example plywood of different types or composite materials. Preferably, the cover plate is made of densified plywood. The densified plywood can be obtained with wood sheets impregnated with a large quantity of thermosetting resins, for example with beech, fir or birch wood. Preferably, the density of the densified plywood is greater than or equal to 0.9. In comparison, the typical density of ordinary plywood is of the order of 0.7. Such densified plywood wood offers satisfactory properties in terms of cost, mechanical strength and thermal insulation. For example, the thickness of the cover plate may be of the order of 5 mm. Similar considerations can be applied to the bottom plate, which is, however, less commonly solicited. To minimize heat flow by conduction, it is preferable to limit the section of the pillars. However, since the bearing pillars are intended to take a hydrostatic and hydrodynamic load to transmit it from the cover plate to the carrier wall, a risk of punching of the cover plate and / or bottom may exist in case of concentration excessive compression constraints. In addition, the bearing pillars are likely to create bending stresses in the cover plate and / or bottom. To reduce the stresses and the risk of punching, different load distribution elements can be used at the connection between the bearing pillars and the cover plate and / or bottom.

According to one embodiment, the primary edge insulating block and / or the primary current point insulating block further comprises flared shape distribution pieces arranged between the supporting pillars and the cover or bottom plate, the piece load distribution system having in each case a smaller section surface facing the supporting pillar and a larger section surface facing the cover plate or bottom plate.

According to one embodiment, the carrying pillars are arranged in a plurality of rows extending in the length direction of the insulating block, the insulating block further comprising charge distribution beams arranged between the carrying pillars and the cover plate. , the load distribution beam being oriented in the length direction of the insulating block and resting each time on one of the rows of bearing pillars.

According to one embodiment, the load distribution beam each has a smaller section surface facing the supporting pillars and a larger section surface facing the cover plate.

Beams may be used similarly at the bottom plate, which however is less stressed in general.

In addition, different structures may be provided as the main bearing pillar of the primary or secondary edge insulation block and / or as the main bearing pillar of the primary or secondary current point insulating block.

Preferably, each main bearing pillar comprises at least two thin webs crossing at right angles and extending in the thickness direction between the bottom plate and the cover plate. Thanks to these characteristics, a said main main pillar has a relatively high moment of inertia in the length direction and the width direction of the insulating block, which is useful for withstanding any shear stresses of the insulating block parallel to the cover and bottom plates, so that it effectively opposes shearing or spilling. Such a main bearing pillar may be made with different shapes in the section, for example a T-shape, a U-shape, an L-shape, a F-shape, an H-shape or a μ-shape (Greek letter mu). .

For a U shape, the transverse web extends only between the two longitudinal webs. For the F shape, the transverse web extends between

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longitudinal. For an H-shape, the transverse web is placed between the two longitudinal webs in an intermediate zone outside the end zones of the latter. For the shape of μ, the transverse web extends between the two longitudinal webs and one of the two longitudinal webs extends beyond the transverse web.

According to one embodiment, the main bearing pillar comprises a longitudinal web extending over a portion of the length of the insulating block and a transverse web extending over a portion of the width of the insulating block.

According to one embodiment, the main bearing pillar is a corner pillar disposed between a corner area of the bottom plate and a corresponding corner area of the cover plate and has a bisecting web extending from the corner along a bisector of the wedge of the bottom plate and the cover plate to an inner end located inside the insulating block and a counter-bisector vane perpendicular to the bisecting veil, the counter-bisecting veil being fixed to the inner end of the bisecting web and extending obliquely between a transverse edge and a longitudinal edge of the cover plate and the bottom plate. Thanks to these characteristics, the corner pillar has excellent buckling behavior. In addition, the bisecting web being oriented towards the outside of the insulating block along the bisector, it makes it possible to approach closer to the retaining member when it is arranged between the corners of four adjacent insulating blocks. . This results in a reliable seating for the primary or secondary attachment portion of the retaining member cooperating with the four adjacent primary or secondary insulating blocks. Preferably, the main bearing pillar of the secondary edge insulating blocks disposed vertically above each corner attachment zone is made in this manner.

Advantageously, in the case of the primary edge or primary point insulating blocks, each bisecting veil comprises, successively along the thickness direction of the insulating block, a wider lower portion in contact with the bottom plate and a larger upper portion. narrowly in contact with the cover plate, so that an outer edge of the bisecting web facing the corner of the bottom plate has a shoulder surface placed between the wider lower portion and the narrower and perpendicular upper portion or oblique to the thickness direction of the insulating block.

Preferably in this case, the corner region of the cover plate has a cutout located vertically above the shoulder surface of the bisecting web to provide an access window for accessing the shoulder surface. Thus, it is possible to access a retaining member cooperating with the shoulder surface to achieve the fixing of the primary insulating block in a tank wall.

According to a preferred embodiment of the secondary edge or secondary point insulation blocks, each bisecting web has an upper surface which is perpendicular to the thickness direction of the insulating block and fixed against the cover plate, and the corner area of the cover plate comprises a countersink located in line with the upper surface of the bisecting veil, the secondary attachment portion of the retaining element comprising a secondary support element bearing against the cover plate in the counterbore.

Preferably, in the case of secondary edge or secondary point insulating blocks, each bisecting veil has a trapezoidal shape with a wider upper end in the direction of the bisector of the corner of the cover plate and a narrower lower end in the direction of the bisector of the corner of the bottom plate. Due to this gradual narrowing of the bisecting veil, the corresponding thermal bridge can be reduced.

According to one embodiment, the main bearing pillar of the secondary edge insulating blocks disposed vertically above each intermediate attachment zone has a U-shaped section, F, H or μ in a plane. perpendicular to the thickness direction, the main bearing pillar having two mutually spaced parallel longitudinal sails in the transverse direction which have a free edge facing outwardly of the secondary edge insulating block and a transverse web connecting the two longitudinal sails, by example by being fixed against the edges of the two longitudinal webs facing the inside of the secondary border insulating block for the U-shaped or F-shaped section.

According to one embodiment, the cover plate of the secondary edge insulating block has a longitudinal counterbore extending along the entire length of the secondary edge insulating block between the second longitudinal edge and each intermediate attachment zone,

the tank further comprising a secondary angle beam arranged at the edge of the edge to support the secondary sealing barrier, the secondary angle beam having two elongated wings parallel to the edge disposed on either side of an angular bisecting yoke formed by the two bearing walls and each resting on the cover plate of the secondary edge insulating block in said longitudinal counterbore, the secondary corner beam having a metal angle disposed astride the two wings elongate and screwed to them on both sides of said bisecting plane.

Preferably in this case, the secondary insulation barrier further comprises a block of fibrous or cellular insulating material inserted between the two rows of secondary edge insulating blocks between the carrier structure and the secondary corner beam.

For the insulating packing of the primary and secondary insulating blocks, different materials may be employed, including glass wool, rockwool, wadding, fibrous materials, perlite, expanded perlite, low density polymer foams, aerogels and others. Cohesive fibrous insulating materials, such as glass wool mats, are preferably used, so that it is not necessary to provide sidewalls for closing the four lateral sides of the insulating block. This results in a saving of material and a reduction of the thermal bridge.

According to one embodiment, the secondary watertight membrane comprises right-angle folded metal strips disposed in housings of the cover plates of the secondary border insulating blocks and the secondary common-point insulating blocks, each metal strip comprising a wing protruding above the cover plate, the secondary waterproofing membrane having low coefficient of expansion steel strakes which are laid flat on the cover plates of the secondary insulating blocks between the metal strips, each strake having two lateral edges parallel surveys that are sealed welded to the protruding wings of the metal strips.

The primary waterproof membrane can be made similarly or differently.

According to one embodiment, the bottom plate of the edge insulating block or primary current point is divided into a plurality of rectangular bottom portions, the bottom portions being juxtaposed along a width direction of the insulating block, a interstice being provided each time between two bottom portions juxtaposed along the entire length of the insulating block,

the insulating block further comprising a connecting piece fixed to an inner surface of the bottom plate facing the cover plate to connect the two juxtaposed bottom portions, the connecting piece having successively along the width direction of the block isolating a first end portion secured to the inner surface of a first of the two juxtaposed bottom portions, an intermediate portion spanning the gap between the two juxtaposed bottom portions and a second end portion attached to the inner surface of a second of the two bottom portions juxtaposed,

the connecting piece having a housing in the extension of the gap between the two juxtaposed bottom portions, the intermediate portion of the connecting piece closing the housing in the direction of thickness opposite the gap, and the interstice between the two juxtaposed bottom portions and the corresponding housing are adapted to receive the protruding part of a waterproof membrane including the projecting flange of a metal strip of the waterproof membrane and the lateral edges raised strakes welded thereto .

Different materials having a suitable strength can be used for the connecting piece of the bottom plate, for example plywood of different types or composite materials. Preferably, the connecting piece is made of a material having a thermal contraction coefficient close to that of the bottom plate, in particular the same material as the one used in the bottom plate. According to one embodiment, the connecting piece is made of densified plywood.

According to one embodiment, mastic supports are inserted between the bottom plates of the secondary edge or secondary point insulating blocks and the support structure, the mastic supports comprising small section mastic pads arranged in line with the supporting pillars of the secondary insulating blocks.

Many configurations are possible to place the pillars carrying the insulating blocks. Preferably, the pillars carrying an insulating border block or primary current point are located vertically above the pillars carrying an insulating border block or underlying secondary current point. Such a configuration makes it possible to minimize the bending stresses in the cover plates of the edge insulating or secondary current point blocks.

According to one embodiment, each of the two main bearing pillars disposed at the ends of the second longitudinal edge of the primary edge insulating block has a U-shaped section, F or μ in a plane perpendicular to the thickness direction, the main bearing pillar having two mutually spaced transverse longitudinal webs which have said free edge facing outwardly of the primary edge insulation block and constitute two thin webs of support, and a transverse web connecting the two longitudinal webs, by example by being fixed against the edges of the two longitudinal webs facing the inside of the primary edge insulation block for the U-shaped or F-shaped section.

According to one embodiment, each of the two main bearing pillars disposed at the ends of the second longitudinal edge of the primary edge insulating block has an L-shaped section in a plane perpendicular to the thickness direction, the main bearing pillar comprising a veil. longitudinal section which has said free edge turned outwardly of the primary edge insulation block and constitutes a thin support web, and a transverse web fixed against the edge of the longitudinal web facing inwardly of the primary edge insulating block, the transverse web extending inwardly of the primary edge insulation block from the longitudinal web. According to one embodiment, each of the two main bearing pillars disposed at the ends of the first longitudinal edge of the primary edge insulating block has a T-shaped section in a plane perpendicular to the thickness direction, the main bearing pillar comprising a veil. bisector extending from the corner along a bisector of the corner of the bottom plate and the cover plate to an inner end located inside the insulating block and a cross-baffle vane perpendicular to the bisecting veil the counter-bisecting web being attached to the inner end of the bisecting web and extending obliquely between a transverse edge and a longitudinal edge of the cover plate and the bottom plate.

According to one embodiment, the cover plate of a primary edge insulating block comprises a network of beams fixed on the upper ends of the bearing pillars, each beam resting on several of said bearing pillars to distribute the pressure forces on said bearing pillars. , and a continuous cover veil disposed on the beam array and having a lower thickness than the beams,

the beam network comprising a longitudinal beam, which may be broad, arranged along the second longitudinal edge of the primary edge insulating block and resting on the two main bearing pillars arranged at the ends of the second longitudinal edge, said longitudinal beam having an inner transverse portion; , possibly having the same length as the bottom plate, covered by the covering web, said longitudinal beam having an outer transverse portion adjacent to the inner transverse portion, and possibly shortened by two recesses provided at the two longitudinal ends of said outer transverse portion to form said access windows allowing access to the shoulder surface of each of the two main bearing pillars arranged at the ends of the second longitudinal edge, and the upper surface of the outer transverse portion of the p furthermore longitudinal is not covered by the covering veil and forms a recessed longitudinal counterbore in the direction of thickness with respect to the upper surface of the covering veil.

According to one embodiment, the tank further comprises a primary angle beam arranged at the edge of the edge to support the primary sealing barrier, the primary corner beam having two elongated wings parallel to the edge disposed on either side of a bisecting plane of the angle formed by the two bearing walls and each resting on the outer transverse portion of the longitudinal beam of the primary edge insulation block in said longitudinal counterbore, the beam primary angle having a metal angle disposed astride the two elongated wings and screwed to them on either side of said bisecting plane.

Preferably in this case, the primary insulation barrier further comprises a block of fibrous or cellular insulating material inserted between the two rows of primary edge insulating blocks under the primary corner beam.

According to a second object, the invention also provides an insulating block that is suitable for producing an insulating wall in a tank for storing a cold liquid, the insulating block having a parallelepipedal shape and comprising:

a rectangular bottom plate,

a rectangular-shaped lid plate parallel to the bottom plate and spaced from the bottom plate in a thickness direction of the insulating block, a thermally insulating gasket disposed between the bottom plate and the cover plate,

and carrying pillars of more rigid material than the insulating lining extending in the thickness direction between the bottom plate and the cover plate to take up pressure forces, each bearing pillar having a small size section relative to a longitudinal dimension and a transverse dimension of the insulating block, said supporting pillars comprising main bearing pillars arranged at the four corners of the insulating block to cooperate with retaining members,

in which each main bearing pillar comprises at least two thin webs intersecting at right angles, a thin web of support having successively along the thickness direction of the insulating block, a wider lower portion in contact with the plate of bottom and a narrower upper portion in contact with the cover plate, so that a free edge of the thin bearing web facing outwardly of the insulating block has a shoulder surface placed between the wider lower portion and the upper portion is narrower and perpendicular or oblique to the thickness direction of the insulating block,

wherein the corner region of the cover plate has a cut-out located above the shoulder surface of the thin support web to provide a access window providing access to the shoulder surface, wherein the cover plate of an insulating block comprises a network of beams fixed to the upper ends of the bearing pillars, each beam resting on a plurality of said pillars to distribute the pressure forces on said supporting pillars, and a continuous cover veil arranged on the beam network and having a smaller thickness than the beams,

the beam network comprising an edge beam disposed along an edge of the insulating block and resting on the two main bearing pillars disposed at the ends of said edge, the edge beam having an inner portion covered by the cover and a portion exterior surface adjacent to the interior portion that is not covered by the covering web, the upper surface of the outer portion forming a counterbore along the edge of the insulating block and recessed in the thickness direction from the surface upper cover,

and in which the edge beam is shortened by two recesses formed at two ends to form the access windows to access the shoulder surface of each of the two main bearing pillars disposed at the ends of the edge of the insulating block.

According to embodiments, such an insulating block may comprise one or more of the following characteristics.

According to one embodiment, each of the two main bearing pillars disposed at the ends of the edge of the insulating block has a U-shaped section, F or μ in a plane perpendicular to the thickness direction, the main bearing pillar comprising two thin support sails mutually spaced and parallel to the edge of the insulating block and a thin web perpendicular to the edge of the insulating block which connects the two thin support sails, for example by being fixed against the edges of the two thin support sails turned towards the inside of the insulating block for the U-shaped or F-shaped section.

According to one embodiment, each of the two main bearing pillars disposed at the ends of the edge of the insulating block has an L-shaped section in a plane perpendicular to the thickness direction, the main bearing pillar comprising a parallel thin support web. at the edge of the insulating block and a thin web perpendicular to the edge of the insulating block fixed against the edge of the thin support web turned towards the inside of the insulating block, the thin web perpendicular to the edge of the insulating block extending towards the inside of the insulating block from the thin support web.

This insulating block is preferably used to produce the primary insulating barrier in a tank wall, especially as a primary edge insulating block. According to a corresponding embodiment, the invention according to the second object also provides a sealed and thermally insulating vessel integrated in a polyhedral carrier structure comprising a plurality of substantially flat bearing walls, the vessel having a plurality of tank walls disposed on the walls. carriers,

wherein the vessel wall disposed on a carrier wall comprises, successively in a thickness direction from the outside to the inside of the vessel, a secondary insulation barrier, a secondary sealing barrier, a barrier of primary insulation, and a primary sealing barrier intended to be in contact with a product contained in the tank,

in which the secondary insulation barrier consists essentially of parallelepipedic secondary insulating blocks juxtaposed in a repeating pattern on the carrier wall and the primary insulating barrier consists essentially of parallelepipedic primary insulating blocks superimposed on the secondary insulating blocks,

in which the secondary sealing barrier comprises a metal membrane consisting essentially of metal elements juxtaposed on the secondary insulating blocks and sealed to each other and the primary sealing barrier comprises a metal membrane consisting essentially of metal elements juxtaposed on the primary insulating blocks and welded to each other in a sealed manner, wherein, along an edge of the supporting structure joining two adjacent bearing walls forming a right angle therebetween, the secondary insulating barrier of each tank wall comprises a longitudinal row of secondary edge insulating blocks and the barrier of primary insulation of each vessel wall comprises a longitudinal row of primary boundary insulating blocks superimposed on the secondary edge insulating blocks, the primary edge insulating blocks being as above,

wherein each secondary edge insulation block and each primary edge insulation block has a first edge parallel to the edge and located on the side opposite the edge and a second edge parallel to the edge and located on the edge side. , the secondary isolation barrier of each tank wall comprising a row of secondary parallelepiped insulating boxes arranged between the secondary edge blocks and the edge and the primary isolation barrier of each tank wall comprising a row of parallelepiped insulating boxes primary members arranged between the primary edge blocks and the edge, the primary parallelepiped insulating boxes being superimposed on the secondary parallelepiped insulating boxes,

wherein the retaining members which retain the primary and secondary edge insulating blocks on the supporting wall comprise a first row of retaining members disposed at each corner terminating the first edge of the primary and secondary edge insulating blocks, the portion secondary fastener of each first row retaining member cooperating with two secondary edge insulating blocks and two other secondary insulating blocks adjacent to the retaining member and the primary fastening portion of each first row retaining member cooperating with two primary edge insulating blocks and two other primary insulating blocks adjacent to the holding member superimposed on said two other secondary insulating blocks, and wherein the retaining members holding the primary and secondary edge insulating blocks on the supporting wall comprise a second row of retaining members arranged at the level of e each corner terminating the second edge of the primary and secondary edge insulating blocks, the secondary fastening portion of each second row engaging member cooperating with two secondary edge insulating blocks and two secondary parallelepiped insulating boxes and the primary fastening portion of each second row retaining member cooperating with two primary edge insulating blocks and two primary parallelepiped insulating boxes,

in which a row of primary bridging plates is arranged resting on the primary parallelepiped isolanls boxes and the primary edge insulating blocks to support the primary sealing barrier between the primary parallelepiped insulating boxes and the primary edge insulating blocks, each plate primary bridging bearing on the countersink of the edge beam located along the edge of the primary edge insulation block.

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Most of the following features have been achieved by using one of two or more of the following features.

According to one embodiment, a row of secondary bridging plates is placed in abutment on the secondary parallelepiped insulating boxes and the secondary edge insulating blocks to support the secondary sealing barrier between the secondary parallelepiped insulating boxes and the insulating border blocks. secondary.

According to one embodiment, the secondary parallelepiped insulating boxes and the primary parallelepiped insulating boxes support a connecting ring comprising a metal reinforcement with a square cross section, a primary wing of which serves to connect the primary sealing barrier to the supporting structure and a Secondary wing serves to connect the secondary sealing barrier to the supporting structure.

Moreover, many other characteristics of the tank according to the first subject of the invention are also applicable to the second subject of the invention, as will be apparent from the description of the detailed embodiments.

According to an embodiment of the sealed and insulating tank, the secondary insulating barrier consists essentially of a plurality of secondary current point insulating blocks which are juxtaposed in a repeating pattern and the primary insulating barrier consists essentially of a plurality of primary current point insulating blocks which are juxtaposed according to the repeated pattern, the primary current point insulating blocks being aligned with the secondary current point insulating blocks in the thickness direction of the vessel wall. According to one embodiment, each primary or secondary current point insulating block comprises:

a rectangular bottom plate,

a rectangular-shaped cover plate parallel to the bottom plate and spaced from the bottom plate in a thickness direction of the insulating block, a plurality of supporting pillars disposed between the bottom plate and the cover plate, the supporting pillars extending longitudinally in the thickness direction and having a small size section with respect to a length and width of the insulating block, and

an insulating gasket disposed between the bottom plate and the cover plate and between the pillars.

Preferably in this case, the vessel wall further comprises fastening members attached to the carrier structure at the corners of the secondary current point insulating blocks, a retaining member each cooperating with four secondary current point insulating blocks. adjacent members for retaining the adjacent current point secondary insulating blocks on the carrier structure and with four primary current point insulating blocks superimposed on said adjacent secondary insulative blocks for retaining the primary current point insulating blocks on the secondary waterproof membrane.

According to one embodiment, the retaining member comprises in each case a primary bearing element held in abutment on the shoulder surface of a bisecting web of each of the four primary current point insulating blocks. According to one embodiment, the retaining member comprises in each case a secondary support element held in abutment on a counter surface of the cover plate of each of the four secondary common point insulating blocks, the counter surface being located at the right of the upper surface of a bisecting veil.

Such a tank can be part of a land storage facility, for example to store LNG or be installed in a floating structure, coastal or deep water, including a LNG tank, a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) , a floating production and remote storage unit (FPSO) and others. According to one embodiment, a vessel for the transport of a fluid product, in particular cold liquid, comprises a double shell and a aforementioned tank disposed in the double shell.

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

According to one embodiment, the invention also provides a transfer system for a fluid product, in particular cold liquid, the system comprising the abovementioned vessel, insulated pipes arranged to connect the vessel installed in the hull of the vessel to an installation. floating or ground storage tank and a pump for driving a flow of fluid 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 partial cutaway view in perspective of a flat insulating and waterproof tub wall.

FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective exploded representation of a retaining member that can be used in the tank wall of FIG. 1.

· Figures 3, 6 and 7 are schematic perspective views of a 135 ° edge region of the sealed and insulating tank according to a first embodiment at different stages of its construction.

• Figure 4 is a schematic perspective view of a secondary edge insulating block used in the edge region of the sealed and insulating vessel. FIG. 5 is a view from above of the secondary border insulating block of FIG. 4.

Figure 8 is a schematic perspective view of a primary edge insulating block used in the edge region of the sealed and insulating tank.

Figure 9 is a view similar to Figure 8 in which a cover plate of the primary edge insulation block has been omitted.

FIG. 10 is a plan view of the primary edge insulating block of FIG.

Figure 11 is an enlarged view of the area XI of Figure 7 partially showing the primary sealing membrane in the edge region of the sealed and insulating vessel.

Figures 12 and 13 are two cross-sectional views of the edge region of the sealed and insulating vessel according to the first embodiment showing the influence of manufacturing tolerances of the carrier structure.

Figure 14 is a cross-sectional view of the edge region at 135 ° of the sealed and insulating tank according to a second embodiment.

Fig. 15 is an enlarged perspective view of the ridge zone of Fig. 14 showing mainly the primary isolation barrier.

Fig. 16 is a schematic perspective view of a secondary edge insulator block and a primary edge insulator block employed in the edge region of Fig. 14.

Fig. 17 is a cross-sectional view of a 90 ° edge region of the sealed and insulating vessel according to one embodiment.

Fig. 18 is a schematic perspective view of an end beam of the primary edge insulating block employed in the edge region of Fig. 17. FIG. 19 is a schematic representation in perspective of the ridge zone of FIG. 18.

FIG. 20 is a schematic perspective view of a secondary edge insulation block and a primary edge insulation block employed in the edge region of FIG. 18.

• Figure 21 is a schematic cutaway representation of a vessel tank LNG and a loading / unloading terminal of this vessel.

Detailed description of embodiments

represented. The general structure of such a tank is well known and has a polyhedral shape. It is therefore only necessary to describe a wall zone of the tank, it being understood that all the flat walls of the tank may have a similar general structure.

Therefore, regardless of the effective orientation of the vessel wall in the earth's gravitational field, the terms "on" and "above" will be used to denote a position inwardly of the vessel in the direction the thickness of the tank wall and the terms "under" and "below" to designate a position located towards the outside of the tank, that is to say towards the supporting structure.

The wall of the tank comprises, from the outside to the inside of the tank, a carrier wall 1, a secondary heat-insulating barrier 2 which is formed of secondary insulating blocks 3 juxtaposed on the carrier wall 1 and anchored thereto by means of retaining members 4, a secondary sealing membrane 5 carried by the insulating blocks 3, a primary thermally insulating barrier 6 formed of primary insulating blocks 7 juxtaposed on the secondary sealing membrane 5 and anchored to the supporting wall 1 by the retaining members 4 and a primary sealing membrane 9, carried by the primary insulating blocks 7 and intended to be in contact with the cryogenic fluid contained in the tank.

Figure 1 shows the locations of four secondary insulating biocides 3 mutually adjacent at a corner. The vessel wall is shown in different stages of manufacture on each of the locations. Successively in the opposite direction of clockwise, the first location has no insulating block, the second location has an entire secondary insulation block 3 and a skinned secondary sealing membrane 5, the third location comprises an insulating block 3, an entire primary insulation block 7 and a skinned primary sealing membrane 9, and the fourth location comprises a skinned secondary insulation block 3 and a skinned primary insulation block 7.

The carrier structure comprises a plurality of load-bearing walls defining the general shape of the vessel. The supporting structure may in particular be formed by the hull or the double hull of a ship. The supporting wall 1 may in particular be a self-supporting metal sheet or, more generally, any type of rigid partition having suitable mechanical properties.

The primary 9 and secondary 5 waterproofing membranes are, for example, constituted by a continuous sheet of metal strakes with raised edges, said strakes being welded by their raised edges to parallel welding supports held on the insulating blocks 3, 7 The metal strakes are, 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 . In the case of a vessel vessel, the strakes are preferably oriented parallel to the direction longitudinal 10 of the ship.

The secondary insulating blocks 3 and the primary insulating blocks 7 have similar structures. Each of the insulating blocks 3 and 7 has a rectangular parallelepiped shape. The two insulating blocks have the same length and the same width. The secondary insulating block 3 is thicker than the primary insulating block 7.

The secondary insulating block 3 comprises a bottom plate 15 and a cover plate 16 parallel, spaced in the direction of thickness. The cover plate 16 has an outer support surface for receiving the secondary sealing membrane 5. The cover plate 16 further has L-shaped section grooves 8 which are cut therein to receive weld supports 11 for welding the metal strakes 12 of the secondary sealing membrane 5. By convention, the longitudinal direction of the secondary insulating block 3 or any insulating block described below is the direction parallel to the soldering supports 11.

Bearing pillars 17 extend in the thickness direction of the secondary insulating block 3 and are fixed, on the one hand, to the bottom plate 15 and, on the other hand, to the cover plate 16. The carrying pillars 17 allow to resume compression efforts. The carrying pillars 17 are aligned in a plurality of rows and distributed in staggered rows, here for a total number of seven bearing pillars. The distance between the bearing pillars 17 is determined so as to allow a good distribution of compression forces. In one embodiment, the pillars

17 are attached to the bottom plate 15 and the cover plate 16 by any suitable means, for example by screwing, stapling and / or bonding.

In the embodiment shown in Figure 1, the pillars 17 have a solid section, square. At the four corners of the bottom plate 15 and the cover plate 16, a corner post 18 is also provided.

The corner pillar 18 has a T-section formed of two perpendicular sails:

a bisecting veil 19 oriented at 45 ° between the longitudinal side and the transverse side of the bottom plate 15,

a counter-bisecting vane 20 oriented perpendicular to the bisecting veil 19 and extending tangentially to the inner end of the bisecting veil 19.

In one embodiment, the bisecting veil 19 is made of a plywood 9 to 10 mm thick with a length of 100 mm and a height adapted to the thickness of the insulating barrier. The counter-bisector veil 20 is made of plywood 12mm thick with a length of 200mm. Such thicknesses of plywood are standard and therefore readily available. Alternatively, a densified plywood can also be used.

In the secondary insulating block 3 of FIG. 1, it can be seen that the bisecting veil 19 of the corner pillar 18 has a trapezoid shape with a wider upper end and a narrower lower end, so that the edge outer of the bisecting veil is oblique. A rectangular cutout 21 is formed in each corner of the cover plate 16 in a portion of the thickness of the cover plate 16 so as to form a counterbore surface in the cover plate. The horizontal upper end of the bisecting veil is covered by the cover plate 16. The horizontal upper end of the bisecting veil 19 is located under the counter surface 50. This counter surface makes it possible to receive the support of a metal plate. secondary 22 of the retaining member 4.

The carrying pillars 17 and the corner pillars 18 can be made in many materials. They can in particular be made of ordinary or densified plywood, or of a plastic material, such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyethylene (PE), acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer (ABS). ), polyurethane (PU) or polypropylene (PP), optionally reinforced with fibers.

A heat-insulating lining 13 extends in the spaces formed between the carrying pillars 17. The heat-insulating lining is, for example, glass wool, wadding, a polymer foam, such as polyurethane foam, polyethylene foam or polyvinyl chloride foam. Such a polymeric foam may be disposed between the carrying pillars 17 by an injection operation during the manufacture of the secondary insulating block 3. Alternatively, it is possible to produce the heat-insulating lining by providing, in a pre-cut block of polymer foam , glass wool or wadding, orifices to accommodate the carrying pillars 17.

The primary insulating block 7 has a general structure similar to the secondary insulating block 3, with some differences which will be explained below.

In a configuration such as in FIG. 1 where the bearing pillars 24 and corner pillars 25 of the primary insulating block 7 are superimposed on the supporting pillars 17 and corner pillars 18 of the secondary insulating block 3, the primary bottom plate 26 as well as the secondary cover plate 16 are not stressed substantially in bending or shearing. Essentially, under a hydrodynamic loading, it is therefore the primary cover plate 27 which works in flexion while the bearing pillars 17 and 24 and the corner pillars 18 and 25 work in compression. In contrast, the primary bottom plate 26, the secondary cover plate 16 as well as the secondary bottom plate 15 are less stressed, that is to say essentially by loadings of the ship's ballast, which however cause lower loads compared to those related to the weight of the cargo. The useful thickness of these structural elements can be reduced to leave a larger volume for the insulating lining and thus improve the thermal performance of the wall.

For the primary bottom plate 26, the secondary cover plate 16 and the secondary bottom plate 15, it is therefore particularly advantageous to use structurally strong thin materials, such as densified wood chips or composite materials.

Examples of suitable densified plywood include materials marketed by RANCAN srl under the trademark RANPREX®, for example references ML15 and ML20. These materials can in particular be used in thicknesses of between 4 and 24 mm, without exceeding 12 mm in areas where the pressure forces are lower. In all cases, the thickness of densified plywood remains less than the thickness that would have been necessary with non-densified plywood to obtain equivalent rigidity.

In FIG. 1, the carrying pillars 17 of the secondary insulating block 3 bear directly on the bottom plate 15 and the cover plate 16.

To improve the distribution of the load of the bearing pillars 24 in the primary insulating block 7, structures are provided at the connection between the bearing pillars 24 and the cover plate 27. In Figure 1, a longitudinal beam 28 is placed at the top of each row of supporting pillars 24.

The manufacture of a carrier wall 1 of large size as the hull of a ship does not allow to obtain perfectly flat surfaces. It is therefore generally necessary to provide shims 29 and polymerizable mastic supports under the bottom plate 15 of a secondary insulating block 3 to be able to make up the flatness defects of the carrier wall 1 and thus align the insulating blocks with a low tolerance, so as to obtain a very uniform support surface for the secondary membrane 5. These polymerizable putty carriers can take different configurations. FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary embodiment in which the polymerizable putty supports comprise studs 30 located vertically above the bearing pillars 17 and T-shaped corner strips 31 located vertically above the corner pillars 18. It is thus possible to minimize the bending forces in the bottom plate while providing a total section of the mastic mounts which is quite small, which limits heat conduction through the mastic mounts. The section of mastic pads 30 is for example circular.

A nonstick sheet 14, for example of kraft paper, is placed on the inner surface of the carrier wall 1 to prevent adhesion of the sealant to the carrier wall 1.

All the foregoing description relating to the secondary insulating blocks 3 is also applicable to the primary insulating blocks 7. Nevertheless, the primary insulating block 7 has certain differences with the secondary insulating block 3, in particular at the bottom plate 26. Thus, it It is not necessary for the bottom plate 26 to have mastic supports. On the other hand, it is necessary to adapt the bottom plate 26 to the projections of the secondary membrane 5, namely the raised edges of the strakes 12 and the vertical flange of the welding supports 11.

For this, as illustrated in Figure 1, it is possible to subdivide the bottom plate 26 to allow the protruding portions of the secondary membrane 5 to pass into interstices. To maintain some flexural strength of the bottom plate 26, connecting pieces 32 are used. The connecting piece 32 of the bottom plate is for example a profiled strip fixed astride two successive portions of the bottom plate 26 at the gap and having a longitudinal groove in the extension of the interstice.

The bending forces are generally higher at the level of the primary cover plate 27, it is preferable to make it in a stronger and / or thicker material than the secondary cover plate 16. The grooves 33 of the welding supports for the primary waterproof membrane 9 can be machined in its thickness in the known manner.

In the center of FIG. 1, the retaining member 4 situated at the adjacent corners of the four secondary insulating blocks 3, one of which is omitted, co-operates simultaneously with each of them to hold them on the supporting structure. The same is true of the four primary insulating blocks 7, two of which are omitted.

In the primary insulating block 7 of FIG. 1, the corner pillar 25 comprises a bisecting veil 34 and a baffle veil 37. It can be seen that the bisecting veil 34 has a different shape, with a wider lower portion and a portion narrower upper end, so that the outer edge of the bisecting veil has a horizontal shoulder surface 35. A rectangular cutout 36 is formed in each corner of the cover plate 27 so as to expose the horizontal shoulder surface 35 of the veil Bisector 34. This exposed horizontal shoulder surface can receive the support of a primary metal plate 38 of the retaining member A. The shoulder surface 35 could perform the same function being oblique.

The rectangular cutouts 36 formed in the corners of the cover plates 27 allow access to the retaining members 4 to facilitate their introduction. After this installation, these windows can be plugged, for example using the teaching of the publication FR-A-2973097.

With reference to FIG. 2, an embodiment of the retaining member 4 is now described. A main rod 39 has a threaded lower end 40 to which is screwed a nut 41 housed in a hollow base 42 which is welded to the bearing wall. The nut 41 housed in the hollow base 42 thus holds the lower end of the main rod 39 to the carrier wall and provides a first ball joint with an angular displacement of about 10 °.

The secondary metal plate 22 is attached to the upper end 43 of the main rod 39 via a fixing cage consisting of a lower plate 44 fixed in parallel under the secondary metal plate 22 by four spacer tubes 45 arranged at the corners of the bottom plate 44. The secondary metal plate 22, the spacer tubes 45 and the bottom plate 44 are fixed by four fixing screws 46 engaged in the spacer tubes 45.

The fixing cage is retained on the upper end 43 of the main rod 39 by the bottom plate 44 which has a central bore 47 through which the main rod 39 passes and a nut 48 screwed onto the upper end 43 of the main rod 39 between the lower plate 44 and the secondary metal plate 22. A stack of Belleville washers 49 is engaged on the main rod 39 between the lower plate 44 and the nut 48 to allow an elastic movement of the fixing cage relative to the main rod 39. The secondary metal plate 22 has a central opening 51 for the installation of the stack of Belleville washers 49 and the nut 48.

The central bore 47 traversed by the main rod 39 provides a second ball joint connection between the secondary metal plate 22 and the main rod 39 with an angular displacement of about 10 °. Thanks to the two aforementioned ball joint connections, the secondary metal plate 22 can be arranged horizontally on the cover plates 16 of the four mutually adjacent secondary insulation blocks 3 while catching the positioning tolerances of the secondary insulating blocks 3, so that the anchoring of the secondary insulating blocks 3 can be reliably realized.

To prevent uncontrolled rotation of the nut 8 around the main rod 39, which would change the tightening torque, a locking tab 50 attached to the nut 8 is locked between two of the spacer tubes 45.

For cooperation with the primary insulating blocks 7, the retaining member 4 further comprises a cover 52 closing the central opening 51 and having a tapped hole 53 at its center. In use, the secondary membrane 5 passes on the secondary metal plate 22 and the cover 52. A flange stud 54 is then screwed into the tapped hole 53 by locally piercing the secondary membrane 5, the flange can then be welded to the secondary membrane 5 around the piercing to restore the seal.

The primary metal plate 38 is engaged on the collar stud 54 and retained thereon by a nut 55 and a Belleville washer 56.

To prevent an uncontrolled rotation of the primary metal plate 38 around the collar stud 54, two stop pins 57 are engaged through holes in the primary metal plate 38 and allow to engage one of the bisecting webs 34 of the insulating blocks. primary 7.

The configuration described with reference to FIG. 1 relates to a planar zone of the tank wall and implements current point insulating blocks, namely the secondary current point insulating block 7 and the primary current point insulating block 3 . Referring to Figures 3 to 13, we will now describe a corner area of the vessel wall, along an edge 58 of the carrier structure joining two adjacent supporting walls 1 forming an angle between them. Since the angle zone of the vessel wall is substantially symmetrical with respect to a bisecting plane of the angel, it will be sufficient to describe a single vessel wall in the corner region.

The secondary wall of the vessel wall has a longitudinal row of secondary edge insulating blocks 103 visible in FIG. 3 and the primary insulating barrier of the tank wall comprises a longitudinal row of primary edge insulating blocks. superimposed on the secondary boundary insulating blocks 13 and visible in FIG. 7 The elements of the edge insulating blocks which are analogous to the current point insulating blocks have the same reference numeral increased by 100 and will be described only to the extent that they differ from current point insulating biocs.

Referring to Figure 3, the row of secondary edge insulating blocks 103 is fixed on the carrier wall 1 by two rows of retaining members 4 described above.

A first row of retaining members, not shown, the locations of which are marked by the numeral 59, is located along the longitudinal edge of the secondary edge insulating blocks 103 remote from the edge 58. Each of these retaining members cooperates with each other. with two secondary edge insulating blocks 103 and two secondary current point insulating blocks 3, not shown, the locations of which are indicated in broken lines. A second row 60 of the retaining members, shown, is located between the transverse edges of the secondary edge insulating blocks 103, at a distance from the longitudinal edge facing the edge 58.

The secondary edge insulating block 103 will now be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5.

On a portion facing away from the edge 58, the secondary edge insulating block 103 is similar to the secondary current point insulating block 3, with two corner pillars 118 and the rectangular blanks 121 perpendicular to the bisecting sails. 119, a row of carrying pillars 117 between the two corner pillars 118 and a middle row of carrying pillars 117 between the two grooves 108. However, the portion of the secondary edge insulating block 103 turned towards the edge 58 is different. In particular, the attachment areas for receiving the secondary metal plates of the second row retainers 60 are not at the corners of the cover plate 116, but at a distance therefrom along the transverse edges. of the cover plate 116. These two zones of intermediate fasteners correspond to rectangular counterbores 61 formed in the thickness of the cover plate 116.

The main bearing pillars 62 arranged above these two zones of fasteners here have a U-shaped section in a plane perpendicular to the direction of thickness. More specifically, the main bearing pillar 62 has two mutually parallel transverse longitudinal sails 63 which have an outwardly facing free edge and a transverse web 64 connecting the two longitudinal sails 63 being fixed against the edges of the two sails. longitudinals 63 turned inwardly of the secondary edge insulating block 103. Not shown, the shape of U can be modified in the form of F or H or μ using a longitudinal web 63 or transverse 64 larger , which reinforces the pillar against certain requests.

A row of carrying pillars 117 is arranged between the two main bearing pillars 62 of wedge 118 and a last row of carrying pillars 1 17 is arranged in a marginal zone of the secondary edge insulating block 103 between the two main bearing pillars 62 and the edge This marginal zone corresponds to a longitudinal counterbore 65 extending over the entire length of the secondary border insulating block and delimited by a recess 66 on the cover plate 116.

As always visible in FIG. 3, the function of the longitudinal counterbore

65 is to receive a secondary corner beam 67 disposed at the edge 58 to support the secondary sealing barrier. The secondary corner beam 67 comprises two elongated wings 69 parallel to the edge 58 disposed on either side of the bisecting plane of the two supporting walls 1 and each resting on the cover plate of the secondary edge insulating block 103 in the longitudinal counterbore 65. The secondary corner beam 67 comprises a metal angle 68, for example Invar ®, arranged astride the two elongate wings 69 and screwed to them on both sides of said bisecting plane by two rows fixing screw 73. In order to limit the interstices capable of facilitating natural convection heat transfer in the secondary insulation barrier, a block of insulating material 70, for example made of glass wool, inserted between the two rows of secondary edge insulating blocks 103 under the beam secondary corner 67. The block of insulating material 70 has for example a wedge-shaped section, as best seen in Figure 12.

Figure 6 shows the embodiment of the secondary sealing membrane 5 in the corner area. On the one hand, welding supports 11 are inserted into the grooves 108 of the secondary edge insulating block 103 for welding metal strakes 12 with raised edges according to the known technique. On the other hand, one half closer to the edge 58 with a raised edge sealingly welded to the adjacent raised edge of the strake 12 and a longitudinal edge piat 72 welded tightly to the metal angle 68 covering a row. In the retaining members of the row 60, the flange stud 54 is disposed through the half-strake 71 at about half its width.

The flanged studs 54 make it possible to retain the primary edge insulating blocks 107 which are superimposed on the secondary edge insulating blocks 103, as can be seen in FIG. 7.

The primary edge insulating block 107 will now be described with reference to FIGS. 8 to 10. On a portion facing away from the edge 58, the primary edge insulating block 107 is similar to the primary current point insulating block 7 , with two corner pillars 125 and rectangular cutouts 136 plumb with the shoulder surfaces 135. A row of carrying pillars 124 between the two corner pillars 125 and a middle row of pillars 124 between the two grooves 133. In addition, the bottom plate 126 is subdivided into three portions to provide interstices to accommodate the protruding portions of the secondary sealing membrane 5. Connecting pieces 132 attach the three parts to each other.

However, the portion of the primary edge insulating block 107 turned towards the edge 58 is different. In particular, the main bearing pillars 74 intended to receive the primary metal plates 38 are arranged at the end facing the edge of the two transverse edges of the bottom plate 126. They present here a U-shaped section in a plane perpendicular to the thickness direction. More specifically, the main bearing pillar 74 comprises two mutually spaced transverse longitudinal sidelines 75 which have a horizontal shoulder surface 76 on the outwardly facing free edge and a transverse web 77 connecting the two longitudinal sails 75 in a transverse direction. being fixed against the edges of the two longitudinal webs 75 facing towards the inside of the primary edge insulating block 107. The two horizontal shoulder surfaces 76 of a main bearing pillar 74 make it possible to receive the support of the primary metal plate 38 of the retaining member of the row 60 stably.

In a manner not shown, the shape of U can be modified in the form of F or H or μ using one or two longitudinal webs 75 or a transverse web 77 of larger size, which allows to strengthen the pillar against certain demands .

The cover plate of the primary edge insulating block 107 comprises a continuous cover mat 78 in which are hollowed the grooves 133 disposed on a network of beams having a thickness greater than the covering veil 78. This network of beams fixed on the upper ends of the bearing pillars 124, corner pillars 125 and main bearing pillars 74 is best seen in Figure 9 where the cover fabric 78 has been omitted.

With reference to FIG. 9, the beam array has a series of five transverse beams 79 extending over a portion of the width of the primary edge insulating block 107 from the longitudinal edge of the side remote from the edge 58. Two beams transverse bars 79 rest on a carrier pillar 124 of the middle row and a corner pillar 125 and extend to the longitudinal edge of the primary edge insulating block 107. Three transverse beams 79 located therebetween rest on a bearing pillar 124 of the middle row and a bearing pillar 124 disposed between the corner pillars 125 and terminate back from the longitudinal edge of the primary edge insulating block 107. A narrow longitudinal beam 85 extends at the end thereof between them. two corner pillars 125.

At the end of the transverse beams 79 facing the edge 58, a broad edge beam 80 extends in the longitudinal direction and occupies the remaining portion of the width of the primary edge insulating block 107 to the second longitudinal edge and rests on the two main pillars 74. The broad curb beam 80 has an inner transverse portion 81 having a length slightly less than the bottom plate 126 and covered by the covering veil 78 having a length slightly greater than the bottom plate 126. The broad curb beam 80 presents also an outer transverse portion 82 shortened by two recesses 84 formed at the two longitudinal ends to form access windows to access the shoulder surfaces 76 of each of the two main bearing pillars 74, to set up the row 60 retainers.

The upper surface of the outer transverse portion 82 is not covered by the covering veil 78, which terminates at the edge 83. It relates to the upper surface of the covering veil 78.

As best seen in Figure 8, the covering veil 78 may consist of two superimposed sheets. At the cutouts 136, the topsheet then has a slightly wider cutout to define a flange around the access window. Alternatively this rim could be machined in the thickness of a single sheet. On the function of such a rim, reference FR-A-2973097.

As is still visible in FIG. 7, the function of the countersink formed by the longitudinal portion 82 of the primary edge insulating block 107 is to receive a primary corner beam 86, identical to the secondary corner beam 67, also arranged at the right angle edge 58 to support the primary sealing barrier. The primary corner beam 86 comprises two elongated wings 87 parallel to the edge 58 disposed on either side of the bisecting plane of the two supporting walls 1 and each resting on the cover plate of the primary edge insulating block 107 on the portion 82. The primary corner beam 86 comprises a metal angle 88, for example Invar ®, straddling the two elongate wings 87 and screwed to them on either side of said bisecting plane.

In order to limit the gaps that may facilitate the natural convection heat transfer in the primary insulation barrier, a block of insulating material 89, for example made of glass wool, inserted between the two rows of primary edge insulating blocks 107 under the beam primary corner 86. The block of material Insulating 89 has for example a wedge-shaped section, as best seen in Figure 12.

FIG. 11 shows the embodiment of the primary sealing membrane 9 in the corner zone, which is essentially identical to the secondary sealing membrane 5. On the one hand, welding supports are inserted into the grooves 133 of the block primary edge insulator 107 for welding metal strakes with raised edges according to the known technique. On the other hand, a half-strake 71 is disposed between the metal bracket 88 and the weld support closest to the ridge 58 with a raised edge sealed to the adjacent raised edge of the strake and a flat longitudinal edge. 72 sealingly welded to the metal angle 88 by covering a row of fixing screws.

Figures 12 and 13 are sectional views of the corner region of the vessel wall which has just been described. It is apparent that the primary edge insulating block 107 is narrower than the secondary edge insulating block 103. Thus, while the longitudinal edges of the two superposed edge blocks are aligned on the side remote from the edge 58, the insulating block secondary edge 103 extends farther than the primary edge insulating block 107 towards the edge 58,

In addition, it is apparent that the carrying pillars of the two superimposed border blocks are aligned. In particular, the main bearing pillars 74 are precisely superimposed on the main bearing pillars 62 and the corner pillars 125 are precisely superimposed on the corner pillars 118. These alignments make it possible to use the same retaining members 4 to anchor the insulating border blocks secondary 103 and the primary edge insulating blocks 107 to the carrier walls 1, while using a simple and balanced structure for these retaining members 4, including an orientation perpendicular to the carrier wall 1.

Due to the symmetrical construction of the vessel walls with respect to the bisecting plane B, there is a certain exclusion zone in the vicinity of the bisecting plane B, in which the retaining members 4 can not be positioned. This exclusion zone is all the more extensive as the height of the retaining member in the thickness direction of the vessel wall is high. However, despite the distance between the edge 58 and the row 60, the secondary edge insulating block 103 can be close enough to the bisecting plane B by virtue of its portion of width L which extends towards the edge 58 beyond the retaining member row 60, This allows a relatively simple constriction of the secondary sealing membrane 5 in the angle, that is simply by means of the angle beam 67 which rests directly on the secondary edge insulating blocks 103 on either side of the bisecting plane B. The same simplicity is manifested in the production of the primary waterproofing membrane 9 in the corner area.

To optimize the realization of a tank wall of large dimensions, it is desirable to use standardized insulating blocks with an inventory also u to take into account however

a few centimeters to tens of centimeters in a ship's hull, for example about 50 mm per tank of a methane tanker.

One possibility for this is to create a regular rectangular mesh with the retaining members 4, placing a first longitudinal row at the mid width of the carrier wall 1 and adding successive parallel rows equidistant from the retaining members 4, getting closer of the edge 58. The numbers 59 correspond to the last of these successive parallel rows equidistant. The distance between two rows is the width of the current point insulating blocks described with reference to FIG. 1. The last row 60 is placed according to the dimensioning of the edge insulating blocks 103 and 107.

When we know the theoretical size of the carrier wall 1, it is possible to design in advance, the number and positioning of these rows of retaining members 4, and therefore the corresponding number of rows of insulating blocks of point current. Due to manufacturing tolerances of the carrier wall 1, however, there remains a margin of uncertainty on the remaining distance D between the last row 60 and the edge 58 (see Figure 3).

Figures 12 and 13 illustrate two examples where the remaining distance is respectively longer and shorter than the intended nominal distance. It can be seen that the relatively large width of the countersink 65 receiving the secondary corner beam 67, or the relatively large width of the portion 82 receiving the primary corner beam 86 make it possible to absorb this margin of uncertainty by changing the relative positioning. corner beams on the insulating border blocks, without substantially changing the design of the tank wall.

In the case of Figure 12, the secondary corner beam 67, respectively the primary corner beam 86, is shifted toward the edge of the edge insulating block so that it overlaps a narrower area of the counter 65, respectively of the portion 82 of the cover plate. To cover the remaining portion of countersink 65, respectively of portion 82, an additional strip 90 may be added each time, of the same thickness as the wings of the corner beam. The additional strip 90 can be cut to size depending on the precise dimensions of the carrier wall 1 considered.

This additional strip 90 is not present in the case of Figure 13 where the overlap between the corner beams and the insulating border blocks is maximum.

The width of the countersink 65 and the width of the outer transverse portion 82 of the edge beam 80 are preferably greater than 100 mm and for example equal to about 140 mm or more. Correspondingly, the widths of the elongate wings 69 and 87 are preferably greater than 100 mm, and for example equal to about 140 mm or more. Thus, the dimensional deviation of the carrier wall 1 between the minimum overlap configuration between the corner beams and the edge insulating blocks (e.g., Fig. 12) and the maximum overlap configuration between the corner beams and the insulating border blocks (eg Figure 13) reach a maximum of approximately 70 mm. The described vessel wall structure therefore allows easy adjustment of the vessel wall to the actual dimensions of the carrier wall over a relatively wide range. These widths can be increased to accommodate even higher dimensional vessel wall tolerances. Preferably, the minimum overlap between the elongate wing 69 or 87 of the corner beam and the edge insulating block should not be less than 50% of the width of the elongated wing 69 or 87.

The dimensions of the insulating border blocks and the number of bearing pillars in each primary or secondary edge insulating block may be modified depending on the intensity of the charges to be taken and the dimensions of the tank. In another embodiment of the vessel wall in the corner zone, not shown, the edge insulating blocks 103 and 107 are about twice as much narrow as before. Both rows of retainers must also meet this reduced spacing. The bottom plate 126 is subdivided into only two parts.

In a not shown embodiment of the cover plate 116 of the secondary edge insulating block 103 and / or the primary edge insulating block 107, each cover plate is made in one piece in a stronger sheet of plywood. thickness than before.

Referring to Figs. 14-16, a second embodiment of the vessel wall in the 135 ° corner region will now be described. Elements similar to the elements of FIGS. 3 to 13 bear the same reference number and will only be described to the extent that they differ from the first embodiment.

As can be seen in FIG. 14, in the second embodiment, a secondary edge block 103 and a ranae of primary edge blocks 107 superimposed thereon, but arranged at a greater distance from each other, are not disclosed. 58 and the bisecting plane B. Since it is not desired to bring the secondary edge block 103 closer to the edge 58, the main bearing pillars 62 of the secondary edge block 103 are placed here at the ends. two transverse edges facing the edge 58 and the width portion L which extended the secondary edge block 103 of the first embodiment towards the edge 58 is here suppressed.

A parallelepipedic insulating box 91, for example filled with perlite or glass wool, is added between the secondary edge block 103 and the edge 58. The parallelepipedal insulating box 91 is attached to the carrier wall 1 by mechanical couplers, such as sketched at 92, cooperating with lateral cleats according to the known technique. To support the secondary sealing membrane 5 in the gap between the secondary border block 103 and the parallelepipedic insulating box 91, a rectangular bridging plate 94 is placed in abutment on the parallelepipedal insulating box 91 and on a longitudinal cleat 93 assembled. under the cover plate 116 of the secondary border block 103, against the outer longitudinal edge of the two main bearing pillars 62.

The shape of the main bearing pillars 62 is also slightly modified since the transverse web 64 is here extended towards the middle of the border block secondary 103 beyond the longitudinal web 63, so that the sectional shape of the main bearing pillars 62 here takes the form of an F or place of a U. In a mode not shown, one can extend one of the longitudinal sails 63 so that the section of the main bearing pillars 62 takes the form of a μ.

In the same manner, a second parallelepipedal insulating box 95, for example filled with perlite or glass wool, is added between the primary edge block 107 and the bisecting plane B. The second parallelepipedal insulating box 95 is placed on the rectangular plate 94. To retain the second parallelepiped insulating box 95, the same retaining member 4 which already retains the secondary edge insulating block 103 and the primary edge insulating block 107 on the side of the edge 58 is used. In particular, the primary metal plate 38 extends here to a lateral batten of the second parallelepipedal insulating box 95 as sketched in FIG.

For this, the main bearing pillars 74 intended to receive the primary metal plates 38 are slightly modified since only one longitudinal web 75 is preserved and the transverse web 77 is extended towards the middle of the primary edge block 107 in line with the transverse web 64, so that the sectional shape of the main bearing pillars 74 here takes the form of an L or place of a U. As the transverse web 77 extends here beyond the gap of the bottom plate 126 , it has a slot 97 in front of this gap for passing the protruding parts of the secondary sealing membrane 5.

To support the primary waterproofing membrane 9 in the gap between the primary edge block 107 and the second parallelepipedal insulating box 95, a second rectangular bridging plate 96 is placed in abutment on the second parallelepiped insulating box 95 and the transverse portion 82 of the edge beam 80. The edge beam 80 is here modified since the outer transverse portion 82 and the inner transverse portion 81 have the same length, aligned with the cutouts 136 of the corners of the covering veil 78.

As in the first embodiment, a row of carrying pillars 124 is disposed under the edge beam 80 between the two main bearing pillars 74. The edge beam 80 thus makes it possible to transfer high pressure loads from the waterproofing membrane. primary 9 to the bearing wall via the two main bearing pillars 74 and 62, and via the bearing pillars 124 and 117.

As in the first embodiment, the outer transverse portion 82, not covered by the covering veil 78, forms a countersink to support a support member, namely here the second rectangular bridging plate 96, extending beyond primary edge block 107 in the direction of the edge for supporting the primary waterproofing membrane 9.

Referring to Figures 17-20, a third embodiment of the vessel wall will now be described in a 90 ° angle zone. Elements similar to the elements of FIGS. 14 to 16 bear the same reference numeral increased by 200 and will only be described to the extent that they differ from the second embodiment.

The soldering supports not shown here are parallel, no longer to the longitudinal direction of the insulating blocks as in the previous convention, but to the transverse direction of the insulating blocks. The zone of the vessel wall which is visible in FIG. 17 is adjacent to a connection ring known elsewhere, described for example in publications FR-A-2629897 and FR-A-2798358. It is recalled that such a connecting ring implements a metal frame with a square cross section, partially shown, of which a primary wing 99 serves to connect the primary waterproofing membrane to the carrying structure and a secondary wing 98 serves to connect the secondary waterproofing membrane to the supporting structure. A row of first parallelepipedic insulating boxes 291 and a row of second parallelepiped insulating boxes 295 serve to support the connecting ring.

As in the second embodiment, there is also provided a row of secondary edge blocks 303 and a row of primary edge blocks 307 superimposed thereon, but the secondary edge blocks 303 and primary 307 here have the same dimension in length and width, so that their edges are aligned on the whole periphery. It follows that the first and second parallelepiped insulating boxes 291 and 295 are aligned in the thickness direction and superimposed. In the same way, the first and second rectangular bridging plates 294 and 296 are aligned in the thickness direction. In the primary border block 307, the grooves 333 have rotated 90 ° with respect to the second embodiment. The edge beam 280 remains parallel to the edge. In other words, the beam network of the cover plate here comprises a series of longitudinal beams 279 extending in the longitudinal direction along the entire length of the primary edge insulating block 307 as the edge beam 280.

The edge beam 280 is shown in detail in FIG. 18. It has an interior portion 281 covered by the covering web 278 and a smaller outer portion 282, possibly of smaller thickness than the inner portion 281, which supports the interior portion 281. rectangular bridge plate 296. Two recesses 284 formed at the two transverse ends form access windows for access to the shoulder surfaces 276 of each of the two main bearing pillars 274, in order to set up the retaining members 204. The recesses 284 here extend over the width of the outer portion 282 and a portion of the width of the inner portion 281.

As in the second embodiment, a row of supporting pillars 324 is disposed under the edge beam 280 between the two main bearing pillars 274. The edge beam 280 thus makes it possible to transfer high pressure loads from the waterproofing membrane. primary, not shown, to the carrier wall 201 via the two main bearing pillars 274 and 262, and via the bearing pillars 324 and 317.

As in the second embodiment, the outer portion 282, not covered by the covering web 278, forms a countersink to support a support member, namely here the second rectangular bridging plate 296, extending beyond the primary edge block 307 in the direction of the edge for supporting the primary waterproofing membrane. In FIG. 18, the outer portion 282 of the edge beam 280 has a smaller thickness than the inner portion 281, so that the total depth of the counterbore in the assembled condition of the cover is the sum of this thickness difference. and the thickness of the covering veil 278.

In the third embodiment, the connecting ring is dimensioned in a standardized manner and the margin of uncertainty that remains because of the manufacturing tolerances of the carrier wall 201 is reported on the distance between the last row of the retaining members 204 and parallelepiped insulating boxes 291 and 295. As a result, the rectangular bridging plates 294 and 296 can be cut to measure according to the precise dimensions of the carrier wall 201 considered. The dimensions of the plates 222 and 238 of the retaining members 204 may also be adjusted accordingly in this area.

The technique described above for making a waterproof and insulating wall can be used in different types of tanks, for example to form the wall of an LNG tank in a land installation or in a floating structure such as a LNG tank or other.

Referring to Figure 21, a cutaway view of a LNG vessel 1070 shows a sealed and insulated tank 1071 generally prismatic mounted in the double hull 1072 of the ship. The wall of the tank 1071 comprises a primary sealed barrier intended to be in contact with the LNG contained in the tank, a secondary sealed barrier arranged between the primary waterproof barrier and the double hull 1072 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 1072.

In a manner known per se, loading / unloading lines 1073 disposed on the upper deck of the ship can be connected, by means of appropriate connectors, to a marine or port terminal to transfer a cargo of LNG from or to the vessel 1071.

FIG. 21 represents an example of a marine terminal comprising a loading and unloading station 1075, an underwater pipe 1076 and an on-shore installation 1077. The loading and unloading station 1075 is an off-shore fixed installation comprising an arm mobile 1074 and a tower 1078 which supports the movable arm 1074. The movable arm 1074 carries a bundle of insulated flexible pipes 1079 that can be connected to the loading / unloading pipes 1073. The movable arm 1074 can be adapted to all gauges of LNG carriers . A link pipe (not shown) extends inside the tower 1078. The loading and unloading station 1075 enables the loading and unloading of the LNGC 1070 from or to the shore facility 1077. This comprises tanks of liquefied gas storage 1080 and connecting lines 1081 connected by the underwater line 1076 to the loading or unloading station 1075. The underwater line 1076 allows the transfer of the liquefied gas between the loading or unloading station 1075 and the shore facility 1077 on the a large distance, for example 5 km, which keeps the LNG vessel 1070 at a great distance from the coast during the loading and unloading operations.

To generate the pressure necessary for the transfer of the liquefied gas, it implements pumps embedded in the vessel 1070 and / or pumps equipping the shore installation 1077 and / or pumps equipping the loading and unloading station 1075.

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. The use of the indefinite article "a" or "an" for an element or a step does not exclude, unless otherwise stated, the presence of a plurality of such elements or steps.

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

Claims

1. Insulating block (107, 307) suitable for making an insulating wall in a storage tank for a cold liquid, the insulating block having a parallelepiped shape and comprising:

a bottom plate (126, 326) of rectangular shape,

a cover plate of rectangular shape parallel to the bottom plate and spaced from the bottom plate in a thickness direction of the insulating block, a thermally insulating gasket arranged between the bottom plate and the cover plate,

and supporting pillars (124, 125, 74; 324, 325, 274) made of material more rigid than the insulating pad extending in the thickness direction between the bottom plate and the cover plate to absorb pressure forces , each supporting pillar having a section of small dimension relative to a longitudinal dimension and a transverse dimension of the insulating block, said supporting pillars comprising main supporting pillars (125, 74; 325, 274) arranged at the four corners of the insulating block to cooperate with retaining members, in which each main supporting pillar comprises at least two thin webs crossing at right angles including a thin support web presenting, successively along the direction of thickness of the insulating block, a lower portion wider in contact with the bottom plate and a narrower upper portion in contact with the cover plate, so that a free edge of the thin support web turned towards the outside of the insulating block has a shoulder surface (76, 276) placed between the wider lower portion and the narrower upper portion and perpendicular or oblique to the direction of thickness of the insulating block,

in which the corner zone of the cover plate has a cutout (136, 336) located directly above the shoulder surface of the thin support web to provide an access window allowing access to the surface shoulder, in which the cover plate of an insulating block comprises a network of beams (79, 80, 85; 279, 280) fixed on the upper ends of the supporting pillars, each beam resting on several of said supporting pillars to distribute the pressure forces on said supporting pillars, and a continuous covering web (78, 278) placed on the network of beams and having a thickness thinner than the beams,

the beam network comprising an edge beam (80, 280) arranged along of one edge of the insulating block and resting on the two main supporting pillars (74, 274) arranged at the ends of said edge, the edge beam having an interior transverse portion (81, 281) covered by the covering veil and a transverse portion exterior (82, 282) adjacent to the interior transverse portion which is not covered by the covering veil, the upper surface of the exterior transverse portion (82, 282) forming a countersink located along the edge of the insulating block over the entire the length of the edge beam and set back in the thickness direction relative to the upper surface of the covering web, and in which the edge beam (80, 280) is shortened by two recesses (84, 284) provided at two longitudinal ends of the edge beam to form the access windows allowing access to the shoulder surface (76, 276) of each of the two main supporting pillars arranged at the ends of the edge of the insulating block.

2. Insulating block according to claim 1, in which each of the two main supporting pillars (74) arranged at the ends of the edge of the insulating block (107) has a section in the shape of U, F, H or μ in a plane perpendicular to the direction of thickness, the main supporting pillar comprising two thin support webs (75) mutually spaced and parallel to the edge of the insulating block and a thin web (77) perpendicular to the edge of the insulating block which connects the two thin webs support (75).

3. Insulating block according to claim 1, in which each of the two main supporting pillars (274) arranged at the ends of the edge of the insulating block (307) has an L-shaped section in a plane perpendicular to the thickness direction, the main supporting pillar comprising a thin support web (275) parallel to the edge of the insulating block and a thin web (277) perpendicular to the edge of the insulating block fixed against the edge of the thin support web facing towards the inside of the insulating block , the thin web (277) perpendicular to the edge of the insulating block extending towards the inside of the insulating block from the thin support web (275).

4. Insulating block according to claim 1, in which the exterior transverse portion of the edge beam (82, 282) has a width greater than 100 mm.

5. Waterproof and thermally insulating tank integrated into a polyhedral supporting structure comprising a plurality of supporting walls (1, 201) substantially flat, the tank comprising a plurality of tank walls arranged on the supporting walls,

in which the tank wall arranged on a load-bearing wall comprises, successively in a thickness direction from the outside towards the inside of the tank, a secondary insulation barrier (2), a secondary sealing barrier (5 ), a primary insulation barrier (6), and a primary sealing barrier (9) intended to be in contact with a product contained in the tank,

in which the secondary insulation barrier is essentially made up of parallelepiped secondary insulating blocks (3, 103, 303) juxtaposed in a repeated pattern on the supporting wall and the primary insulation barrier is essentially made up of primary insulating blocks (7, 107 , 307) parallelepipeds superimposed on the secondary insulating blocks,

in which a secondary insulating block (3, 103, 303) and a primary insulating block (7, 107, 307) which is superimposed on said secondary insulating block are retained on the supporting wall by retaining members (4, 204) arranged around secondary and primary insulating blocks superimposed, each retaining member comprising a lower portion (39) secured to the supporting wall (1, 201), a secondary attachment portion (22) surmounting the lower portion and cooperating with several secondary insulating blocks (3, 103, 303) adjacent to the retaining member and a primary attachment portion (38) surmounting the secondary attachment portion and cooperating with several primary insulating blocks (7, 107, 307) adjacent to the member restraint,

in which the secondary sealing barrier (5) comprises a metal membrane essentially consisting of metal elements (12) juxtaposed on the secondary insulating blocks (3, 103, 303) and welded to each other in a watertight manner and the barrier the primary seal (9) comprises a metal membrane essentially made up of metal elements juxtaposed on the primary insulating blocks (7, 107, 307) and welded to each other in a watertight manner,

in which, along an edge of the supporting structure joining two adjacent supporting walls (201) forming a right angle between them, the secondary insulation barrier of each tank wall comprises a longitudinal row of secondary edge insulating blocks ( 303) and the primary insulation barrier of each tank wall comprises a longitudinal row of edge insulating blocks primary (307) superimposed on the secondary edge insulating blocks, the primary edge insulating blocks (307) being according to one of claims 1 to 4, in which each secondary edge insulating block (303) and each primary edge insulating block (307) has a first edge parallel to the edge and located on the side opposite the edge and a second edge parallel to the edge and located on the side of the edge,

the secondary insulation barrier of each tank wall comprising a row of secondary parallelepiped insulating boxes (291) arranged between the secondary edge blocks (303) and the edge and the primary insulation barrier of each tank wall comprising a row of primary parallelepiped insulating boxes (295) arranged between the primary edge blocks (303) and the edge, the primary parallelepiped insulating boxes (295) being superimposed on the secondary parallelepiped insulating boxes (291),

wherein the retainers (4, 204) which retain the primary and secondary edge insulating blocks on the supporting wall comprise a first row (59) of retainers disposed at each corner terminating the first edge of the insulating blocks primary and secondary borders, the secondary attachment portion of each retaining member of the first row (59) cooperating with two secondary edge insulating blocks (303) and two other secondary insulating blocks (3) adjacent to the retaining member retainer and the primary attachment portion of each retainer of the first row cooperating with two primary edge insulating blocks (307) and two other primary insulating blocks (7) adjacent to the retainer superimposed on said two other insulating blocks secondary, and

wherein the retainers which retain the primary and secondary edge insulating blocks on the supporting wall include a second row of retainers (204) disposed at each corner terminating the second edge of the primary and secondary edge insulator blocks , the secondary attachment portion (222) of each retaining member (204) of the second row cooperating with two secondary edge insulating blocks (303) and two secondary parallelepiped insulating boxes (291) and the primary attachment portion ( 238) of each retaining member (204) of the second row cooperating with two primary edge insulating blocks (307) and two primary parallelepiped insulating boxes (295), in which a row of primary bridging plates (296) is arranged bearing on the primary parallelepiped insulating boxes (295) and the primary edge insulating blocks (307) to support the primary sealing barrier (9) between the insulating boxes primary parallelepiped blocks (295) and the primary edge insulating blocks (307), each primary bridging plate (296) bearing on the counterbore of the edge beam (280) located along the edge of the primary edge insulating block ( 307).

6. Tank according to claim 5, in which a row of secondary bridging plates (294) is arranged bearing on the secondary parallelepiped insulating boxes (291) and the secondary edge insulating blocks (303) to support the sealing barrier secondary (5) between the secondary parallelepiped insulating boxes (291) and the secondary edge insulating blocks (303).

7. Tank according to claim 5 or 6, in which the secondary parallelepiped insulating boxes (291) and the primary parallelepiped insulating boxes (295) support a connection ring comprising a metal frame with a square cross section, including a primary wing (99) serves to connect the primary sealing barrier (9) to the supporting structure and a secondary wing (98) serves to connect the secondary sealing barrier (5) to the supporting structure.

8. Tank according to one of claims 5 to 7, in which a secondary edge insulating block (303) comprises:

a bottom plate (315) of rectangular shape,

a cover plate (316) of rectangular shape parallel to the bottom plate and spaced from the bottom plate in a thickness direction of the secondary edge insulating block, the cover plate of the secondary edge insulating block comprising a plurality of attachment zones located on the edges of the cover plate to cooperate with anchoring members arranged around the secondary edge insulating block,

a thermally insulating gasket placed between the bottom plate and the cover plate,

and supporting pillars (317, 318, 262) made of material more rigid than the insulating lining extending in the thickness direction between the bottom plate (315) and the cover plate (316) to absorb pressure forces , each pillar carrier having a section of small dimension compared to a longitudinal dimension and a transverse dimension of the secondary edge insulating block, said supporting pillars comprising main supporting pillars (318, 262) arranged directly above each of said attachment zones,

in which each main supporting pillar (318, 262) comprises at least two thin sails crossing at right angles.

9. Tank according to claim 8, in which mastic supports (30, 31) are inserted between the bottom plate of a secondary edge insulating block (303) and the supporting wall (201), the mastic supports ( 30, 31) comprising mastic pads of small section arranged directly above the supporting pillars (317, 318, 262) of the secondary edge insulating block.

10. Tank according to claim 8 or 9, in which the supporting pillars (324, 325, 274) of a primary edge insulating block (307) are located directly above the supporting pillars (317, 318, 262) d a secondary edge insulating block (303).

11. Vessel (1070) for transporting a fluid, the vessel comprising a double hull (1072) and a tank (1071) according to one of claims 5 to 10 arranged in the double hull.

12. Method of loading or unloading a ship (1070) according to claim 11, in which a fluid is conveyed through insulated pipes (1073, 1079, 1076, 1081) from or to a floating or terrestrial storage installation ( 1077) to or from the ship's tank (1071).

13. Transfer system for a fluid, the system comprising a ship (1070) according to claim 11, insulated pipes (1073, 1079, 1076, 1081) arranged so as to connect the tank (1071) installed in the hull of the ship to a floating or land-based storage facility (1077) and a pump for driving a flow of fluid through the insulated pipelines to or from the floating or land-based storage facility to or from the vessel vessel.