Patent ID: 8020721
Filing Date: 2011-09-20
Classification: F17C

Abstract:
1. A tank assembly adapted to store cryogenic fluids, comprising a tank having a base plate and a vertical wall, the tank being provided with a fluid tight barrier preventing stored fluids from escaping out of the tank, wherein the vertical wall comprises an inner structurally supporting wall element made of concrete, an outer structurally supporting wall element made of concrete, and an intermediate fluid tight barrier comprising a membrane interposed between the inner structurally supporting wall element and the outer structurally supporting wall element, wherein an inner surface of the intermediate fluid tight barrier comprises a membrane that is in direct contact with an outer surface of the inner structurally supporting wall element such that the assembly of the intermediate fluid tight barrier and the inner wall element is adapted to restrain the membrane of the intermediate fluid tight barrier from contracting in a radial direction inwards when the tank is filled with the cryogenic fluids, wherein the structurally supporting wall elements and the intermediate fluid tight barrier together form a compact, structurally integrated and fluid tight wall, and wherein the vertical wall, at its lower end, is terminated by a horizontal metal plate and inner and an outer vertical steel plates extending along an inner and outer circumference of the vertical wall, the vertical steel plates being welded to the horizontal metal plate.