Patent ID: 7900794

Claim:
Sealed, thermally insulated tank including at least one tank wall fixed to the hull of a floating structure, said tank wall having, in succession, in the direction of the thickness from the inside to the outside of said tank, a primary sealing barrier a primary insulating barrier, a secondary sealing barrier and a secondary insulating barrier, at least one of said insulating barriers consisting essentially of juxtaposed non-conducting elements, each non-conducting element including a thermal insulation liner arranged in the form of a layer parallel to said tank wall, and load-bearing elements that rise through the thickness of said thermal insulation liner in order to take up the compression forces, wherein the load-bearing elements of a non-conducting element include pillars of small transverse section as compared to the dimensions of the non-conducting element in a plane parallel to said tank wall, wherein said non-conducting element has the form of a monobloc hollow closed box with a base panel, a cover panel, and peripheral walls extending between said panels along edges of said panels, said pillars comprising frustoconical pillars formed so as to project from the base panel and each having a top wall capable of bearing against said cover panel in order to take up the compression forces, the monobloc defining a monobloc closed envelope filled with insulating material.