ES2874476T3 - Sealed and insulating tank comprising a support foot - Google Patents

Abstract

Sealed and insulating tank placed on a supporting structure, the tank including a tank wall (3) arranged along the supporting structure (4), including the tank wall: an impermeability barrier (6, 106), a barrier of thermal insulation (7,22,26) arranged between the waterproofing barrier and the supporting structure and presenting a support surface for the waterproofing barrier, and a support foot (10, 110) for a submerged equipment in the sealed tank , the impermeability barrier including a layer of corrugated metal sheet (11, 111) that has at least one series of parallel corrugations (15; 115), the layer of corrugated metal sheet being interrupted by a window (25, 125) that wraps around the support foot, the support foot extending longitudinally through the window of the corrugated sheet metal layer and having a first end portion abutting against the supporting structure and a second end portion abutting against the supporting structure. n end projections on the tank to support the equipment at a distance from the sheet metal layer, including the waterproof barrier link pieces (24, 45, 50) arranged in the window around the support foot to waterproofly join the support foot to a marginal portion of the corrugated sheet metal layer delimiting the window, in which the window (25, 125) interrupts the guidelines of a plurality (20, 120, 158, 159) of the parallel corrugations of said at least one series, said tank being characterized in that said plurality of parallel corrugations comprises two corrugations (158, 159) locally displaced at a distance from the support foot (10) with respect to its guideline such that said two corrugations are not interrupted by the support foot (10).

Description

DESCRIPTION

Sealed and insulating tank comprising a support foot

The invention relates to the field of the construction of a sealed and insulating tank arranged in a bearing structure, in particular to the construction of a wall of said tank that must receive a support foot.

Thermally insulated and sealed tanks can be used in different industries to store hot or cold products. For example, in the energy field, liquefied natural gas (LNG) is a liquid that can be stored at atmospheric pressure at plus or minus -163 ° C in storage tanks on land or in tanks shipped on floating structures. Such floating structures are particularly LNG tankers for the transport of the product and off-shore facilities, known mainly by the acronyms FPSO and FSRU, for the storage, liquefaction or regasification of the product.

In membrane tanks, a layer of corrugated metal sheet is used to create a watertight barrier that also has sufficient elasticity to withstand the stresses caused by, for example, hydrostatic pressure, dynamic pressure in the event of load movement and / or or from temperature variations. However, such a watertight barrier and the underlying thermal insulation material are relatively fragile and cannot necessarily support heavy equipment that must be submerged to the bottom of the tank, for example a pump.

Document KR20080072387 discloses a sealed and insulating tank as defined in the preamble of claim 1.

According to one embodiment, the invention provides a sealing and insulating tank as defined in claim 1.

According to other advantageous embodiments, said tank can have one or more of the following characteristics.

According to one embodiment, the support foot is centered in a position located between the guide lines (A) of the two parallel corrugations of the plurality of parallel corrugations.

The support foot can have different shapes, mainly depending on the characteristics of the equipment to be supported. According to one embodiment, the support foot has at least one convex lateral side and the guideline of the mentioned two corrugations between which the support foot is centered cuts the convex lateral side of the support foot. According to one embodiment, the support foot has a circular section.

According to one embodiment, the window interrupts the guidelines of an even number of parallel undulations of said at least one series, for example of two parallel undulations of said at least one series.

According to one embodiment, the support foot is centered substantially in the middle of the guide lines of two undulations. As a variant, the support foot can be removed from the middle, so that it is closer to one corrugation than the other, for example if such a position makes it possible to reduce the length of interruption of the corrugations due to the shape of the support foot.

According to one embodiment, said at least one series of parallel undulations is equidistantly distributed. As a variant, the series of undulations can have, at least locally, a less regular distribution.

According to one embodiment, the corrugations are projections on the side of an internal face of the impermeability barrier intended to be in contact with a fluid.

According to one embodiment, the connecting pieces comprise a plurality of end pieces arranged at a distance from the support foot so as to close the interrupted ends of the two corrugations between the guide lines in which the support foot is centered. By such end pieces, it is possible to close all the corrugations in which the window interrupts the guide lines, so that the continuity of the impermeability barrier is reestablished.

According to one embodiment, the support foot has a hollow envelope of overall tubular shape whose longitudinal axis is substantially perpendicular to the wall of the tank and a transverse closing wall that closes the envelope in a waterproof manner to achieve the continuity of the barrier of waterproofing at the level of the support foot. Such a hollow shape may mainly be preferred to limit the effective section of the supporting foot susceptible to creating a thermal bridge.

The connecting pieces for waterproofing the support foot to a marginal portion of the corrugated sheet metal layer can have multiple shapes.

According to one embodiment, the connecting pieces form an annular plate attached to a peripheral wall of the support foot at the level of the corrugated sheet metal layer. Said plate can be pre-assembled to the foot of the support.

According to one embodiment, the connecting pieces comprise an intermediate plate presenting a first edge welded to the annular plate and a second edge welded to the marginal portion of the corrugated sheet metal layer that delimits the window.

Such a tank can have a single waterproof barrier or several successive waterproof barriers, for example as a measure of reliability and safety. According to a corresponding embodiment, the thermal insulation barrier comprises a primary thermal insulation barrier arranged on the side of the waterproofing barrier, called the primary waterproofing barrier, and a secondary thermal insulation barrier arranged on the side of the bearing structure, including the tank wall a secondary waterproofing barrier arranged between the primary and secondary thermal insulation barriers, the secondary waterproofing barrier being imperviously bonded to a peripheral wall of the support foot.

According to one embodiment, the connecting pieces comprise:

a connecting plate presenting an undulation parallel to said at least one series of parallel undulations and arranged on a laterally offset line at a distance from the support foot relative to one of the undulating guide lines interrupted by the window and offset pieces arranged to connect each time one end of the tie plate corrugation to an end portion of the corrugation whose guideline is interrupted by the window, such that the tie plate corrugation and the two deflection pieces extend the corrugation whose guideline is interrupted in a waterproof manner through the window following the laterally displaced line at the distance from the support foot. The realization of one or more corrugations displaced in this way makes it possible to limit the number of discontinuous corrugations transported by the support foot and thus to further preserve the elasticity of the waterproofing barrier, especially in the case where a support foot of diameter relatively large should be placed.

The above-stated dispositions and characteristics against a series of parallel undulations can, if necessary, be applied against several series of parallel undulations having different directions. According to a corresponding embodiment, the layer of corrugated metal sheet has a first series of parallel undulations and a second series of parallel undulations that is secant to the first series of undulations parallel to the growth level, the window interrupting the guidelines of a first plurality of parallel corrugations of the first series and / or the leader lines of a second plurality of parallel corrugations of the second series, the support foot being centered at a position located between the leader lines of two parallel corrugations of the first plurality and / or between the leader lines of two parallel undulations of the second plurality.

According to a preferred embodiment, the first series of parallel corrugations is perpendicular to the second series of parallel corrugations. In this way the elasticity of the waterproof membrane can be well balanced in different directions.

The aforementioned window can have various shapes, mainly depending on the shape of the support foot and / or the shape of the constituent elements of the corrugated sheet metal layer. According to one embodiment, the window is a quadrilateral, for example rectangle or square or parallelogram, containing two sides parallel to the first series of corrugations and two sides parallel to the second series of corrugations.

According to one embodiment, the support foot is arranged at the base of a tank discharge mast, for example to support a pump.

An idea at the base of the invention is to support equipment that must be submerged in a tank on a foot that takes support directly or indirectly on the supporting structure, to avoid or limit a stress exerted on a relatively brittle corrugated waterproofing membrane. Another idea on the basis of the invention is to provide such a support foot in a way that does not endanger the essential mechanical properties of the corrugated waterproofing membrane, mainly its impermeability and its resistance to thermal contraction or pressure stresses. Some aspects of the invention are based on the idea of interrupting the undulations of a corrugated waterproofing membrane at the level of a passage area of a support foot and of placing that support foot in a place that allows limiting the length of said interruptions, in order to limit the loss of elasticity of the membrane, which may result from such interruptions. Other aspects of the invention are based on the idea of locally displacing undulations in order to surround the passage area of the support foot without interrupting said undulations.

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 multiple modes of particular embodiments of the invention, data for illustrative and non-limiting purposes only, with reference to attached designs.

In these designs:

• Figure 1 is a partial schematic representation in section of a watertight and insulating tank according to an embodiment,

• Figure 2 is a perspective representation, in cross-section according to line II - II of figure 3, of a support foot and of a tank wall structure that does not represent the invention that can be used in the tank of figure 1,

• Figure 3 is a top view of the support foot of Figure 2 and an area of the tank wall that does not represent the invention around the support,

• Figure 4 is a representation analogous to figure 2, an intermediate stage for mounting the tank wall, • Figure 5 is an enlarged detail view of zone V of figure 4,

• Figure 6 is a top view of the tank wall area of Figure 4 showing the embodiment of the secondary impermeability barrier,

• Figure 7 is a view similar to Figure 6 showing an intermediate stage of assembly of the primary impermeability barrier,

• Figure 8 is a perspective view of an end piece that can be used in the manufacture of the primary impermeability barrier,

• Figure 9 is a view similar to Figure 3 that represents an embodiment according to the invention of the primary impermeability barrier around the support foot,

• Figure 10 is a perspective view of a diversion piece that can be used in the manufacture of the waterproofing barrier of Figure 9.

In figure 1, we partially see a thermally insulating tub 1 made up of tank walls 2 and 3 fixed to the lower surface of walls 4 and 5 corresponding to a supporting structure. The supporting structure is for example the inner hull of a ship or of a construction located on land. To contain a cold liquid such as LNG, the tank walls comprise at least one impermeability barrier 6 and at least one thermal insulation barrier 7. For safety reasons, it is possible to provide a secondary impermeability barrier, not represented, between the supporting structure and the impermeability barrier 6, which is cited as primary in this case.

The tank 1 can be made according to different well-known geometries, for example, a prismatic geometry on the hull of a ship or a cylindrical geometry on land or other. On the other hand, various methods are available to make the thermal insulation and waterproofing barriers, for example from prefabricated elements.

On the bottom wall 3 of the tank we have represented an elongated rigid element, constituting a support foot 10, which extends, through the thermal insulation barrier 7 and the impermeability barrier 6, in such a way that one end takes support against the bottom wall 5 of the supporting structure and the other projecting end of the waterproof barrier tank 6. The support foot 10 can for example serve to support equipment 9 that must be submerged in the tank. For example, to support a discharge pump, this can be arranged at the base of a pumping mast of the tank, not shown. Although the support foot is represented here on a bottom wall of the tank, a similar rigid element can be arranged in the same way at other places in the tank, for example as a support or space element to keep any object at a distance from the tank wall.

To make the waterproofing barrier 6, it is possible to use sheet metal plates that present undulations, which form elastic zones to absorb thermal contraction and static and dynamic pressure stresses. Such waterproofing barriers made of corrugated or embossed sheet metal have been mainly described in documents FR-A-1379651, FR-A-1376525, FR-A-2781557 and FR-A-2861060. Said possibility will now be developed with reference to Figures 2 and 3.

Referring to Figure 3, the impermeability barrier 6 is made up of a plurality of corrugated waterproof plates 11 whose so-called internal face is intended to be in contact with the fluid. The waterproof plates 11 are thin metal elements, such as stainless steel or aluminum sheet, and are welded together at the level of the marginal areas of the covering 12. The welds are of the overlap welding type, the procedure of which is described in detail, for example in patent FR-A-1387955. The waterproof plates 11 can be designed in various ways in terms of their shapes and dimensions, in such a way that the welding zones can be arranged in various ways.

The waterproof plates 11 form, on their internal face, a first series of so-called longitudinal corrugations 15 and a second series of so-called transverse corrugations 16 whose respective directions are perpendicular. The first series of corrugations 15 has a lower height than the second series of corrugations 16. Thus, the corrugations 15 are discontinuous at their intersections 18 with the corrugations 16 which are continuous. The longitudinal 15 and transverse undulations 16 project towards the bottom of the tank 1.

The support foot 10 here has a shape of revolution in a circular section, with a frusto-conical lower part 13 which is connected at the level of its end of the smallest diameter 17 to a cylindrical upper part 14. The base of the larger diameter of the frusto-conical part 13 is supported against the wall 5 of the supporting structure. The part frusto-conical 13 extends through the thickness of the tank wall beyond the level of the impermeability barrier 6. The cylindrical wall 14 is closed in an impermeable manner by a circular plate 19, which may be for example welded on a lower flange not represented of the cylindrical part 14.

To allow the passage of the support foot 10, the corrugated waterproof plates that form the waterproof barrier 6 are cut so that a square window 25 can be delimited around the support foot 10. To make the continuity of the waterproof barrier 6 At the window 25, a waterproof assembly of connecting pieces is made between the support foot 10 and the waterproof plates 11. As the diameter of the support foot 10 is greater than the space between the corrugations of the first series 15, some of the longitudinal corrugations indicated in the figure 20 and whose guideline A cuts the support foot 10 have been interrupted at the level of the window 25. Likewise, as the diameter of the support foot 10 is greater than the space between the corrugations of the second series 16, some transverse undulations indicated with the figure 21 and whose guideline B cuts the support foot 10 have been interrupted at the level of the window surrounding the support foot.

On the other hand, as is visible in figure 3, the measurement of the window 25 is in practice larger than the diameter of the support foot 10, in order that the positioning of the link pieces is relatively easy. In this way, the window 25 used in the corrugated sheet would be capable of similarly interrupting the corrugations whose guideline, without effectively cutting the support foot, would be in too close proximity to the support foot to allow placement of the pieces of link between them and the support foot.

The center C of the support foot 10 is positioned between the guide lines A of the interrupted corrugations 20 and between the guide lines B of the interrupted corrugations 21, and more precisely in the middle of said guide lines in Figure 3. It results from the positioning that the guideline A or B cuts each time the support foot 10 according to a chord shorter than the diameter of the support foot 10. From this fact, and given the space that must exist between the edge of the window 25 and the foot of support 10 to allow the placement of the connecting pieces, said positioning of the support foot allows to interrupt each of the undulations 20 and 21 over a shorter distance than in the case where the guideline A or B intersects the support foot according to its greatest transverse dimension, that is to say its diameter in the case of a circular section. It is advantageous to interrupt the undulations of the waterproofing barrier over a distance that is as short as possible, because these interruptions are capable of locally reducing the flexibility of the waterproofing barrier and thus locally promoting its exhaustion and wear.

In the case of a circular section, the centering of the support foot midway between the interrupted corrugations 20 and midway between the interrupted corrugations 21 offers an optimal result. However, other section shapes and other foot positions can still be considered. One principle that can serve to constantly adapt the position of the support foot between the corrugations is to choose a position that minimizes, or at least decreases, the transverse dimension of the support foot that intersects the guideline of the interrupted corrugation. In the case where the particular geometry of the support foot and / or the particular distribution of the undulations of the membrane implies interrupting several undulations in the different lengths, a pertinent optimization parameter to adapt the position of the support foot can be the length longest interrupt or cumulative length of interrupts obtained.

In figure 3, the window 25 has a square shape that facilitates the cutting of the waterproof plates 11 in the desired shape. However, other forms of windows can also be positioned, depending mainly on the geometry of the support foot.

With reference to Figures 4 to 8, we are now going to describe a detailed embodiment of the tank wall in the area of the support foot 10. This embodiment is particularly adapted to a tank whose walls comprise two impermeability barriers and two thermal insulation barriers. Thus, barrier 6 will be classified as a primary waterproof barrier. Only the vicinity of the support foot 10 will be described, the tank walls being able, however, to be made in accordance with the demonstration of the application FR-A-2781557.

Figure 4 is a partial sectional view of the support foot 10 and of a zone of the tank wall substantially square around it in an intermediate stage of assembly. The right part is represented before the placement of the elements of the secondary impermeability barrier and the primary insulation barrier, the left part after the placement of these elements.

To be linked to the secondary waterproof barrier, the support foot 10 comprises a secondary plate 23, square in shape fixed around the frusto-conical part 13 at a height corresponding to the surface of the secondary thermal insulation barrier 22 and of the secondary waterproof barrier. which is very thin. To link to the primary waterproof barrier, the support foot 10 comprises a round-shaped primary plate 24 fixed around the frusto-conical portion 13 at a height corresponding to the upper surface of the primary thermal insulation barrier 26. The plates 23 and 24 They can be made from a single holder with the support foot 10.

Below secondary plate 23, secondary insulation barrier 22 comprises a glass wool filler 27 which also has a square outer contour. Below the primary plate 24, the primary insulation barrier 26 comprises a glass wool filler 28 that also has a circular outer contour.

Around the filling 27 and the plate 22, the secondary insulation barrier, the secondary impermeability barrier and the primary insulation barrier are made by means of four corner panels, of which one is visible on the right side of the figure 4 to the figure 30. A panel 30 has an overall L-shaped tiered shape with a lower L-shaped insulating block 31 constituting an element of the secondary insulation barrier 22, a soft waterproof coating 32 completely covering the upper surface L-shaped block 31 and a smaller L-shaped upper insulating block 33 constituting an element of the primary insulation barrier 26. The upper block 33 is aligned to the outer sides of the lower block 31, so that An area of waterproof coating 32 located on a lower flange and its end edges of the lower block 31 can be left uncovered. The panel 30 can be prefabricated by gluing with materials similar to those shown in the application FR-A-2781557, mainly polyurethane foam and plywood for the insulation barriers and a composite material in aluminum foil and fiberglass for the secondary impermeability barrier.

The four angle panels 30 border on their inner sides the contour of the filling 27 and of the plate 23. The dimensions of the blocks 31 are conceived to prepare spaces between them, in the form of four radial chimneys 34 located each time between the faces. end of two neighboring lower blocks 31. To ensure continuity of the primary insulation barrier 22, each of the chimneys 34 is filled with a sheet of fiberglass 35. The porosity of the fiberglass of the sheets 35 and of the filler 27 make gas circulation possible through the primary insulation barrier 22, mainly for inerting the tank wall with nitrogen.

Figure 6 represents the embodiment of the secondary impermeability barrier in the area of the support foot 10 from a top view. To make the continuity of the secondary waterproofing barrier around the support foot 10, four bands 36 of the waterproof composite material in aluminum foil and fiberglass are linked to the secondary plate 27 and on the waterproof coating 32 of the panels 30. A band 36 is placed each time for the purpose of overlapping one side of the secondary plate 27 and the exposed inner flanges of two lower blocks 31. The bands 36 overlap at the level of end zones 37. To achieve continuity of the secondary waterproofing barrier above the chimneys 35, four strips 38 of the waterproof composite of aluminum foil and fiberglass are glued to the waterproof coating 32 of the panels 30, each time in such a way as to overlap the end flanges of two lower blocks 31.

Figure 7 represents the same area of the tank wall, after the placement of the primary insulation barrier. This is completed between the upper insulating blocks 33 and the support foot 10 by means of four angle blocks 40 and four medium blocks 41, whose inner side adapts each time to the round contour of the primary plate 24 and of the filling -28 . Those blocks 40 and 41 are also represented in the left part of figure 4.

As can be seen in the detail of figure 5, the surface of the median blocks 41 each time presents a gargle 44 delimited by a release 43. The gargoyles 44 are precisely at the level of the primary plate 24 to offer a flat support surface to the metal closure plates 45 destined to make the primary waterproofing barrier around the support foot 10.

As can be seen in figure 7, two closing plates 45 are arranged around the primary plate 24 and welded imperviously thereto over its entire periphery. For this, the plates 45 are cut in a semicircle at the level of their inner edge 46, while their outer edge 47 delimits a square with a dimension slightly greater than the window 25 provided in the corrugated waterproof plates 11. The two closure plates 45 are overlap at the level of zones 48 where they are welded together. The closure plates 45 are fixed to the blocks 40 and 41 of the primary insulation barrier by means of screwing into the wood or rivets 49 arranged near their outer edge 47 in order to firmly plate the closure plates 45 against these blocks, primarily because it is necessary to avoid that they do not rise while they are welded on the primary plate 24.

Returning to figures 2 and 3, we see that the primary waterproofing barrier 6 in the area of the support foot 10 is complete, on the one hand by welding the edges of waterproof plates 11 delimiting the window 25 on the closing plates 45 and on the other hand the other hand, sealing the ends of the interrupted corrugations 20 and 21 in a waterproof manner with end pieces 50. The cutting of waterproof plates 11 is carried out in such a way as to cover the edge of the closure plates 45 containing the screws 49.

An exemplary embodiment of an end piece 50 is represented in figure 8. The end piece 50 comprises a strip in two parts 51 and 52 destined to be welded in a waterproof manner respectively on the closing plate 45 and on the waterproof plate. 11 and a helmet 54 intended to be welded in a waterproof manner at the end of the corrugation 20 or 21. A disengagement 53 between the parts 51 and 52 of the strip has an amplitude substantially equal to the thickness of the waterproof plate 11.

The section of the insulating blocks and other prefabricated elements represented in Figures 2, 4, 6 and 7 to constitute the secondary insulation barrier, the secondary impermeability barrier and the primary insulation barrier is only illustrative. Similar elements can be cut out and prefabricated according to other shapes so that the assembly of the tank wall involves a greater or lesser number of elementary parts. According to other corresponding embodiments, the four L-shaped angle panels 30 are replaced by two U-shaped panels or a single panel in the shape of a square frame.

As can best be seen in figure 3, the support foot considered above requires a window of size approximately equal to twice the space 55 between two corrugations 15 or 16, which are equidistant here. For this, two undulations of each series have been interrupted. However, this arrangement of the support foot and of the tank wall with their neighborhood can be adapted to other dimensions of the support foot. For example, for a wider support foot, the corresponding window may interrupt a greater number of corrugations in one or each series, for example three or four corrugations or more. Furthermore, it is also possible to locally shift the progress of certain corrugations to limit the number of corrugations that must be interrupted, and also to preserve a higher level of elasticity of the waterproofing membrane. This possibility is illustrated by the embodiment of figure 9.

In Figure 9, elements identical or similar to those of Figure 3 comprise the same reference figure increased by 100. The transverse dimension of the support foot 110 being greater, for example greater than or equal to plus or minus three times the space 155 between the corrugations 115 or 116, the window 125 conditioned in the corrugated metallic membrane for the passage of the foot 110 in that case interrupts the guide lines of four respective corrugations in each series. However, instead of interrupting four undulations in each series, this embodiment provides for interrupting two undulations 120, respectively 121, of each series as in the previous embodiment, while the two undulations 158, respectively 159 of each series are locally offset at a distance of the support foot 110 relative to its original guideline, but are not ultimately interrupted.

To do this, the waterproof barrier 106 has been modified at the level of two concentric square windows 125 and 160. On the outside of the window 160, the waterproof barrier 106 is made up of sealing plates 111 comprising longitudinal 115 and transverse 116 corrugations. equidistant distributed. Between the window 160 and the window 125, the waterproofing barrier 106 is continued with other corrugated waterproof plates, that is, two plates 161 globally C-shaped in this case, which have undulations distributed in different ways, that is, less spaced in this case. The corrugations of plates 161 mainly constitute a central segment 162, respectively 163, offset at a distance from the support foot 110, for each of the corrugations 158, respectively 159. Lastly, the structure of the impermeability barrier 106 at the level of the window 125 and inside it is similar to the embodiment of figure 3.

To make the junction at the level of the window 160 between the central segment 162 (6) 163 of the corrugation 158 or 159 and the portions of the corrugations located outside the window 160, diverter pieces 170 are used.

An exemplary embodiment of a deflection piece 170 is represented in figure 10. The deflection piece 170 comprises a strip in two parts 171 and 172 intended to be welded in a waterproof manner respectively on a plate 111 or 161 of the waterproof barrier. 106 and on an adjacent deflection piece 170 and a bent corrugation 174 whose guideline forms a chosen angle, for example 135 °. Bent corrugation 174 is intended to be imperviously attached to the adjacent end of corrugation 158 or 159 and to the bent corrugation of the adjacent deflection piece. A disengagement 173 between the parts 171 and 172 of the platform presents an amplitude substantially equal to the thickness of the sheet that serves to make the watertight plates 111 or 161 or the deflection pieces 170. A sheet of the same thickness is preferably used for these different parts.

In another embodiment not shown, suitable for example for a support foot of smaller diameter, all the undulations that the window interrupts the guideline, for example two undulations of each series as in Figure 3, are extended through the window according to a displaced progress, similar to the corrugations 158 and 159 of figure 9. In this embodiment, the flexibility of the membrane can be improved since no corrugation is finally interrupted by an end piece at the level of the support foot.

In the previously described embodiments, the primary waterproofing barrier is made of metal sheet comprising two series of mutually perpendicular corrugations. However, other types of corrugated metal membranes with fewer or more corrugations and / or a different arrangement of corrugations can be similarly employed.

Although the invention has been described in connection with several particular embodiments, it is quite evident that it is not limited in any way and that it encompasses all the technical equivalents of the means described, as well as their combinations if they fall within the scope of the invention according to as defined by the claims.

The use of the verb "contain", "understand" or "include" and its conjugated forms does not exclude the presence of other elements or of other stages than those stated in a claim. The use of the indefinite article "un" or "una" for an element or a stage it does not exclude the presence of a plurality of such elements or stages, unless otherwise mentioned. Several media or modules can be represented by the same material element.

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

Claims (1)

1. Sealed and insulating tank placed on a supporting structure, the tank including a tank wall (3) arranged along the supporting structure (4), including the tank wall: a waterproof barrier (6, 106), a thermal insulation barrier (7,22,26) arranged between the waterproofing barrier and the supporting structure and presenting a support surface for the waterproofing barrier, and a support foot (10, 110) for equipment submerged in the sealed tank, the impermeability barrier including a layer of corrugated metal sheet (11, 111) presenting at least one series of parallel corrugations (15; 115), being the corrugated sheet metal layer interrupted by a window (25, 125) that surrounds the support foot, the support foot extending longitudinally through the window of the corrugated sheet metal layer and presenting a first end portion that abuts against the carrier structure and a second end portion projecting into the tank to support the equipment at a distance from the sheet metal layer, including the waterproofing barrier connecting pieces (24, 45, 50) arranged in the window around the support foot to imperviously join the support foot to a marginal portion of the corrugated sheet metal layer delimiting window, in which the window (25, 125) interrupts the directives of a plurality (20, 120, 158, 159) of the parallel undulations of said at least one series, said tank being characterized in that said plurality of parallel undulations comprises two undulations (158, 159) locally displaced at a distance of the support foot (10) with respect to its guideline so that said two undulations are not interrupted by the support foot (10). Tank according to claim 1, in which the support foot is centered at a position between the guide lines (A) of the two parallel corrugations of the plurality (20, 120, 158, 159) of the parallel corrugations. Tank according to claim 2, in which the support foot has at least one convex lateral side (13), cutting the guide lines of the two corrugations (20, 120) between which the support foot is centered, the convex lateral side of the support foot. Tank according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the plurality (20, 120, 158, 159) of parallel corrugations whose patterns are interrupted by the window (25, 125) comprises at least three corrugations. Tank according to claim 3, in which the plurality (20, 120, 158, 159) of parallel corrugations whose guide lines are interrupted by the window (25, 125) comprise at least one corrugation interrupted by the foot of support (10). Tank according to one of claims 1 to 5, in which the support foot is centered substantially in the middle of the guide lines of the two corrugations. Tank according to one of Claims 1 to 6, in which the support foot has a circular section. Tank according to one of Claims 1 to 7, in which said at least one series of parallel corrugations (15, 115) is distributed equidistantly. Tank according to one of Claims 1 to 8, in which the corrugations (15, 115) project from the side of an internal face of the waterproofing barrier intended to be in contact with a fluid. Tank according to one of claims 1 to 9, in which the connecting pieces comprise a plurality of end pieces (50, 150) arranged at a distance from the support foot so as to close the interrupted ends of the corrugations (20 , 120) interrupted by the support foot. Tank according to one of claims 1 to 10, in which the support foot comprises a hollow casing (13, 14) of generally tubular shape whose longitudinal axis is substantially perpendicular to the tank wall and a transverse closing wall (19) that closes the envelope in a waterproof way to make the continuity of the waterproof barrier at the level of the support foot. Tank according to one of Claims 1 to 11, in which the connecting pieces comprise an annular plate (24) connected to a peripheral wall of the support foot at the level of the corrugated sheet metal layer (11, 111). Tank according to one of Claims 1 to 12, in which the connecting pieces comprise an intermediate plate (45, 145) having a first edge welded to the annular plate and a second edge welded to the marginal portion of the layer of corrugated metal sheet (11, 161) that delimits the window. Tank according to one of Claims 1 to 13, in which the thermal insulation barrier comprises a primary thermal insulation barrier (26) arranged on the side of the impermeability barrier, called a barrier of primary waterproofing (6) and a secondary thermal insulation barrier (22) arranged on the side of the supporting structure, the tank wall including a secondary waterproofing barrier (23, 32, 36, 38) arranged between the thermal insulation barriers primary and secondary, the secondary impermeability barrier being attached imperviously to a peripheral wall (13) of the support foot. Tank according to one of claims 1 to 14, in which the connecting pieces comprise: a tie plate (161) having an undulation (162) parallel to said at least one series of parallel undulations (115) and arranged on a laterally deviated line at a distance from the support foot relative to one of the interrupted guide lines through the window and the deflection pieces (170) arranged so as to connect each time one end of the corrugation of the tie plate with an end portion of the corrugation (158) whose guideline is interrupted by the window, so such that the corrugation (162) of the connecting plate and of the two deflection pieces extend the corrugation (158) whose guideline is interrupted imperviously through the window following the laterally deflected line at a distance from the support foot (110). Tank according to one of claims 1 to 15, in which the corrugated sheet metal layer has a first series of parallel corrugations (15,115) and a second series of parallel corrugations (16, 116) which is secant to the first series of parallel undulations at the intersections, the window interrupting the leader lines of a first plurality of parallel undulations of the first series and / or the guidelines of a second plurality of parallel undulations of the second series; Each of the plurality of parallel undulations comprises two undulations (158, 159) locally displaced at a distance from the support foot (10) with respect to its guideline so that said two undulations are not interrupted by the support foot (10 ). 17. Tank according to claim 16, in which the first series of parallel corrugations is perpendicular to the second series of parallel corrugations. Tank according to claim 16 or 17, in which the window (25, 125) is a quadrilateral comprising two sides parallel to the first series of corrugations and two sides parallel to the second series of corrugations. Tank according to one of Claims 1 to 18, in which the support foot (10, 110) is arranged at the base of a tank discharge mast.