Abstract: A watertight, thermally insulating tank built into a bearing structure and including a primary watertight barrier contacting material within the tank and including strakes having edges turned upwardly towards an interior of the tank. A secondary watertight barrier is positioned between the primary watertight barrier and the bearing structure. The tank includes primary and secondary insulating barriers. The insulating barriers are alternately arranged with the watertight barriers. A weld support is mechanically held on the primary insulating barrier and forms an expansion joint. The strakes are butt-welded to two faces of the weld support. The secondary watertight barrier and the insulating barriers each include prefabricated panels fixed to the bearing structure. A zone at a junction between two adjacent panels is filled in at least to ensure continuity of the secondary watertight barrier. Each prefabricated panel is formed of a first rigid plate including a layer of thermal insulant.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a prefabricated structure providing fluid-tight and thermo-insulated walls for a heat-insulated confinement container such as a fluid-tight reservoir for storage and/or transport of a very low temperature fluid. Said structure (1) comprised of an internal flexible and fluid-tight barrier (2), a heat insulation system (4) and an external wall (3) forming support for the structure (1), is characterized in that distribution walls (53) integral with the external wall (3) are fixed to the latter particularly by means of screws or the like (35) arranged facing holes (435) drilled in an external insulation layer (43) at a distance from the joints (63) between plates (43a) forming said layer, a fluid-tight connector (80) being sealingly arranged in each of the holes (435) and joints (63). The invention applies to the construction of structures forming fluid-tight reservoirs, for example for tankers which transport cryogenic liquids such as methane tankers.

Abstract: A device forming a swivel joint for a cryogenic liquid with at least one central duct for the flow of said cryogenic liquid through the joint and comprising at least one annular duct co-axially surrounding said central duct for the return of the cold gas originating from the vaporization of the moving liquid, said annular duct comprising gas inlet and outlet pipes; a stationary portion and a portion mounted in rotating relation to said stationary portion by means of a ball or roller bearing operating at a temperature close to ambient temperature, a double set of sealing gaskets also operating at a temperature close to ambient temperature; and heat insulation of at least the parts of said stationary and movable portions forming said annular duct and contacted by said cold gas, so arranged as to prevent any cooling-down of said sealing gaskets through convection or radiation; the device being applicable in particular to the off-shore transfer of liquefied natural gas.