A sealed and thermally insulating storage tank for a fluid that is anchored in a load-bearing structure built into a ship, the ship having a longitudinal direction, the tank having a loading/unloading tower suspended from a ceiling wall of the load-bearing structure, the loading/unloading tower including first, second and third vertical pylons defining a prism of triangular section, the loading/unloading tower carrying at least a first pump, the tank having a support foot that is fastened to the load-bearing structure, the tank having at least one sump, the first pump being arranged outside the triangular prism and being aligned with the support foot in a first transverse plane that is orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the ship.

A system for transporting natural gas. The system may include a loading facility, a first storage system, a second storage system, and a CNG carrier. The loading facility may be operable to receive, compress, and chill natural gas while maintaining the natural gas in a gaseous state, and further operable to transfer the chilled CNG at a constant flowrate. The first storage system may be operable to receive chilled CNG from the loading facility at the constant flowrate, store the chilled CNG, and transfer the chilled CNG. The second storage system may be operable to receive and store the chilled CNG. The CNG carrier may be operable to receive chilled CNG from the first storage system, transport the chilled CNG, and transfer the chilled CNG to the second storage system. The system may be sized such that the constant flowrate of the chilled CNG is maintained without interruption.

A process system (15) for transfer of a fluid between a floating or non-floating facility (11) and a receiving structure (21) via a support unit (12) is disclosed, where the process system (15) comprises: —a first pipe element (58) for transport of fluid on the support unit (12), —a second pipe element (68) for transport of fluid on the support unit (12), —a first cross over pipe (22) that is fluidly connected to the first pipe element (58) and the second pipe element (68), —a second cross over pipe (26) that is fluidly connected to the first pipe element (58) and the second pipe element (68), —a first valve device (30) arranged in the first cross over pipe (22), —a second valve device (31) arranged in the second cross over pipe (26) —a first cargo valve device (39) that is provided in the first pipe element (58), —a second cargo valve device (40) that is provided in the second pipe element (68). A fluid transfer system (10) comprising such a process system (15) is also disclosed.

A sealed and thermally insulating storage tank for a fluid that is anchored in a load-bearing structure built into a ship, the ship having a longitudinal direction, the tank having a loading/unloading tower suspended from a ceiling wall of the load-bearing structure, the loading/unloading tower including first, second and third vertical pylons defining a prism of triangular section, the loading/unloading tower carrying at least a first pump, the tank having a support foot that is fastened to the load-bearing structure, the tank having at least one sump, the first pump being arranged outside the triangular prism and being aligned with the support foot in a first transverse plane that is orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the ship.

A sealed and thermally insulating tank for storing a fluid, the tank being anchored in a load-bearing structure, the tank having a loading/unloading tower suspended from a ceiling wall of the load-bearing structure, the tank having a support foot that is fastened to the load-bearing structure in a zone of a bottom wall of the tank, the support foot being arranged to guide a vertical translational movement of the loading/unloading tower, the tank having at least one sump that is formed in the bottom wall of the tank, the bottom wall of the tank having a corrugated sealing membrane that is intended to be in contact with the fluid having at least first corrugations extending in a first direction and spaced apart from one another, the sump and the support foot are spaced apart by a distance at least three first corrugations pass between the sump and the support foot.

A system for transporting natural gas. The system may include a loading facility, a first storage system, a second storage system, and a CNG carrier. The loading facility may be operable to receive, compress, and chill natural gas while maintaining the natural gas in a gaseous state, and further operable to transfer the chilled CNG at a constant flowrate. The first storage system may be operable to receive chilled CNG from the loading facility at the constant flowrate, store the chilled CNG, and transfer the chilled CNG. The second storage system may be operable to receive and store the chilled CNG. The CNG carrier may be operable to receive chilled CNG from the first storage system, transport the chilled CNG, and transfer the chilled CNG to the second storage system. The system may be sized such that the constant flowrate of the chilled CNG is maintained without interruption.

A tie-in system (47, 48) for tie-in of a transfer pipe (13, 14) to a support unit (12) is disclosed, where the transfer pipe (13, 14) is arranged at least partly in a body of water (19). The tie-in system (47, 48) comprises: a spool piece (61, 71) that in one end is adapted to be attached to the transfer pipe (13, 14) and in the other end to be connected to a pipe element (58, 68) arranged on the support unit (12), a chute device (59, 69) that is adapted to be attached to the support unit (12) and to accommodate the transfer pipe (13, 14) such that the chute device (59, 69) supports the transfer pipe (13, 14) and takes up and transfers vertical and transverse forces from the transfer pipe (13, 14) to the support unit (12), a tie-in device (77, 79) that is connected to the spool piece (61, 71) and is adapted to be connected to a tie-in member (76, 78) on the support unit (12) such that tension loads are transferred from the transfer pipe (13, 14) to the support unit (12). A fluid transfer system (10) comprising such a tie-in system (47, 48) is also disclosed.

A system for circulating air through double pipes for supplying gas, includes double pipes connected to a gas handling device and supplied with gas; a gas supply unit for supplying gas to the gas handling device through an inner pipe of the double pipes; an air supply unit for supplying air through an outer pipe of the double pipes; and an air suctioning means for suctioning and circulating the air, which is supplied to the outer pipe by the air supply unit, by the introduction of a high pressure fluid. Rather than circulating air through the outer pipe of the double pipes by a fan, air can be circulated through the double pipes for gas supply by a simpler structure and more effective configuration.

A process system (15) for transfer of a fluid between a floating or non-floating facility (11) and a receiving structure (21) via a support unit (12) is disclosed, where the process system (15) comprises:a first pipe element (58) for transport of fluid on the support unit (12),a second pipe element (68) for transport of fluid on the support unit (12),a first cross over pipe (22) that is fluidly connected to the first pipe element (58) and the second pipe element (68),a second cross over pipe (26) that is fluidly connected to the first pipe element (58) and the second pipe element (68),a first valve device (30) arranged in the first cross over pipe (22),a second valve device (31) arranged in the second cross over pipe (26)a first cargo valve device (39) that is provided in the first pipe element (58),a second cargo valve device (40) that is provided in the second pipe element (68). A fluid transfer system (10) comprising such a process system (15) is also disclosed.

A tie-in system (47, 48) for tie-in of a transfer pipe (13, 14) to a support unit (12) is disclosed, where the transfer pipe (13, 14) is arranged at least partly in a body of water (19). The tie-in system (47, 48) comprises: a spool piece (61, 71) that in one end is adapted to be attached to the transfer pipe (13, 14) and in the other end to be connected to a pipe element (58, 68) arranged on the support unit (12), a chute device (59, 69) that is adapted to be attached to the support unit (12) and to accommodate the transfer pipe (13, 14) such that the chute device (59, 69) supports the transfer pipe (13, 14) and takes up and transfers vertical and transverse forces from the transfer pipe (13, 14) to the support unit (12), a tie-in device (77, 79) that is connected to the spool piece (61, 71) and is adapted to be connected to a tie-in member (76, 78) on the support unit (12) such that tension loads are transferred from the transfer pipe (13, 14) to the support unit (12). A fluid transfer system (10) comprising such a tie-in system (47, 48) is also disclosed.