FACILITY, METHOD FOR STORING AND LIQUEFYING A LIQUEFIED GAS AND ASSOCIATED TRANSPORT VEHICLE

Abstract

The invention primarily concerns a facility for storing and cooling a liquefied gas, for example a liquefied natural gas, the facility comprising at least one tank configured to contain the liquefied gas, a closed cooling circuit configured to be supplied with liquefied gas in the liquid state coming from the tank, at least one injection member configured for reinjecting cooled liquefied gas into the tank, the facility being characterized in that it comprises at least one connection line configured to recover a cooled gas from at least one remote container that is separate and independent from the facility.

Claims

1-16. (canceled)

17. A facility for storing and cooling a liquefied gas, the facility comprising: at least one tank configured to contain liquefied gas, said tank comprising at least one lower region adapted and configured to contain the liquefied gas in the liquid state, and at least one upper region adapted and configured to contain the vapors of the liquefied gas; at least one closed cooling circuit adapted and configured to be supplied with liquefied gas in the liquid state coming from the tank, the cooling circuit comprising at least one compressor adapted and configured to compress a cycle gas, at least one engine, at least one turbine, and at least one first heat exchanger adapted and configured to generate a heat exchange between the liquefied gas in a liquid state coming from the tank and the cycle gas so as to cool the liquefied gas coming from the tank when the facility is in operation; at least one injection component fluidly connected to the cooling circuit via an injection pipe, the injection component being adapted and configured to reinject the cooled liquefied gas into the tank; and at least one connection line adapted and configured to recover a gas to be cooled from at least one remote container, which is separate and independent from said facility, said at least one connection line being fluidly connected to the tank of the facility, wherein the engine is mechanically connected to the compressor in order to drive the compressor and also to the turbine so that the turbine drives the engine.

18. The facility of claim 17, further comprising at least one bypass pipe connected to the injection pipe, said at least one bypass pipe being adapted and configured to transfer some of the cooled liquefied gas to a remote container, the remote container being separate and independent from the facility.

19. The facility of claim 17, wherein the output of the turbine is directly fluidly connected to the input of the first heat exchanger.

20. The facility of claim 17, wherein the output of the compressor is indirectly fluidly connected to the first heat exchanger.

21. The facility of claim 17, wherein the cooling circuit further comprises a second heat exchanger configured to generate a heat exchange between compressed cycle gas coming from the compressor and expanded cycle gas coming from the turbine.

22. The facility of claim 21, wherein the input of the compressor is fluidly connected to the output of the turbine without an intermediate component other than the first heat exchanger and the second heat exchanger.

23. The facility of claim 17, wherein the cooling circuit comprises at least one first connection component mechanically connecting the engine to the compressor and at least one second connection component mechanically connecting the engine to the turbine.

24. The facility of claim 17, wherein the cooling circuit comprises a third heat exchanger adapted and configured to exchange heat between the cycle gas and a fluid at ambient temperature.

25. The facility of claim 17, wherein the injection component is arranged in the upper region of the tank.

26. The facility of claim 17, wherein the cooling circuit is adapted and configured to cool liquefied gas coming from the tank to a temperature between 35 K and 150 KK.

27. The facility of claim 17, wherein the cooling circuit is adapted and configured to cool liquefied gas coming from the tank to a temperature equal to 110 K.

28. The facility of claim 17, wherein the cooling circuit is adapted and configured to cool liquefied gas coming from the tank to a temperature equal to 80 K.

29. The facility of claim 17, wherein the tank contains a liquefied gas selected from the group consisting of liquefied natural gas, liquefied biomethane, liquefied nitrogen, liquefied oxygen, liquefied argon, and mixtures thereof.

30. The facility of claim 17, wherein the cooling circuit contains a coolant selected from the group consisting of nitrogen, argon, neon, helium, and mixtures thereof.

31. The facility of claim 17, wherein said facility adapted and configured to store and cool liquefied natural gas.

32. The facility of claim 17, wherein said facility is a transport vehicle.

33. A method for using the facility of claim 17, comprising the steps of: providing the facility of claim 17; at least partially receiving liquefied gas coming from a container, which is separate and independent from the facility, via the connection line that fluidly connects the at least one tank to the remote container, the remote container being separate and independent from the facility; supplying the cooling circuit with liquefied gas coming from the tank; cooling the liquefied gas coming from the tank with the cooling circuit; and injecting the cooled liquefied gas into the tank with the injection component.

34. The method of claim 33, further comprising a step of transferring at least some of the cooled liquefied gas to the remote container with the injection pipe.

35. The method of claim 34, further comprising the steps of: providing another of the facilities of claim 17; and transferring cooled liquefied gas remaining in the at least one tank of one of the facilities to one or more empty containers of the other of the facilities.

36. The method of claim 34, further comprising the steps of: providing another of the facilities of claim 17; and transferring cooled liquefied gas remaining in at least one container of one of the facilities to at least one empty tank of the other of the facilities.

37. The method of claim 34, further comprising the steps of: providing another of the facilities of claim 17, wherein one of the facilities includes at least two tanks one of which is empty and the other which is not empty; and transferring cooled liquefied gas remaining in the non-empty tank to the empty tank.

38. The method of claim 33, further comprising a step of transferring at least some of the cooled liquefied gas to a different remote container with a bypass pipe connected to the injection pipe.

39. The method of claim 38, further comprising the steps of: providing another of the facilities of claim 17; and transferring cooled liquefied gas remaining in the at least one tank of one of the facilities to one or more empty containers of the other of the facilities.

40. The method of claim 38, further comprising the steps of: providing another of the facilities of claim 17; and transferring cooled liquefied gas remaining in at least one container of one of the facilities to at least one empty tank of the other of the facilities.

41. The method of claim 38, further comprising the steps of: providing another of the facilities of claim 17, wherein one of the facilities includes at least two tanks one of which is empty and the other which is not empty; and transferring cooled liquefied gas remaining in the non-empty tank to the empty tank.

42. The method of claim 33, wherein the liquefied gas is liquefied natural gas.

43. The method of claim 33, wherein the cycle gas is nitrogen.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0070] The invention will be better understood from the following description, which relates to embodiments according to the present invention, which are provided by way of non-limiting examples and are explained with reference to the accompanying schematic drawings, in which:

[0071] FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a facility according to a first embodiment of the invention;

[0072] FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a cooling device forming part of the facility of FIG. 1;

[0073] FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a facility according to a variation of the first embodiment of the invention; and

[0074] FIG. 4A is a simplified graphic representation showing the distribution of the consumption of the natural gas vaporized on a ship over time toward the engine, toward a flare and toward a reliquefaction system according to the prior art;

[0075] FIG. 4B is a simplified graphic representation similar to that of FIG. 4A showing the distribution of the consumption of the natural gas vaporized on a ship over time toward the engine, toward a flare and toward a reliquefaction system according to an embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0076] As shown in FIG. 1, the facility 1 according to a first embodiment comprises a tank 4 comprising a lower region 4.1 intended to contain liquefied gas 2 in the liquid state and an upper region 4.2 intended to contain the vapors of the liquefied gas 2. Furthermore, the facility 1 comprises a cooling circuit 10, particularly shown in FIG. 2. Preferably, the cooling circuit 10 is located outside the tank, i.e. the liquefied gas is (only) cooled outside the tank. In other words, the liquefied gas is taken from the tank, is cooled outside the tank and is then reinjected into the tank in the cooled state. The cooling device 10 is connected to the fluid inside the tank 4 via a sampling pipe that penetrates the tank. The tank 4 is equipped with a pump 22 that allows the liquefied gas in the liquid state to be brought to the cooling circuit in order to be cooled and with at least one injection component 20 that allows the cooled liquefied gas to be reinjected into the tank 4. The injection component comprises a return pipe that connects the cooling device (outside the tank) to the inside of the tank 4 and comprises the injection component 20. Advantageously, the injection component 20 can comprise a plurality of nozzles.

[0077] Furthermore, and as shown in FIG. 1 according to a first embodiment of the facility, the facility 1 comprises a connection line 31 configured to route gas to be liquefied from at least one remote container 100, which is separate and independent from the facility 1, to the tank of the facility.

[0078] According to a variation of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the facility 1 comprises an injection pipe 30 fluidly connecting the cooling circuit and the injection component 20, and at least one bypass pipe 32 connected to the injection pipe 30 and intended to transfer some of the cooled liquefied gas 2 to a remote container (not shown), which is separate and independent from the facility 1.

[0079] For example, another tank 4 is shown as a dotted line in FIG. 3. This tank 4, of the same facility or of another facility, can be supplied with liquefied gas via the bypass pipe 32 and a respective injection component 20, where applicable.

[0080] Of course, in another variation (not shown), the bypass pipe 32 and the connection line 31 can be installed on the same facility.

[0081] As shown in FIG. 2, and irrespective of the configuration of the facility 1, the cooling circuit 10 is closed and autonomous and is configured to be supplied with liquefied gas 2 in the liquid state coming from the tank 4. The cooling circuit 10 comprises at least one compressor 12 configured to compress a cycle gas 3, at least one engine 14, at least one turbine 18, and at least one first heat exchanger 16 configured to generate a heat exchange between the liquefied gas 2 and the cycle gas.

[0082] As can be seen in FIG. 2, the engine 14 is mechanically connected, on the one hand, to the compressor 12 in order to drive the compressor 12 and, on the other hand, to the turbine 18 so that the turbine 18 drives the engine 14.

[0083] The cooling circuit 10 further comprises a second heat exchanger 24 configured to generate a heat exchange between the compressed cycle gas 3 and the expanded cycle gas 3, as shown in FIG. 2.

[0084] The cooling circuit 10 further comprises a third heat exchanger 26 configured to generate a heat exchange between the compressed cycle gas 3 and water or air or any other coolant coming from an external source.

[0085] In the event that one or more of the tank(s) 4 contain(s) liquefied natural gas on a vehicle, in particular a ship, the natural gas that vaporizes can be used as fuel for an engine of the vehicle and any excess gas is burnt in a flare, for example.

[0086] FIG. 4A shows the distribution of the consumption (axis of ordinates y in tons per day) of the natural gas vaporized on a ship over time (axis of abscissae x) toward the engine (C: section with horizontal shading), toward the flare (A: section with inclined shading) and toward the reliquefaction system (B: section without shading) for a known facility.

[0087] FIG. 4B shows the distribution of the consumption in tons per day (y axis) of the natural gas vaporized on a ship over time (x axis) toward the engine (C), toward the flare (A) and toward the reliquefaction system (B) for the facility according to the invention.

[0088] It can be seen that, according to the known facility (FIG. 4A), losses of vaporized gas remain at the end of the journey since the engines and the facility are not designed to recover this gas. However, in FIG. 4B, by virtue of the facility according to the invention, there is no longer a peak at the end of the journey, the losses are minimal, particularly by virtue of the system for refrigerating the tanks.

[0089] Of course, the invention is not limited to the embodiments described and shown in the accompanying figures. Modifications are still possible, particularly in terms of the constitution of the various elements or by substitution of equivalent techniques, yet without departing from the scope of protection of the invention.

[0090] While the invention has been described in conjunction with specific embodiments thereof, it is evident that many alternatives, modifications, and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art in light of the foregoing description. Accordingly, it is intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications, and variations as fall within the spirit and broad scope of the appended claims. The present invention may suitably comprise, consist or consist essentially of the elements disclosed and may be practiced in the absence of an element not disclosed. Furthermore, if there is language referring to order, such as first and second, it should be understood in an exemplary sense and not in a limiting sense. For example, it can be recognized by those skilled in the art that certain steps can be combined into a single step.

[0091] The singular forms a, an and the include plural referents, unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

[0092] Comprising in a claim is an open transitional term which means the subsequently identified claim elements are a nonexclusive listing i.e. anything else may be additionally included and remain within the scope of comprising. Comprising is defined herein as necessarily encompassing the more limited transitional terms consisting essentially of and consisting of; comprising may therefore be replaced by consisting essentially of or consisting of and remain within the expressly defined scope of comprising.

[0093] Providing in a claim is defined to mean furnishing, supplying, making available, or preparing something. The step may be performed by any actor in the absence of express language in the claim to the contrary.

[0094] Optional or optionally means that the subsequently described event or circumstances may or may not occur. The description includes instances where the event or circumstance occurs and instances where it does not occur.

[0095] Ranges may be expressed herein as from about one particular value, and/or to about another particular value. When such a range is expressed, it is to be understood that another embodiment is from the one particular value and/or to the other particular value, along with all combinations within said range.

[0096] All references identified herein are each hereby incorporated by reference into this application in their entireties, as well as for the specific information for which each is cited.