Liquefied gas storage facility

Abstract

The invention relates to a liquefied gas storage facility (1) comprising a sealed and thermally insulating tank installed in the supporting structure, the tank comprising a cylindrical tank wall (22) arranged on an inner surface (13) of the cylindrical supporting wall, the insulating barrier comprising a plurality of insulating panels (21) having first edges parallel to the generatrix direction, the insulating panels (21) being successively pivoted by a faceting angle around the generatrix direction in such a way that an inner surface of the insulating panels defines a cylindrical surface having a polygonal directrix curve, the sealing membrane comprising a plurality of metal plates (30), each metal plate comprising a corrugation (27, 35), parallel to the generatrix direction, arranged in line with a respective said gap (24), and two planar portions (34, 36) angled by the faceting angle about the generatrix direction and arranged respectively on two said insulating panels (31) separated by the gap.

Description

Liquefied gas storage facility

[0001] The invention relates to a liquefied gas storage installation comprising a sealed and thermally insulated membrane tank. In particular, the invention relates to the field of land-based installations for the storage of low-temperature liquefied gases, such as Liquefied Petroleum Gas (also called LPG) with a temperature ranging from -50°C to 0°C, Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) at approximately -162°C at atmospheric pressure, or liquefied ammonia, which is at approximately -33°C at atmospheric pressure.

[0002] FR2739675A1 describes an onshore LNG storage tank comprising a load-bearing structure with a cylindrical load-bearing wall and a bottom load-bearing wall. The cylindrical load-bearing wall has a vertical generating direction, and the bottom load-bearing wall closes off the cylindrical load-bearing wall to delimit an internal space within the load-bearing structure. A sealed and thermally insulated tank is installed within the internal space of the load-bearing structure.The tank comprises a cylindrical wall disposed on an internal surface of the cylindrical load-bearing wall, the cylindrical wall comprising a sealed membrane intended to be in contact with a liquefied gas contained in the tank and an insulating barrier disposed between the sealed membrane and the cylindrical load-bearing wall, the insulating barrier comprising a plurality of insulating panels, the insulating panels having first edges parallel to the generating direction and second edges perpendicular to the generating direction, the insulating panels being juxtaposed in a circumferential direction of the cylindrical load-bearing wall.

[0003] The waterproof membrane consists of stainless steel strakes welded together with raised edges, said strakes having their average lines substantially vertical, the raised edges of two adjacent strakes being welded on either side of a metal tab held by the insulating barrier.

[0004] Some aspects of the invention are based on the observation that installing metal tabs complicates the manufacture of such a waterproof membrane.

[0005] One idea behind the invention is to provide a liquefied gas storage facility that is simple and reliable to manufacture.

[0006] The invention thus provides a liquefied gas storage installation comprising: a load-bearing structure including a cylindrical load-bearing wall and a bottom load-bearing wall, the cylindrical load-bearing wall having a generating direction, preferably vertical, the bottom load-bearing wall closing the cylindrical load-bearing wall to delimit an internal space of the load-bearing structure, and a sealed and thermally insulated tank installed in the internal space of the load-bearing structure, the tank including a cylindrical tank wall disposed on an internal surface of the cylindrical load-bearing wall, the cylindrical tank wall including a sealed membrane intended to be in contact with a liquefied gas contained in the tank and an insulating barrier disposed between the sealed membrane and the cylindrical load-bearing wall, the insulating barrier including a plurality of insulating panels,the insulating panels having first edges parallel to the generating direction and second edges perpendicular to the generating direction, the insulating panels being juxtaposed in a circumferential direction of the cylindrical load-bearing wall, leaving gaps between the insulating panels, the circumferential direction being perpendicular to the generating direction, the insulating panels being successively rotated by a faceting angle around the generating direction so that an internal surface of the insulating panels defines a cylindrical surface having a polygonal direction curve, the waterproof membrane comprising a plurality of rectangular metal plates, assembled in a watertight manner, the metal plates having first edges parallel to the generating direction and second edges perpendicular to the generating direction,the metal plates being juxtaposed in the circumferential direction of the cylindrical load-bearing wall, each metal plate having a corrugation parallel to the generating direction and two flat portions separated by the corrugation, the corrugation being positioned each time at the right angle of said gap, the two flat portions being angled by the faceting angle around the generating direction and arranged respectively on two said insulating panels separated by the gap.

[0007] Thanks to these characteristics, the waterproof membrane can be manufactured simply and reliably. Firstly, the angles of the metal sheets can be created at the corrugations parallel to the generating direction, whose geometry readily lends itself to angulation. Secondly, the gaps in the insulating barrier, which are areas where the waterproof membrane is locally less supported, correspond to the corrugated sections of the metal sheets, whose resistance to rupture is higher than that of the flat sections. Thus, the risk of fatigue or buckling of the metal sheets can be reduced.

[0008] Thanks to these characteristics, the cylindrical wall of the tank can be manufactured with various numbers of facets. Indeed, the choice of the number of facets primarily determines the choice of faceting angles, which are not difficult to modify.

[0009] Furthermore, any misalignment of the insulating panels can be tolerated without risk of fatigue or buckling of the metal plates due to the elasticity of the corrugated parts of the metal plates.

[0010] We recall that a cylindrical surface is mathematically a surface generated by moving a straight line, which defines the generating direction, along a directrix curve, which is a closed plane curve perpendicular to the generating direction.

[0011] Depending on the embodiment, the liquefied gas storage installation may have one or more of the following characteristics.

[0012] According to one embodiment, the number of facets, i.e. the number of sides of the polygon, is greater than 60.

[0013] According to one embodiment, the faceting angles are less than 6°.

[0014] According to one embodiment, the insulating panels are configured as a plurality of rows of insulating panels, each row of insulating panels comprising insulating panels juxtaposed in the generating direction, the rows of insulating panels being juxtaposed in the circumferential direction of the cylindrical load-bearing wall, providing said interstices between the rows of insulating panels, the rows of insulating panels being successively rotated said faceting angle around the generating direction so that an internal surface of the rows of insulating panels defines the cylindrical surface having a polygonal direction curve, in which the metal plates are configured as a plurality of rows of metal plates, each row of metal plates comprising metal plates juxtaposed in the generating direction,with the rows of metal plates juxtaposed in the circumferential direction, each row of metal plate having the corrugation parallel to the generating direction and positioned each time at the right-hand side of a said gap between the rows of insulating panels.

[0015] According to one embodiment, the metal plates of a row of metal plates are joined by welding along the second edges of the metal plates, with welded joints of the metal plates of the row of metal plates resting on the insulating panels at a distance from the second edges of the insulating panels.

[0016] According to one embodiment, the metal plates juxtaposed in the circumferential direction are joined by welding along the first edges of the metal plates, the welded junctions of the metal plates resting on the insulating panels at a distance from the first edges of the insulating panels.

[0017] Thanks to this characteristic, the welding of metal plates can be facilitated since the welded joints are carried by the insulating panels at a distance from the first and / or second edges of the insulating panels.

[0018] Preferably, the metal plates are joined by lap welding. The width of the overlap areas can be designed according to the manufacturing tolerances of the supporting structure in order to provide a sufficient adjustment range to absorb all foreseeable deviations of the supporting structure and the metal plates.

[0019] In a preferred embodiment, the metal plates are fixed to the inner surface of the insulating panels. For this purpose, the metal plates can be welded to metal anchoring strips carried by the inner surface of the insulating panels.

[0020] According to one embodiment, the internal surface of said insulating panel has a metal anchoring piece and said welded joint of the metal plates is welded to the metal anchoring piece.

[0021] According to one embodiment, the corrugation of the metal plate is a first corrugation, each metal plate further comprising a second corrugation extending parallel to the second edges of the metal plate at a distance from the second edges of the metal plate, the second corrugations of the juxtaposed metal plates in the circumferential direction being aligned in the circumferential direction.

[0022] According to one embodiment, interfaces between the insulating panels of a row of insulating panels are located at the second corrugations of the metal plates.

[0023] Thanks to these characteristics, the risk of fatigue or buckling of the metal sheets due to any flatness or misalignment of the row of insulation panels can be reduced. Indeed, the geometry of the second corrugations readily accommodates slight elastic deflection of the metal sheet.

[0024] According to one embodiment, the first corrugation and the second corrugation protrude towards the inside of the tank relative to the flat portions of the metal plate, the height of the first corrugation being greater than the height of the second corrugation.

[0025] The insulating panels or rows of insulating panels may have different or identical dimensions. The faceting angles between successive insulating panels or between successive rows of insulating panels may have different or identical values. The polygonal direction curve may therefore be irregular or regular. Where applicable, the different values ​​of the faceting angles correspond to the different widths of the insulating panels, preferably so that the value of a faceting angle between two insulating panels corresponds to the azimuthal angular sector covered by one of the two insulating panels, this angle being measured around a central axis parallel to the generating direction.

[0026] According to one embodiment, the faceting angle between successive insulating panels is uniform, the polygonal direction curve being a regular polygon.

[0027] In one embodiment, the cylindrical wall of the tank is configured as a pattern repeated several times in the circumferential direction. This configuration promotes standardization of components and simplifies tank manufacturing. The repeating pattern can have various dimensions in the circumferential direction. In one embodiment, the dimension of the repeating pattern in the circumferential direction is the combined width of an insulating panel and a gap, or the combined width of a row of insulating panels and a gap.

[0028] The dimensions of the insulating panels can vary. In one embodiment, the insulating panels are parallelepiped-shaped. In another embodiment, the first edges of the insulating panels are longer than the second edges. This configuration is particularly well-suited to the construction of a tank with a large number of facets.

[0029] Insulating panels can have different structures. According to one embodiment, an insulating panel comprises a rigid backing plate, for example made of polymer resin, and a polymer foam block, for example made of polystyrene foam, fixed to the backing plate.

[0030] In one embodiment, the dimensions of the first edges of the metal plates, excluding any overlapping areas, are substantially equal to the dimensions of the first edges of the insulating panels. In other words, the difference between these dimensions is less than one dimension of any spacing between the insulating panels in the generating direction. These characteristics facilitate modular manufacturing of the cylindrical tank wall, particularly in the form of a repeating pattern in the generating direction.

[0031] In one embodiment, the dimensions of the second edges of the metal plates, excluding any overlapping areas, are substantially equal to the dimensions of the second edges of the insulating panels. In other words, the difference between these dimensions is less than one dimension of the gap between the insulating panels in the circumferential direction. These characteristics facilitate modular manufacturing of the cylindrical tank wall, particularly in the form of a repeating pattern in the circumferential direction.

[0032] According to one embodiment, the waterproof membrane is a primary waterproof membrane, the cylindrical tank wall further comprising a secondary waterproof membrane disposed between the insulating panels and the cylindrical load-bearing wall.

[0033] According to one embodiment, the secondary waterproof membrane comprises a metallic sheet covering the internal surface of the cylindrical load-bearing wall.

[0034] According to one embodiment, the liquefied gas storage installation further comprises mastic pads arranged between the insulating panels and the secondary sealing membrane.

[0035] In one embodiment, the liquefied gas storage facility is intended to be located on land or on a seabed. In this case, the supporting structure may be made of concrete.

[0036] According to one embodiment, the metal plates are made of stainless steel sheet, for example with a thickness between 0.5 and 1.5 mm.

[0037] According to one embodiment, the liquefied gas is ammonia. Brief description of the figures

[0038] The invention will be better understood, and other objects, details, features and advantages thereof will become more apparent from the following description of several particular embodiments of the invention, given solely by way of illustration and not limitation, with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0039] This is a schematic perspective view of a liquefied gas storage facility, omitting the ceiling wall.

[0040] [This is a partial perspective and cross-sectional view of the liquefied storage facility, viewed from the inside.

[0041] This is a partial cross-sectional view of the liquefied gas storage facility, along line III of the.

[0042] This is a perspective view of a metal plate that can be used to form a sealed membrane for the liquefied gas storage facility.

[0043] We will describe a liquefied gas storage facility suitable for storing liquefied gases, in particular ammonia, at a temperature of approximately -33°C and atmospheric pressure, or other liquefied gases. The facility primarily comprises a supporting structure and a sealed, thermally insulated tank installed within the internal space of the supporting structure.

[0044] With reference to the, we first describe the load-bearing structure 10. The load-bearing structure 10 includes a bottom load-bearing wall 11 and a vertical load-bearing wall 12, which is a cylindrical load-bearing wall.

[0045] The installation may be designed to be located on land. The load-bearing base wall 11 is then typically horizontal, that is, situated in a plane perpendicular to the direction of gravitational acceleration, within dimensional tolerances. The load-bearing base wall 11 may be located at ground level or possibly below ground level. The load-bearing structure 10 is, for example, made of concrete.

[0046] In addition to the bottom load-bearing wall 11, the load-bearing structure 10 includes a vertical load-bearing wall 12. As can be seen more clearly in the figure, this vertical load-bearing wall 12 forms an internal cylindrical surface 13 whose generatrix is ​​vertical and whose direction curve is here circular, but which could be different, for example polygonal. The vertical load-bearing wall 12 extends in a vertical direction, that is to say, in a direction perpendicular to the bottom load-bearing wall 11, within dimensional tolerances.

[0047] Not shown in the drawings, at the end of the vertical load-bearing wall 12 opposite the bottom load-bearing wall 11, the load-bearing structure 10 includes a ceiling load-bearing wall closing the internal space delimited by the bottom load-bearing wall 11 and the vertical load-bearing wall 12. This ceiling load-bearing wall can support various equipment usable for conveying liquefied gas to or from this internal space.

[0048] The diameter of the supporting structure 10 can be, for example, between 10m and 100m.

[0049] We now describe an embodiment of a sealed and thermally insulating tank installed in the internal space 2 of the supporting structure 10 with reference to figures 2 to 4. The tank has a bottom wall not shown disposed on the bottom supporting wall 11, and a vertical wall 22 disposed on the cylindrical internal surface 13 of the vertical supporting wall 12.

[0050] The vertical wall 22 comprises, extending from the vertical load-bearing wall 12 towards the interior of the tank, a secondary airtight membrane 14, a thermally insulating barrier 15, and a primary airtight membrane 16 intended to be in contact with the liquefied gas contained in the tank. The vertical wall 22 can be constructed using modular elements.

[0051] The secondary waterproof membrane 14 is a waterproof sheet fixed, for example by bonding or other means, to the cylindrical inner surface 13 of the vertical load-bearing wall 12. The waterproof sheet is made, for example, of metal sheets or composite material. Optionally, a secondary insulating barrier could be inserted between the secondary waterproof membrane 14 and the vertical load-bearing wall 12 to improve thermal insulation.

[0052] The thermally insulating barrier 15 comprises vertical rows 20 formed of thermally insulating panels 21. Each vertical row 20 comprises juxtaposed insulating panels 21. The insulating panels 21 have the shape of a flattened rectangular parallelepiped and can be made of any insulating material, provided it is compatible with the product intended to be stored in the tank, which could come into contact with the insulating panels 21 in the event of a leak.

[0053] The insulating panels 21 can be identical, as illustrated, in order to limit the number of elements to be used to create the thermally insulating barrier.

[0054] As more clearly seen in the figure, the vertical rows 20 are juxtaposed along the circumference of the vertical load-bearing wall 12, forming a gap 24 between each successive vertical row 20. Furthermore, a faceting angle, barely visible because it is very small in the figure, is formed each time by the internal surfaces of the two successive vertical rows 20, so that the thermally insulating barrier 15 traces, over all or part of the circumference of the vertical load-bearing wall 12, a cylinder whose guiding curve is polygonal.

[0055] The width of the 20 vertical rows and the faceting angle are preferably uniform, as shown, to follow a guide curve substantially in the shape of a regular polygon. In other words, the 20 vertical rows are juxtaposed in a repeating pattern in the circumferential direction.

[0056] The number and width of the vertical rows 20 can be chosen according to the dimensions of the supporting structure 10. For example, for a number of vertical rows 20 greater than or equal to 60, a uniform faceting angle of less than 6° can be used, which has advantages for facilitating the manufacture of the primary waterproof membrane 16, as explained below.

[0057] Since the internal surface 13 does not necessarily have a polygonal direction curve, but rather a circular direction curve to facilitate the manufacture of the load-bearing structure 10, there may be gaps of varying sizes between the secondary waterproofing membrane 14 and the external surface 23 of the insulating panels 21. Mastic pads and / or shims (not shown) can be interposed between the secondary waterproofing membrane 14 and the external surface 23 of the insulating panels 21 in order to locally fill these gaps, improve the load-bearing capacity of the insulating panels 21 and compensate for any unevenness of the internal surface 13. Such mastic pads are, for example, studs or beads that extend preferentially in the vertical direction of the vertical load-bearing wall 12.

[0058] Within each vertical row 20, the insulating panels 21 are preferably identical and evenly distributed, with or without mutual spacing. In other words, the insulating panels 21 of a vertical row 20 are juxtaposed in a repeating pattern in the vertical direction.

[0059] Preferably, the insulating panels 21 of successive vertical rows 20 are aligned in the circumferential direction. In other words, the thermally insulating barrier 15 takes the form of a plurality of circumferential belts 25 juxtaposed in the vertical direction, preferably juxtaposed in a repeating pattern. Each circumferential belt 25 corresponds to insulating panels 21 aligned in the circumferential direction along a polygonal guide curve.

[0060] The anchoring of the insulating panels 21 to the vertical load-bearing wall 12 can be done in various ways, for example using dowels (not shown) sealed in the concrete or, where appropriate, welded to metal portions of the vertical load-bearing wall 12. Alternatively or in addition, the aforementioned mastic pads can be used to bond the insulating panels 21 to the vertical load-bearing wall 12, i.e. to the secondary waterproof membrane 14.

[0061] The thickness of the 21 insulating panels can be selected according to the desired insulation performance for the intended application. For the storage of liquid ammonia at atmospheric pressure, this thickness can be less than

[0062] The primary airtight membrane 16 is a corrugated metallic membrane, designed to withstand thermal contraction due to contact with the liquefied gas. More specifically, the primary airtight membrane 16 has vertical parallel corrugations 27, extending in the generative direction, and transverse parallel corrugations 26, perpendicular to the vertical parallel corrugations 27 and extending in the circumferential direction. The diagram shows the vertical parallel corrugations 27 and the transverse parallel corrugations 26 as bold lines.

[0063] The primary waterproof membrane 16 is made by juxtaposing generally rectangular metal plates 30, having longitudinal edges 31 oriented in the vertical direction and transverse edges 32 oriented in the circumferential direction. The longitudinal edges 31 and transverse edges 32 of the metal plates 30 are shown in thin lines. Like the insulating panels 21, the metal plates 30 are arranged in vertical rows, and the vertical rows are juxtaposed in the circumferential direction. Each of the metal plates 30 has corrugated sections which, when the metal plates 30 are juxtaposed, together form the parallel vertical corrugations 27 and the parallel transverse corrugations 26.

[0064] For this purpose, as can be seen in the figure, a metal plate 30 has a single longitudinal corrugation 35 extending in a direction parallel to the longitudinal edges 31, connecting the two transverse edges 32, and a series of two transverse corrugations 33 extending in a direction parallel to the transverse edges 32, therefore perpendicular to the longitudinal corrugation 35, and each connecting the two longitudinal edges 31. The longitudinal corrugation 35 is intended to form the vertical parallel corrugations 27 and the transverse corrugations 33 are intended to form the transverse parallel corrugations 26.

[0065] The two flat areas 34 and 36 located on either side of the longitudinal undulation 35 have a slight mutual angulation, equal to the aforementioned faceting angle. This allows that, when the longitudinal undulation 35 is positioned at the gap 24 between two successive vertical rows 20, the two flat areas 34 and 36 lie flat on the internal surface 29 of the two successive vertical rows 20.

[0066] Lamontre also notes that the metal plate 30 has a thickness offset in a raised edge area 38 along two contiguous edges, the other two edges being flat. The raised edge area 38 serves to cover the flat edge area of ​​an adjacent metal plate 30 and will ultimately be continuously welded to it to ensure a watertight bond between the two metal plates 30. The raised edge area 38 is obtained by a folding operation also known as jogglining.

[0067] The metal plate 30 is made of a metal alloy, for example, stainless steel. As an example, the metal plate 30 has a thickness of approximately 1.2 mm. Other thicknesses are also possible, bearing in mind that increased thickness increases the cost and generally increases the rigidity of the corrugations.

[0068] The transverse undulations 33 have a height less than the longitudinal undulation 35. Reference 37 designates nodes arranged at the intersections between the longitudinal undulation 35 and the transverse undulations 33. Further design details of the nodes 37 can be found in publication WO-A-2017017337.

[0069] The longitudinal edges 31 of the metal plate 30 are separated by half a wave interval from the longitudinal corrugation 35. Similarly, the transverse edges 32 are separated by half a wave interval from the nearest transverse corrugation 33. Thus, after the metal plates 30 are assembled, the vertical parallel corrugations 27 are equidistant and the transverse parallel corrugations 26 are equidistant.

[0070] The wave interval of the vertical parallel undulations 27 and the wave interval of the transverse parallel undulations 26 can be equal or different.

[0071] Furthermore, the wave interval of the vertical parallel undulations 27 is equal to the width of the insulating panels 21 plus the width of the gap 24, which ensures that the overlap between two metal plates 30 along the longitudinal edges 31 is located substantially at the mid-width of the insulating panels 21.

[0072] In order to anchor the metal plates 30 to the insulating panels 21, metal plates 40 may be provided on the internal surface of the insulating panels 21, preferably at the aforementioned overlap along the longitudinal edges 31, as seen on the.

[0073] In the vertical direction, the length of the insulating panels 21 is preferably an integer multiple of the wave interval of the transverse parallel undulations 26, for example twice, which facilitates the manufacture of the primary waterproof membrane 16 in the form of a repeating pattern in the vertical direction.

[0074] In this embodiment, the transverse edges 32 of the metal plates 30 are offset in the vertical direction by half the wave interval of the transverse parallel corrugations 26 relative to the edges of the insulating panels 21. This ensures that some of the transverse parallel corrugations 26 are located at the interfaces between the insulating panels 21 in the vertical direction. This arrangement is advantageous because the load on the primary waterproof membrane 16 can be reduced at the interface between two insulating panels 21, particularly when there is a gap between them.

[0075] Thus, on the assumption that the length of the insulating panel 21 is approximately twice the wave interval of the parallel transverse undulations 26, one transverse undulation 26 out of two represents the position of the transverse edges of the insulating panels 21.

[0076] Dimensional example (in mm)

[0077] Insulation panel width 21: 970

[0078] Gap width 24:30

[0079] Width of the metal plate 30: 1030

[0080] Wave interval 27:1000

[0081] Length of insulating panel 21: 3070

[0082] Length of metal plate 30: 3100

[0083] Wave interval 26: 1535

[0084] Although the invention has been described in connection with several particular embodiments, it is clearly evident that it is by no means limited to them and that it includes all technical equivalents of the means described as well as their combinations if these fall within the scope of the invention.

[0085] The use of the verb "comporter", "comprendre" or "include" and its conjugated forms does not exclude the presence of other elements or steps than those stated in a claim.

[0086] In claims, any reference sign in parentheses shall not be interpreted as a limitation of the claim.

Claims

Liquefied gas storage installation (1) comprising: a load-bearing structure (10) having a cylindrical load-bearing wall (12) and a bottom load-bearing wall, the cylindrical load-bearing wall having a vertical generating direction, the bottom load-bearing wall closing the cylindrical load-bearing wall to delimit an internal space (2) of the load-bearing structure, and a sealed and thermally insulated tank installed in the internal space of the load-bearing structure, the tank having a cylindrical tank wall (22) disposed on an internal surface (13) of the cylindrical load-bearing wall, the cylindrical tank wall having a sealed membrane (16) intended to be in contact with a liquefied gas contained in the tank and an insulating barrier (15) disposed between the sealed membrane (16) and the cylindrical load-bearing wall, the insulating barrier having a plurality of insulating panels (21),the insulating panels having first edges parallel to the generating direction and second edges perpendicular to the generating direction, the insulating panels being juxtaposed in a circumferential direction of the cylindrical load-bearing wall, providing gaps (24) between the insulating panels, the circumferential direction being perpendicular to the generating direction, the insulating panels (21) being successively rotated by a faceting angle around the generating direction so that an internal surface (29) of the insulating panels defines a cylindrical surface having a polygonal direction curve, the waterproof membrane comprising a plurality of rectangular metal plates (30), assembled in a watertight manner, the metal plates (30) having first edges (31) parallel to the generating direction and second edges (32) perpendicular to the generating direction,the metal plates being juxtaposed in the circumferential direction of the cylindrical load-bearing wall, each metal plate having a corrugation (27, 35), parallel to the generating direction and two flat portions (34, 36) separated by the corrugation, the corrugation being disposed each time at the right of a said gap (24), the two flat portions (34, 36) being angled by the faceting angle around the generating direction and disposed respectively on two said insulating panels (21) separated by the gap. Liquefied gas storage installation according to claim 1, wherein the insulating panels are configured in the form of a plurality of rows of insulating panels (20), each row of insulating panels (20) comprising insulating panels (21) juxtaposed in the generating direction, the rows of insulating panels (20) being juxtaposed in the circumferential direction of the cylindrical load-bearing wall providing said gaps (24) between the rows of insulating panels, the rows of insulating panels being successively rotated said faceting angle around the generating direction so that an internal surface of the rows of insulating panels defines the cylindrical surface having a polygonal direction curve, wherein the metal plates (30) are configured in the form of a plurality of rows of metal plates,each row of metal plates comprising metal plates juxtaposed in the generating direction, the rows of metal plates being juxtaposed in the circumferential direction, a said row of metal plate comprising the corrugation (27) parallel to the generating direction and disposed each time at the right of a said gap (24) between the rows of insulating panels (20). Liquefied gas storage installation according to claim 2, wherein the metal plates (30) of a row of metal plates are joined by welding along the second edges (32) of the metal plates, the welded joints of the metal plates of the row of metal plates resting on the insulating panels (21) at a distance from the second edges of the insulating panels. Liquefied gas storage installation according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the metal plates (30) juxtaposed in the circumferential direction are joined by welding along the first edges (31) of the metal plates, the welded joints of the metal plates resting on the insulating panels (21) at a distance from the first edges of the insulating panels. Liquefied gas storage installation according to claim 4, wherein the internal surface (29) of said insulating panel has a metal anchoring piece (40) and said welded joint of the metal plates is welded to the metal anchoring piece (40). Liquefied gas storage installation according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the corrugation (27, 35) of the metal plate is a first corrugation, each metal plate further comprising a second corrugation (26, 33) extending parallel to the second edges (32) of the metal plate at a distance from the second edges of the metal plate, the second corrugations (26, 33) of the metal plates (30) juxtaposed in the circumferential direction being aligned in the circumferential direction. Liquefied gas storage installation according to claim 6 taken in combination with claim 2, wherein interfaces between the insulating panels (21) of a row of insulating panels are located at the second corrugations (26, 33) of the metal plates. Liquefied gas storage installation according to claim 6 or 7, in which the first corrugation (35) and the second corrugation (33) protrude towards the interior of the tank relative to the flat portions (34, 36) of the metal plate, a height of the first corrugation (35) being greater than a height of the second corrugation (33). Liquefied gas storage installation according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the faceting angle between successive insulating panels (21) is uniform, the polygonal direction curve being a regular polygon. Liquefied gas storage installation according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the sealing membrane is a primary sealing membrane (16), the cylindrical tank wall further comprising a secondary sealing membrane (14) disposed between the insulating panels (21) and the cylindrical load-bearing wall (12). Liquefied gas storage installation according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the load-bearing structure (10) is made of concrete.

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