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  Modular cryogenic liquid storage systemsUSPTO Application #: 20070181210Title: Modular cryogenic liquid storage systems Abstract: Piping skid for a cryogenic liquid customer station comprising a frame; a first pipe section mounted on the frame and having a first end, a second end, and a valve disposed between the first end and the second end, wherein the first end is adapted for flow communication with the top of a cryogenic liquid storage tank; a second pipe section mounted on the frame and having a first end, a second end, and a valve disposed between the first end and the second end, wherein the first end is adapted for flow communication with the bottom of a cryogenic liquid storage tank; and a tanker fill connection in flow communication with the second end of the first pipe section and the second end of the second pipe section, wherein the tanker fill connection is adapted to receive cryogenic liquid from a cryogenic liquid tanker. (end of abstract)
Agent: Air Products And Chemicals, Inc. Patent Department - Allentown, PA, US Inventors: Stephen Joseph McKitish, Robert William Hadden, Kameel Sattouf, Douglas R. Williams, Donald Nelly, Kent Richard Buzard, Brian Clark Jackson USPTO Applicaton #: 20070181210 - Class: 141095000 (USPTO) Related Patent Categories: Fluent Material Handling, With Receiver Or Receiver Coacting Means, With Signal, Indicator, Recorder, Inspection Means Or Exhibitor, Level Or Pressure In Receiver The Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20070181210. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0001] Cryogenic liquids for commercial and medical applications are received, stored, and dispensed on demand by integrated tank and piping systems widely used in the industrial gas business. These well-known systems, often described as customer stations, are installed, filled, and maintained by industrial gas suppliers on customer sites. The systems typically are owned by the industrial gas suppliers and leased to the customers, although some installations are owned by the customers and serviced by the industrial gas suppliers. [0002] The design and operating features of these systems vary widely and are determined by the type of stored cryogenic liquid, the specific form of product used by the customer (i.e., vapor or liquid), the delivery pressure, range of delivery flow rates, and other parameters specific to each customer. As a result, industrial gas suppliers typically customize these systems, particularly the piping, for each particular customer requirement. [0003] The main components of a customer station typically include an insulated tank, piping and valve assemblies, pressure gauges, pressure buildup vaporizers, pressure relief devices, a product vaporizer (when the customer uses the product in gaseous form), a liquid pump (when the customer requires product at elevated pressure), and liquid level telemetry systems. Customer stations are installed on customer sites for receiving, storing, and delivering gases including oxygen, nitrogen, argon, and hydrogen. A customer gives specific product requirements to the supplier, and the supplier designs an appropriate customer station to meet these requirements. The supplier manages the logistics of delivering cryogenic liquid by tanker to the customer station to meet customer requirements. [0004] Each tank in a customer station typically has a piping assembly that includes a fill connection used to connect the tank to the tanker during a fill, a full trycock valve that informs the operator when the tank is full, a telemetry unit (typically an automatic dialing system which monitors tank product level and notifies the supplier when a scheduled fill is necessary), a vent system that allows product to escape if tank pressure exceeds a maximum safe pressure, a pressure build system that permits the tank to operate at a predetermined pressure, and a product withdrawal pressure control system that provides product to the customer at the required pressure. [0005] Each customer station may be periodically refurbished or rehabilitated by tank cleaning (exterior and interior), painting, improving structural support, replacing or upgrading thermal and/or vacuum insulation, and maintaining piping, valves, instruments, and associated components. Many industrial gas suppliers subcontract the refurbishing or rehabilitating of cryogenic storage tanks, wherein the tanks are transported to subcontractor fabrication facilities, refurbished or rehabilitated, and transported to another site for reinstallation by the industrial gas supplier. A refurbished or rehabilitated tank is seldom returned to the same customer site, and reinstallation of the tank at a new site therefore requires the installation of an individual piping assembly specific to that tank and the new site. Because an industrial gas supplier may service thousands of customer stations, the logistics of matching refurbished tanks to customer sites is complex, and this becomes a factor in the current need for customized reinstallation of refurbished or rehabilitated tanks. [0006] There are several problems associated with this refurbishment or rehabilitation process. For every tank that is refurbished or rehabilitated, the unique piping configuration needed when the tank is reinstalled requires additional time for the design, fabrication, and installation of this piping system. While this process meets the exact customer requirements, thereby satisfying the customer, it is inefficient for the industrial gas supplier, and the added cost reduces the supplier's profit margin in the operation of that customer station. [0007] There is a need in the industrial gas field for improvements to the customer station tank refurbishment and rehabilitation process, particularly in the design and installation of the piping systems for reinstallation of refurbished and rehabilitated tanks. This need is addressed by the embodiments of the invention described below and defined by the claims that follow. BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0008] One embodiment of the invention relates to a piping skid for a cryogenic liquid customer station comprising a frame; a first pipe section mounted on the frame and having a first end, a second end, and a valve disposed between the first end and the second end, wherein the first end is adapted for flow communication with the top of a cryogenic liquid storage tank; a second pipe section mounted on the frame and having a first end, a second end, and a valve disposed between the first end and the second end, wherein the first end is adapted for flow communication with the bottom of a cryogenic liquid storage tank; and a tanker fill connection in flow communication with the second end of the first pipe section and the second end of the second pipe section, wherein the tanker fill connection is adapted to receive cryogenic liquid from a cryogenic liquid tanker [0009] The piping skid may comprising a pressure gauge mounted on the frame and adapted to measure the gas pressure in the cryogenic storage tank; a level gauge mounted on the frame and adapted to measure the liquid level in the cryogenic storage tank; a pressure build coil mounted on the frame, having a first end in flow communication with the first pipe section at a point between the first end thereof and the valve installed therein, and having a second end in flow communication with the second pipe section at a point between the first end thereof and the valve installed therein; and/or one or more thermal relief devices, each installed on one of the pipe sections at a point between the first end of the pipe section and the valve installed in the pipe section. [0010] The piping skid may include one or both of [0011] (e) a third pipe section mounted on the frame and having a first end, a second end, and a valve disposed between the first and the second end, wherein the first end is adapted for flow communication with the bottom of the cryogenic liquid storage tank the second end is adapted to discharge cryogenic liquid from the cryogenic liquid storage tank, and [0012] (f) a fourth pipe section mounted on the frame and having a first end, a second end, and a valve disposed between the first and the second end, wherein the first end is adapted for flow communication with the cryogenic liquid storage tank at a predetermined liquid fill level and the second end is adapted to discharge cryogenic liquid when the valve is open and the liquid level reaches the predetermined liquid fill level during tank filling, whereby the valve serves as a liquid level trycock. [0013] The piping skid may comprise an alternative fourth pipe section mounted on the frame and having a first end, a second end, and a valve disposed between the first and the second end, wherein the first end is adapted for flow communication with the top of cryogenic liquid storage tank and the second end is open to the atmosphere, whereby the fourth pipe section and valve are adapted to vent the cryogenic liquid storage tank when the valve is open. The piping skid may comprise a telemetry gauge system mounted on the frame and adapted to generate and transmit a signal that is proportional to the liquid level in the cryogenic liquid storage tank. [0014] The pipe sections of the piping skid may be made of types of pipe selected from the group consisting of bare copper pipe, mechanically insulated copper pipe, bare stainless steel pipe, mechanically-insulated stainless steel pipe, and vacuum-jacketed stainless steel pipe. The pipe sections have nominal outside diameters of 1, 1.5, or 2 inch. [0015] The piping skid may include a pressure relief tree mounted on the frame and adapted to provide a safety relief function for a cryogenic liquid storage tank. The piping skid may include a pressure control manifold adapted to control the pressure of product gas delivered to a user or a pressure and temperature control manifold adapted to control the pressure of product gas delivered to a user and to shut off gas flow if the gas temperature falls below a predetermined minimum value. [0016] Another embodiment of the invention comprises a customer station including [0017] (a) a cryogenic liquid storage tank having an interior, a top end, a bottom end, a top nozzle in flow communication with the interior at the top end of the tank, a bottom nozzle in flow communication with the interior at the bottom end of the tank, and an intermediate nozzle in flow communication with the interior located at a point below and adjacent the top end of the tank; [0018] (b) a piping skid comprising [0019] (1) a frame; [0020] (2) a first pipe section mounted on the frame and having a first end, a second end, and a valve disposed between the first end and the second end, wherein the first end is in flow communication with the top nozzle of the cryogenic liquid storage tank; [0021] (3) a second pipe section mounted on the frame and having a first end, a second end, and a valve disposed between the first end and the second end, wherein the first end is in flow communication with the bottom nozzle of the cryogenic liquid storage tank; and [0022] (4) a tanker fill connection in flow communication with the second end of the first pipe section and the second end of the second pipe section, wherein the tanker fill connection is adapted to receive cryogenic liquid from a cryogenic liquid tanker; and optionally [0023] (c) a vaporizer adapted to vaporize the cryogenic liquid product discharged from the cryogenic liquid storage tank to provide a gaseous product if required. [0024] The cryogenic liquid may be selected from the group consisting of oxygen, nitrogen, argon, and hydrogen. The piping skid may comprise a pressure gauge mounted on the frame and adapted to measure the gas pressure in the cryogenic storage tank. The piping skid may comprise a level gauge mounted on the frame and adapted to measure the liquid level in the cryogenic storage tank. The piping skid may comprise a pressure build coil mounted on the frame, having a first end in flow communication with the first pipe section at a point between the first end thereof and the valve installed therein, and having a second end in flow communication with the second pipe section at a point between the first end thereof and the valve installed therein. The piping skid may comprise one or more thermal relief devices, each installed on one of the pipe sections at a point between the first end of the pipe section and the valve installed in the pipe section. [0025] The piping skid may further include either or both of [0026] (5) a third pipe section mounted on the frame and having a first end, a second end, and a valve disposed between the first and the second end, wherein the first end is in flow communication with the bottom nozzle of the cryogenic liquid storage tank and is adapted to discharge cryogenic liquid product from the cryogenic liquid storage tank; and [0027] (6) a fourth pipe section mounted on the frame and having a first end, a second end, and a valve disposed between the first and the second end, wherein the first end is adapted for flow communication with the intermediate nozzle of the cryogenic liquid storage tank and is adapted to discharge cryogenic liquid when the valve is open and the liquid level in the tank reaches the predetermined liquid fill level during tank filling, whereby the valve serves as a liquid level try cock. [0028] The piping skid may comprises an alternative fourth pipe section mounted on the frame and having a first end, a second end, and a valve disposed between the first and the second end, wherein the first end is adapted for flow communication with the top of a cryogenic liquid storage tank and the second end is open to the atmosphere, whereby the fourth pipe section and valve are adapted to vent the cryogenic liquid storage tank when the valve is open. [0029] The piping skid may include a telemetry gauge system mounted on the frame and adapted to generate and transmit a signal that is proportional to the liquid level cryogenic liquid storage tank. Each of at least the top nozzle and the bottom nozzle of the cryogenic liquid storage tank may be connected to a piping run that extends to an end at or near ground level, wherein the piping runs are oriented relative to the piping skid such that the end of each respective piping run is adjacent the first end of the first pipe section and the first end of second pipe section, respectively, such that the ends of the piping runs can be readily connected to the first end of the first pipe section and the first end of second pipe section, respectively. [0030] An alternative embodiment of the invention relates to a modularized customer station comprising [0031] (a) a cryogenic storage tank of a type selected from the group consisting of a liquefied atmospheric gas storage tank and a liquefied hydrogen storage tank, wherein the tank has a top end, a bottom end, an interior, a top end, a bottom end, a top nozzle at the top end of the tank, a bottom at the bottom end of the tank, wherein each of the top nozzle and the bottom nozzle of the cryogenic liquid storage tank is connected to a piping run that extends to an end at or near ground level, and wherein the ends define first and second connection locations, respectively; and [0032] (b) a piping skid located adjacent the cryogenic storage tank, the piping skid comprising [0033] (1) a frame; [0034] (2) a first pipe section mounted on the frame and having a first end, a second end, and a valve disposed between the first end and the second end; [0035] (3) a second pipe section mounted on the frame and having a first end, a second end, and a valve disposed between the first end and the second end; and [0036] (4) a tanker fill connection in flow communication with the second end of the first pipe section and the second end of the second pipe section, wherein the tanker fill connection is adapted to receive cryogenic liquid from a cryogenic liquid tanker; wherein the first end of the first pipe section and the first end of the second pipe section are adjacent the first and second connection locations, respectively, of the piping runs on the cryogenic liquid storage tank when the piping skid is placed beside the cryogenic storage tank. [0037] Another alternative embodiment of the invention includes a method of installing a modularized customer station comprising [0038] (a) providing a piping skid including [0039] (1) a frame; [0040] (2) a first pipe section mounted on the frame and having a first end, a second end, and a valve disposed between the first end and the second end; [0041] (3) a second pipe section mounted on the frame and having a first end, a second end, and a valve disposed between the first end and the second end; and [0042] (4) a tanker fill connection in flow communication with the second end of the first pipe section and the second end of the second pipe section, wherein the tanker fill connection is adapted to receive cryogenic liquid from a cryogenic liquid tanker; [0043] (b) providing a cryogenic storage tank of a type selected from the group consisting of a liquefied atmospheric gas storage tank and a liquefied hydrogen storage tank, wherein the tank has a top end, a bottom end, a top nozzle at the top end of the tank, and a bottom nozzle at the bottom end of the tank, wherein the top nozzle is connected to a first piping run that extends to a first end at or near ground level, and wherein the bottom nozzle is connected to a second piping run that extends to a second end at or near ground level; [0044] (c) placing the cryogenic storage tank adjacent the piping skid such that the first end of the first pipe section is adjacent the first end of the first piping run and the first end of the second pipe section is adjacent the second end of the second piping run; and [0045] (d) connecting the first end of the first pipe section to the first end of the first piping run to place the first pipe section in flow communication with the first piping run, and connecting the first end of the second pipe section to the second end of the second piping run to place the second pipe section in flow communication with the second piping run. [0046] Another related embodiment of the invention includes a method of designing a customer station adapted to receive a cryogenic liquid, store the cryogenic liquid, discharge the cryogenic liquid after storage, and either provide the cryogenic liquid as a liquid product to a user or vaporize the cryogenic liquid to provide a gas product to a user, which method comprises: [0047] (a) selecting design parameters including [0048] (a1) defining at least two product types including a first product type consisting of nitrogen, oxygen, or argon and a second product type consisting of hydrogen; [0049] (a2) for each of the product types of (a1) defining a first range of product flow rates and a first pipe diameter for the design of a piping skid and defining a second range of product flow rates and a second pipe diameter for the design of a piping skid; [0050] (a3) for each of the combinations of (a2), further defining the piping types of uninsulated copper, mechanically-insulated copper, uninsulated stainless steel, mechanically insulated stainless steel, and vacuum-jacketed stainless steel; and [0051] (a4) designing standardized piping skids for one or more of the combinations of (a1) and (a2) and (a3), wherein each piping skid is adapted at least to accept liquid from a cryogenic liquid tanker, transfer the liquid to a cryogenic storage tank, and provide piping to withdraw liquid from the cryogenic storage tank for distribution to the user; [0052] (b) defining the product requirements of the user including [0053] (b1) a product type selected from the group consisting of oxygen, nitrogen, argon, and hydrogen; [0054] (b2) a product state selected from gas and liquid; [0055] (b3) a product flow rate or range of product flow rates; and [0056] (b4) a product pressure or range of product pressures; [0057] (c) if the product state of (b2) is gas, selecting a vaporizer to vaporize the cryogenic liquid from storage; [0058] (d) selecting a piping skid design from (a4); [0059] (e) selecting a type of cryogenic liquid storage tank from the group consisting of a liquefied atmospheric gas storage tank and a liquefied hydrogen storage tank; and [0060] (f) designing the customer station comprising a selected piping skid of (d), the cryogenic storage tank of (e), and optionally the vaporizer of (c). [0061] Each piping skid may comprise [0062] (1) a frame; [0063] (2) a first pipe section mounted on the frame and having a first end, a second end, and a valve disposed between the first end and the second end, wherein the first end is adapted for flow communication with the top of a cryogenic liquid storage tank; [0064] (3) a second pipe section mounted on the frame and having a first end, a second end, and a valve disposed between the first end and the second end, wherein the first end is adapted for flow communication with the bottom of a cryogenic liquid storage tank; and [0065] (4) a tanker fill connection in flow communication with the second end of the first pipe section and the second end of the second pipe section, wherein the tanker fill connection is adapted to receive cryogenic liquid from a cryogenic liquid tanker. Continue reading... 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