Vapor barrier structure
OwnerJoseph Riordaninventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A vapor barrier for flammable liquid storage tanks provides a gas impermeable layer for covering the surface of a flammable liquid stored within a conventional flammable liquid storage tank, a tanker, a vessel, or the like. The vapor barrier is formed from a plurality of spherical buoyant members. Each spherical buoyant member has a heat-resistant core or shell, a heat-reactive intumescent or flame retardant layer formed on an outer surface of the heat-resistant core, an antistatic and oil-phobic layer formed on an outer surface of the heat-reactive intumescent layer, and an adhesive layer on an outer surface of the heat-reactive intumescent layer. The vapor barrier may further be used with liquid storage tanks in which separation between the liquid and vapor phases is beneficial to prevent oxidation or other undesirable reactions.
Claims27
A vapor barrier for flamable liquid storage tanks, comprising a plurality of buoyant members, at least some of the plurality of buoyant members having a heat-resistant core, a median layer formed on an outer surface of the heat-resistant core, and an antistatic layer formed on an outer surface of the median layer.
A flammable liquid storage tank having, a vapor barrier, comprising:
- a hollow housing having an open upper end, the housing defining a storage tank configured for receiving, a volume of flammable liquid therein;
- and
- a vapor barrier having a plurality of buoyant members, at least some of the buoyant members having a heat-resistant core, a median layer formed on an outer surface of the heat-resistant core, and an antistatic layer formed on an outer surface of the median layer, the vapor barrier floating on and forming a surface covering the flammable liquid.
A flammable liquid storage tank having a vapor barrier, comprising:
- a hollow housing having an open upper end, the housing defining a storage tank adapted for receiving a volume of flammable liquid therein;
- a floating roof having an upper, open interior region defined therein and a lower surface adapted for floating on a surface of the volume of flammable liquid;
- and
- a vapor barrier disposed within the upper, open interior region of the floating roof, the vapor barrier having a plurality of buoyant members, each of the buoyant members having a heat-resistant core, a median layer formed on an outer surface of the heat-resistant core, and an antistatic layer formed on an outer surface of the median layer, the buoyant members configured for adhering one buoyant member to another and floating together as a solid body and forming a surface covering for the flammable liquid.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.