Conventionally, when petroleum oil or the like produced from a subsea oil field or the like is to be loaded into a transport tanker from a floating facility (a base) on the sea where the petroleum oil or the like is stored or when the petroleum oil or the like is unloaded to a tank or the like on the ground, a floating flexible tube is connected to the tanker, and the petroleum oil or the like is conveyed through the flexible tube. In general, a flexible tube formed of resin is used for conveying petroleum oil or the like of ordinary temperature. As such a resin flexible tube for fluid transport, there is known a flexible fluid conveying tube which has a reinforcement layer, a heat insulating layer, a waterproof layer, etc., provided on the outer periphery of an inner tube formed of resin (Patent Document 1).
Meanwhile, natural gas or the like produced from gas fields on land or in adjacent sea is liquefied and stored at a base. When liquefied natural gas (hereinafter referred to as “LNG”) is loaded onto a transport tanker, an articulated loading arm or the like provided at a coastal base is used. Examples of a base for receiving LNG include an LNG receiving base system and an LNG shipping base system which are described in Patent Document 2 and in which a loading arm scheme is employed (Patent Document 2).
Moreover, there is known an LNG leakage monitoring apparatus which monitors leakage of LNG from equipment connected to an LNG tank by use of an optical fiber installed along a liquid guide tube and a liquid collection pit (Patent Document 3).
Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (kokai) No. H5-180375
Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (kokai) No. H5-65718
Patent Document 3: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (kokai) No. H10-206240
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds