Fracking Valve Test Bunker Design

[tsgeng]

I have been approched by a manufacterer of fracking valves. They need a test bunker designed to withstand 30,000 psi approximately 3" from the surface. They want to use cmu fully reinforced and grouted with 2xmembers inside the test bunker. But how would I calculate the force that is applied to the 2x members then ultimately applied to the cmu wall?

 

[TXStructural]

The 2x wood would act as a buffer and catch shrapnel, without providing structural resistance. CIP concrete would probably be a better solution, since you could more closely space reinforcement, providing better blast integrity of the wall. That said, the energy you would be absorbing and resisting should be mainly from the impact of small shrapnel, if the test is properly designed. By properly designed, I mean that the pressurization has to be through a proper hydrotest unit which would necessarily limit the available energy in the event of a failure. The likely failure mode in this case is valve rupture without generating flying debris.

If they want to use a frack pump to supply the pressure, they aren't testing it for safety, they are proofing it. An entirely different bunker design, and one that would require knowing the size and mass of the unit, pressurized volume and elasticity of the system, the known failure modes, etc. Otherwise, it's all a guess.

 

[tsgeng]

Yea exactly...it is not flying debris but just 30,000psi of a pin hole leak through a flange. With this in mind, is there any way to properly design? Or does a trial and error test have to be done to determine what thickness can withstand 30,000psi.