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/6 Types of Flow Control Valves & What You Need to Know About Them
Regardless of the industry you’re in, choosing the right type of valves for your application is essential for safety and customer satisfaction.
Installing and maintaining the proper valves may even be legally required.
Valves are an integral part of any pipeline system and a significant investment for businesses. It’s important that your engineers understand how all types of valves work.
How do you know which type of valve is best for your system? Keep reading to learn more about the most common types of flow control valves to help you make an informed decision.
Ball valves use a spherical plug design that contains a bored-in passage. You can operate these types of valves manually by using a lever, which also indicates whether the valve is open or shut, or automatically, by using an actuator.
This type of valve gives you excellent control of liquid flow through the valve and a secure shutoff when closed. They are often used in sewage treatment, chemical, and paper plants.
These types of valves prevent the reversal of fluid flow in piping.
Check valves remain open by the flowing fluid. If the fluid reversed, the valve will close. This type of valve includes lift checks and swing checks.
This type of valve is usually used in the oil and gas processing industries, for oil and gas transmission, in water and sewage plants, and in thermal and hydroelectric power stations.
They are commonly used because they are lightweight, easy to operate, they clean themselves, and there isn’t much pressure drop across the valve when it’s open.
Gate valves are best used as isolating or stop valves, where you want full flow or no flow.
When they’re fully opened, the fluid will flow in a straight line and there isn’t a significant drop in pressure because of a low resistance to flow.
Globe valves feature a unique construction designed to make the fluid passing through change direction twice.
They are ideal for throttling and regulating flow with wire drawing and seat erosion. They are cheaper than gate valves but have greater resistance to flow.
These types of valves offer precise control of flow. They feature a sharp pointed disc and a matching seat.
They are often used for chemical feed control services or continuous blowoff.
It’s worth noting that although needle valves can control flow with precision, they are usually capable of handling only relatively low flow rates.
As you can see, the best types of flow control valves for your operation depend on your application.
Having a basic understanding of your options will ensure you make the right choice. Being informed will help you make the best decision.
If you are looking to purchase one or more of these types of flow control valves, check out our products here.
Various valves make it easier for users to maintain and regulate fluid flow in pipelines. There are various types of valves, and each of them serves a different purpose that varies from pressure range, shutdown, and durability, along with the type of fluid that moves through these pipelines.
So in this article, we will discuss mainly used valves such as gate valves and ball valves along with various factors of differentiations.
Gate Valve
The gate valve is a special type of valve in which a slider is placed between two pipelines to control fluid flow through them. A knob is placed on top of the junction, and it is joined with a slider on the rear end. The slider is lifted when the knob is turned, and fluid starts flowing.
Various types of gate valves are listed below based on their material.
Ball Valve
The ball valve is a special type of valve in which a ball is placed between two pipelines to control fluid flow through them. A handle is placed on top of the junction, and it is joined with the ball on the rear end. When the handle moves to 90 degrees, the ball opens the sight of flow, and fluid starts flowing.
Various types of ball valves are listed below based on their material.
Factors Of Differentiation
There are various factors of differentiation between both types of valves on their functions.
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It is tough for users to guess the state of the valve from the direct line of sight in the gate valve, whereas, in ball valves, users can easily detect the open or close state of the valve in the direct line of sight.
The gate valves are open for direct effect when it comes in contact with the fluid flowing in the valve, whereas the ball valve comes in contact with different sections when exposed to the fluid, which reduces the chances of corrosion.
Gate valves are used for pipelines greater in size than 2” whereas pipelines with less than 2” ball valves turn out to be most efficient.
Gate valve uses full 360 degrees movement to close the flow of fluid, whereas the ball valve requires the least of 90 degrees movement, which blocks fluid flow.
Instant opening and closing of the ball valve can result in the situation known as water hammer, whereas in gate valve time taken to open and close valve reduces the chance of water hammer.
The ball valve is more expensive than the gate valve, but it is worth the investment.
Installation Space
The ball valve requires comparatively more space for handle movement, whereas the gate valve requires small space as the knob is placed on its top.
The gate valve is open to leakages, whereas the ball valve seals tight valves, which does not allow any form of water leakage.
How To Choose Valves
Various factors have to be kept in mind when you plan to buy a valve.
The flow of a valve is measured by the volume of fluid that passes through it every second, so valves with bigger diameters can allow more volume of water to pass.
Most valves have two ports which are input and output ports, whereas ball valves can accommodate more than 2 input and output.
Gate valves use a slider that blocks the flow at either port. When users try to block the flow, then the velocity of flow reduces and keeps on decreasing rapidly. The flow is restricted instantly in the ball valve, and velocity reduces from a greater number to zero.
The gate valve has various chances of corrosion and leakages, but the ball valve completely restricts the flow and ensures a tight seal. So inflammable materials of corrosive materials, it is better to use a ball valve for managing their flow.
Both ball and gate valves can easily operate within the normal pressure parameters, whereas gate valves are effective against the high-pressure flow. The gate valve has a slow closing speed as it takes time to roll down the slider, reducing the chances of water hammer.
The ball valve is expensive to set up because it requires a strong and durable ball to be placed between the connections, and it requires high maintenance costs, which makes it an overall expensive setup.
Application
Each type of valve suits different purposes and industries, and some of them are listed below for each type of valve.
There are basic uses of such valves in core industries based on the working and features of these valves. But in some industries, there is a need for both types of valves, so a hybrid model is developed in which a certain section of unit-specific valve is used based on its uses.
Conclusion
Valves allow the users to maintain control over fluid flow through pipelines and make it easier for users to seal the flow at the time of emergency. So when you have to choose a valve for your massive production unit, you need to consider various factors that would make it easier for you to enhance your production.
So in this article, we discussed differentiation between two common types of valves: ball valve and gate valve. We differentiated these valves based on their working and applications.
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