Many appliances provide vital functions that most of us don’t realize exist due to being out of sight and out of reach of most. Mechanical parts are used every day in many devices and any small flaw could render them obsolete; an example would be ball valves which can be found across various industries including mining, healthcare, food processing, oil & gas production as well as homes. We offers an impressive selection of valves including radiator valves, brass ball valves globe valves gate valves solenoid valves check valves made of brass as well as relief valves designed specifically for pressure air vents, boiler controls, pressure relief vents and relief air vents from companies like McDonnell Miller, Spence Spirax-Sarco Hoffman Specialty Danfoss Asco Honeywell Watts Regulator Powers Conbraco and Kunkle.
What is a Ball Valve?
Ball valves are flow control devices used to manage and regulate liquid flows through them, such as gasoline and other fluids with high pressure flow rates. A shut-off valve serves as a guideline when controlling high-pressure flows such as gasoline or gas; its ball uses hollow, perforated pivoting balls for this function.
As soon as the handle is turned and the valve closed, its solid ball creates an obstruction and seal that keeps contents within. Ball valves are made to be sturdy yet long-term durable making them easy to repair for both personal and industrial shut-off needs alike. They’re an ideal choice when used for hydrocarbon process applications and used to throttle gasses/vapor.
Common Types Of Ball Valves
Standard Port Ball Valve
A typical Standard Port Ball Valve usually flows at a lower volume than its pipe diameter, such as 12” for which its bore diameter will usually be 1 size smaller, two and three sizes smaller for sizes 14-24″, in NB respectively; greater diameter pipes would see their bore sizes decrease accordingly. When closed fully, this could restrict fluid flow within the pipe when fully shut. They tend to be more affordable than other ball valves while lasting longer and having increased pressure drop. Ideal use would include pairing these standard ball Valves with higher flow coefficient coefficient.
Full Port Ball Valve
Full Port Ball Valves, also referred to as Full Bore Valves, feature an over-sized ball with an exact borehole connection from its pipe directly to the valve. A full port or bore valve does not cause frictional loss and allows pigging of fluid for easier mechanical cleaning; its weight makes this type of valve expensive due to being heavier than regular ball valves; but full Port valves with full ports are best used to regulate steady flow conditions with high coefficient conditions – the ultimate flow controllers!
V Port Ball Valve
V Port Ball Valves have an orifice or ball in the form of an inverted V shape that makes closing and opening easier to control, as their flow patterns can be described as relatively linear. Furthermore, these valves do not possess boreholes – instead their floating ball compresses when opened before rebounding back to its size when shut, providing even tighter seals than its competitors.
Multi Port Ball Valve
A multi-port ball valve is one of the three-way or four-way ball valves with several connectors to enable fluids to be directed in different directions if necessary. It typically features either an L to T shaped hole located between its ports for connecting or disconnecting either one port’s side, but cannot create connections between these ports themselves; T valves, however, allow connection of any port in any way as needed; L valves do not allow this.
True Union Ball Valve
Trunnion ball valves feature two shafts on either side of the ball that face each other to support and hold its segmented ball and reduce friction between its parts, thus decreasing friction within. Pins are used to secure it. Trunnion ball valves are often utilized in systems with higher velocity and pressure (about 600 psi or higher). They also come equipped with double unions at both ends so they can easily be pulled from pipe systems for maintenance or replacement purposes, unlike regular ball valves which typically cannot.
Manually Operated Ball Valve
Manual ball valves are typically controlled manually through an external handle on the pipe. Due to their simple and minimalistic design, manual controlled ball valves are easy to use; only taking one quarter turn to open or close them. Unfortunately, as these manual operated ball valves tend to close quickly when shut quickly they pose the risk that water could suddenly surge through them and flood downstream pipes.
Motorized Ball Valve
Ball valves equipped with motors are often found in large manufacturing plants and automated factories, typically powered by electricity and operating with an electronically-controlled motor positioned over each valve for closing and opening purposes.
Sanitary Ball Valve
Ball valves come in various dimensions and configurations that can be operated manually, electrically, or mechanically. Sanitary ball valves can be found across industries that need sanitation such as food and health, beverage manufacturing, pharmaceutical, or cosmetic manufacturing industries; typically used for applications where sanitization is essential such as beverage manufacturing or pharmaceutical. Sanitary ball valves feature smooth surfaces which reduce dust build-up.