• Types of Ball Valves

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Types of Ball Valves

  • 04 22, 2019
A ball valve is a device with a spherical closure unit that provides on/off control of flow. The sphere has a port through the center. When the valve is positioned such that the port is aligned in the same direction as the pipeline, it is in open position and fluid can flow through it. When rotated 90 degrees, the port becomes perpendicular to the flow path, meaning the valve is closed and the fluid cannot pass through.
 
There are four general body styles of ball valves: single body, split body, top entry, and welded. There are six general types of ball valves: full port, standard port, reduced port, v-port, trunnion, and manually operated.
 
A full port ball valve has an oversized ball so that the hole in the ball is the same size as the pipeline resulting in lower friction loss. Flow is unrestricted, but the valve is larger. 

A standard port ball valve is usually less expensive, but has a smaller ball and a correspondingly smaller port. Flow through this valve is one pipe size smaller than the valve's pipe size resulting in slightly restricted flow. 
 
A reduced port valve, also known as a reduced-bore, ball valve is a valve in which the bore is reduced to one or two nominal sizes lower. This provides a more restricted flow path, generally resulting in higher energy losses.

A v-port ball valve has either a v-shaped ball or a v-shaped seat. This allows the orifice to be opened and closed in a more controlled manner with a closer to linear flow characteristic. When the valve is in the closed position and opening is commenced, the small end of the v is opened first allowing stable flow control during this stage. This type of design requires a generally more robust construction due to higher velocities of the fluids, which would quickly damage a standard valve. 

A trunnion ball valve has a mechanical means of anchoring the ball at the top and the bottom, this design is usually applied on larger and higher pressure valves.

A manually operated ball valve can be closed quickly and thus there is a danger of water hammer. Some ball valves are equipped with an actuator that may be pneumatically or motor (electric) operated. These valves can be used either for on/off or flow control. A pneumatic flow control valve is also equipped with a positioner which transforms the control signal into actuator position and valve opening accordingly.

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