Advantages And Disadvantages Of Ball Valves

Ball Valve plays a vital role in daily life as they are used day to day basis, say it from bicycles or automobiles, jet airplanes or any industry. There are different sizes and shapes of valves and each has various dimensions, functions and applications to it.

The industry has numerous use of the Ball valves and in order to ensure that these valves remains functional during the operation, it is safe to maintain it before it gets corroded away. Regular cleaning and lubrication to ensure the smooth functionality is key to their life span.
These valves are categorized into five general bodies which includes three piece bodies, two piece bodies ,single body top entry, a split body and welded. The following qualities make them an excellent choice for controlling various applications and sometimes they are preferred over any other valves which has less control in the throttling applications.

Advantages Of Ball Valves

• They provide leak-proof service,

• Open and close quickly,

• Compared to gate valves, they have very small dimensions,

• Compared to gate valves, they are lighter,

• The multi designed flexibility does not exist in the Gate or Globe valve, and hence it lowers the amount of valves needed,

• These valves are manufactured in different sizes and shapes providing flexibility in selection,

• The high quality valves provide safe service under high temperature and high pressure conditions, and

• Compared to other valves, they are controlled with less force.

The main disadvantages of these valves are as follows:

• The position of the valve handle is rotated,

• Could not be used for throttling, and

• These valves with drive mechanism should be installed upright.

At Boson Engineers, we have a wide range of valves that are manufactured according to customers specific needs which includes the ball valves that are designed using the latest technology and is suitable for crucial operations. Our valves are easily accessible and can be maintained easily with low maintenance cost, high quality and are resistant to corrosion.

Strainer Valve: a basic guide to know it better

Strainer valve can be defined as a pipe fitting through which liquid is passed for purification, filtering or separation from solid matter; anything used to strain a liquid; any device functioning as a sieve or filter used to prevent solid bodies from mixing in a liquid stream or flow line. Strainers arrest pipeline debris such as scale, rust, jointing compound and weld metal in pipelines, protecting equipment and processes from their harmful effects, thus reducing downtime and maintenance.

A Y Strainer valve takes its name from its configuration and is most commonly used in pressurized lines, gas or liquid. They can also be used in suction or vacuum conditions. Y-Strainers are intended for applications where small amounts of solid particulate are expected and where clean-out will be infrequent. If solids are flushed easily from the screen, and fluid can be exhausted to atmosphere, a blow-down valve on the drain port will allow clean-out without removal of the screen and without interrupting the process flow.

A Y-Strainer has the advantage of being installed in either a horizontal or vertical position. Obviously, in both cases, the screening element must be on the down side of the strainer body so that the entrapped material can be properly collected in it.

In horizontal steam or gas piping, Y type strainer should be installed in such a manner so that the pocket is in the horizontal plane. This stops water from collecting in the pocket which can cause erosion and affect heat transfer processes.

In liquid systems, the pocket should point vertically downwards. This ensures that the removed debris is not drawn back into the upstream pipework during low flow conditions.

Although it is recommended to install strainers in horizontal lines, this is not always possible, and they can be installed in vertical pipelines if the flow is downwards, in which case the debris is naturally directed into the pocket.

What is Gate Valve?

A gate valve can be defined as a type of valve that used a gate or wedge type disk and the disk moves perpendicular to flow to start or stop the fluid flow in piping.

A gate valve is the most common type of valve used in any process plant. It is a linear motion valve used to start or stop fluid flow. In service, these valves are either in a fully open or fully closed position.

When the gate valve is fully open, the disk of a gate valve is completely removed from the flow. Therefore virtually no resistance to flow. Due to this very little pressure drops when fluid passes through a gate valve.

To achieve proper sealing, when the valve is fully closed, 360° surface contact is required between disk and seats.

Gate valves should not be used for regulation or throttling of flow because accurate control is not possible. The high velocity of the flow in the partially open valve may cause erosion of the disc and seating surfaces and also creates vibration and noise.