89Oil and gas engineers mostly encounter ball valves so, if you’re one, you must be aware of ball valves like ¾ ball valves. They are widely used in the oil and gas industry for different purposes. It is control the flow of oil for upstream applications. They control the flow of gas and oil in midstream applications and protect the equipment in this way. And lastly, they refine crude oil for downstream applications. Soft seat materials like nylon, synthetic rubbers, Delrin, and fluorinated polymers are used by ball valves that provide excellent seal properties. The critical requirements of ball valves consist of a variety of ports, port arrangements, port connections, the size of the valve, the valve body materials, the seat seal, and stem packing.
Construction of Ball Valves
Besides the specifications stated above, the main components or parts of the ball valves are the valve body, round plug, and seats. These patterns are generally used to produce ball valves that are venture port, full port, and reduced port. The inside diameter of the full-port and the pipe are the same. In the reduced and venture ports, the port is usually smaller than the line size. By using bolted packing glands and O-rings, stem seals are accomplished. The ball valves and the plug valves have similar lubricant seal systems.
Directions of Flow
Depending on the number of valve ports and seat seats, the ball valve may be unidirectional, bi-directional, or multi-directional. Due to this reason, the ball valves, like ¾ ball valves, are usually named 2-way, 3-way, 4-way, 50way multi-ports. If a 2-way ball valve consists of one valve seat, it is termed unidirectional with the flow path already indicated. It is even possible for a 3-way, 4-way, or 5-way ball valve to be unidirectional when the path is determined as one consisting of one valve seat. Now, if a 2-way ball valve is provided with two valve seats on the upstream side and the other on the downstream side, then such a ball valve will be known as bidirectional. There is no need for several valves in multi-port valves as the valves permit flow in more than one direction.
Body Arrangements
Ball valves like a ¾ ball valves Tool station are produced using many different body arrangements such as top entry, side entry, split body, and three-piece body. The available valve endings are known by the butt endings, flanged, threaded, socket welding, or brazing ends. Both low and high-pressure classifications are used to produce ball valves. Frequent advancements occur in the manufacturing and designing of ball valves, which has made it possible to use them in high temperature and pressure applications.
Advantages of Ball Valves
Ball valves have gone through many advancements throughout the years because they have many significant advantages. Some of the advantages will be shortly stated as below:
- Provides bubble-tight service eliminating any air bubble formation and providing air-tight seals.
- Easy and fast to open and Close
- Lesser in size than a gate valve.
- Lightweight as compared to a gate valve.
- Consists of Mukti-port designs, which makes these valves more flexible than globe or gate valves. It also decreases the requirement for the number of valves.
- Ball valves have many different designs which offer the flexibility of choosing your required one.
- Ball Valves like ¾ ball valves Screwfix are appropriate for clean and slurry applications.
- Their high quality makes them the best to be used in high-temperature and high-pressure applications.
- less force is required to actuate ball valves than the force required to actuate gate or globe valves.
Disadvantages of Ball Valves
- Ball valves are not appropriate for throttling applications.
- Sometimes when ball valves are used in slurry applications, some particles are suspended, which may get locked in body cavities leading to leakages, wear and tear, or valve failures.
Common Applications
- Air, gaseous, and liquid packages require a bubble-tight provider.
- Low-point drains and excessive-factor vents in liquid, gaseous, and different fluid offerings.
- Instrument root valves.
- Cooling water and feedwater systems.
- Steam services.
Operational Temperatures
As mentioned previously, ball valves use soft-seat materials like nylon, synthetic rubbers, Delrin, and fluorinated polymers that give them excellent sealing features. If fluorinated polymer seats are used, they can operate with 450 to 500 F (270 to 260 C) temperatures. They made of graphite, the service temperature is 1000 F (538 C) or even higher. It made with metal backing seats are the best to be used in fire-safe applications.
