Flanged Ball Valve: A Special Type of Valve
A ball valve is a type of isolating valve that is meant to open and close the process media flow through the piping system. Ball valves are manufactured following different designs and standard materials. Such designs and materials affect greatly the scope of application for ball valves. A flanged ball valve refers to a ball valve designed to have flanged ends. It falls into the end-entry valve classification, and is mainly used for shutoff applications for mostly hydraulic circuits. A flanged type ball valve opens and closes the operating fluid flow completely when needed, and is most effective in providing positive leak-tight closure. It is generally not suitable for regulating and throttling purposes.
Flanged ball valve products can be made of various standard materials like carbon steel, stainless steel. The materials mentioned are most used because their tolerance to temperature and corrosion resistant properties. However, ball valves made of polymer materials are shown to outlast other kinds when used in aggressive applications.
Flange ball valves are utilized in wide range of fluid and gas applications. Some of the gas types flanged ball valves usually handle are natural gas, propane-butane, lighting gas and biogas. In addition, these ball valves are effective in supervising the flow oxygen, water, steam and other corrosive and non-corrosive liquids. Some of the industrial settings that used flanged ball valves are energy supply and generation plants, pipeline construction, waste water plants, steel work facilities and power stations.
The main parts of flanged ball valves include body, cover, ball, seat and stem. The cover is equipped with flanges mainly used for installing the valve into the pipeline system. A flanged ball valve can be operated manually by positioning its lever in certain angles for open and closed positions. This type of ball valve can also operate through the use of electric or pneumatic actuators. The dimensions of the valve flanges for actuator installation can vary but it is usually in accordance to certain standards such as the ISO 5211. The right actuator size for a flanged ball valve should be according to the maximum service pressure drop through the ball.
A flanged ball valve is a crucial component of a process flow. If the ball valve fails to provide absolute shut-off, leaking occurs and can lead to corrosion. The occurrence of corrosion in the flow system can greatly damage not only the equipment but also the infrastructure and environment. Flanged ball valves that fail to perform well forces unscheduled maintenance and increase operating costs. Thus, high performing flanged type ball valves are those that are reliable, easy to maintain, and can last over a long period of time.
A high quality flanged ball valve unit is manufactured to tolerate the temperature and pressure created by certain service liquid flows. When it comes to installation, a number of flanged ball valve models can be installed into the piping system in any positions. The best ball valve products in the market require few adjustments once it is installed. There are expected to be simple, easy to operate, compact, and can be used in majority flow control applications. These devices offer quick-turn operations, and requires minimum pressure drop.
