Ball control valves, derived from ball valves, operate with a quarter-turn motion to regulate flow rate. Their trim is tailored to suit specific temperature and fluid requirements. These valves are adept at high-pressure applications, offering precise flow control. Commonly employed in industries like petroleum and natural gas production, they excel in applications requiring accurate fluid flow management. Due to their large flow passage, ball control valves offer high flow coefficients compared to other valve types. With their quarter-turn operation, they control fluid flow at very small openings and can open at high differential pressures. They also help maintain low fluid velocity, reducing noise and vibration within the pipeline. Additionally, these valves provide tight and fast shut-off in emergency situations. Ball control valves ensure excellent flow characteristics, delivering accurate and reliable control across a broad range of applications, such as in chemical, power, and oil industries, for both gas and liquid services.
High Capacity (Cv): The unrestricted flow passage in the fully open position provides high Cv, combined with compact size and light weight compared to globe valves of the same size. This offers a smaller, lighter valve, actuator, and pipeline supports, resulting in cost savings compared to standard linear valve solutions.
High Rangeability: Special trim design ensures high rangeability, precise modulation, and characterization, maintaining flow control within the limits set by industry standards. CFD calculations and lab testing based on specific flow conditions are used to optimize valve performance.
Tight Shut-Off: When necessary, tight shut-off is achieved using a well-designed on-off mechanism with spring-loaded, pressure-assisted floating seats and trunnion-mounted ball. This design ensures tightness, even with metal seats, and offers a double block and bleed feature for maintenance and cavity draining.
Sensitive Control: Spring-loaded seat design ensures continuous contact between the seat and ball, preventing debris from sticking to the ball. Trunnion construction and low-friction bearings reduce operating torque, ensuring smooth fluid control over the valve's service life.
Compact Design: The construction of the body and stem ensures great resistance to piping forces and eliminates backlash, leading to a more robust and durable valve.
Low Emission Stem Packing: Special stem sealing designs provide low emissions, meeting Fugitive Emission standards. Advanced solutions are available for very low emission requirements.
Fast Operating Time: The quarter-turn design allows fast actuating devices, ensuring emergency operations can be performed in seconds for improved plant safety.
Fire-Safe Design: Ball control valves are available with fire-safe certifications such as API 6FA, API 607, and BS 6755 part 2, with fire-safe test certificates available upon request.
Main Components of Electric Ball Valve: An electric ball valve primarily consists of the ball, valve stem, valve seat, valve body, and electric actuator. The ball is connected to the electric actuator via the valve stem. When the actuator rotates, the ball rotates accordingly, enabling the opening, closing, and adjustment of the valve.
Electric Ball Valve Working Principle: The torque provided by the electric actuator drives the ball to rotate, aligning the valve passage with the direction of the medium's flow or positioning it perpendicular to it. This allows the switching and regulation of the medium. The ball typically rotates 90 degrees and is connected to the electric actuator through the valve stem, ensuring control over the fluid flow direction.
Electric Ball Valve Structural Features: Electric ball valves are characterized by a compact structure, reliable sealing, and easy operation. The sealing surface and ball surface are usually in a closed state, making them resistant to erosion by the medium. They are easy to operate and maintain. The valve body can be designed as a single piece or modular, accommodating various installation requirements.
Electric Ball Valve Working Medium: Electric ball valves are suitable for common media such as water, solvents, acids, and natural gas, as well as challenging environments involving media like oxygen, hydrogen peroxide, methane, and ethylene. Depending on the medium, different materials for the electric ball valve can be selected, including stainless steel, cast iron, and copper alloys.
Electric Ball Valve Application Fields: Electric ball valves are widely used in industries such as chemical, pharmaceutical, food processing, oil, and natural gas. They are particularly advantageous in applications that require rapid response and high sealing performance.
A pneumatic ball valve is a type of valve that combines a ball valve with a pneumatic actuator. Pneumatic actuators offer relatively fast actuation speeds, typically achieving a switching speed of 0.05 seconds per operation. This is why pneumatic ball valves are often referred to as "pneumatic quick-shutoff ball valves". Pneumatic ball valves are usually equipped with various accessories, such as solenoid valves, air source treatment units, limit switches, and positioners, to enable both local control and remote centralized control. By using a control panel, the valve's opening and closing can be adjusted without the need for manual operation, saving labor, time, and enhancing safety.
Pneumatic ball valves are primarily used to control the flow, pressure, and direction of fluids, serving the purpose of cutting off the medium flow. They only require compressed air to drive the pneumatic actuator, using minimal torque to achieve fast opening and closing of the ball valve. The internal cavity of the valve body is designed to be completely symmetric, offering very low resistance and a straight-through flow path. While traditionally used for on/off control, pneumatic ball valves have evolved with technology to include throttling and flow control functions, gradually replacing other types of valves and offering more advantages.
Pneumatic ball valves work by directing compressed air into the pneumatic actuator, which drives the ball to rotate from 0 to 90 degrees, controlling the valve's opening and closing. As the pneumatic actuator operates, the ball rotates around the valve body's center line, with a circular hole or channel aligned along its axis. When the ball rotates 90°, the valve is completely closed. A very small amount of torque is required to securely close the valve, enabling quick shutoff functionality.
Preparation Before Installation: Before installation, remove the protective covers from both ends of the flange. The valve should be flushed and cleaned while fully open. A full system test should be conducted according to the specified signals (electrical or pneumatic) to ensure no damage from transportation vibrations, confirming the valve is in proper condition before installation.
Cleaning Before Pipe Connection: Before connecting the valve to the pipeline, the pipeline must be cleaned and all debris removed, as impurities could damage the valve seat and ball.
Avoiding Damage to the Actuator: During installation, avoid using the actuator part of the valve as a lifting point to prevent damage to the actuator and accessories.
Installation Position Requirements: The valve should be installed in a horizontal or vertical orientation within the pipeline. Nearby pipelines should be free from sagging or external forces. Misalignment of the pipeline can be corrected using pipe supports or brackets.
Flange Connection: After connecting to the pipeline, use the specified torque and cross-tightening method for flange connection bolts to ensure a secure connection.
