A ball valve is a form of quarter-turn valve which uses a hollow, perforated and pivoting ball to control flow through it. It is open when the ball's hole is in line with the flow and closed when it is pivoted 90-degrees by the valve handle. The handle lies flat in alignment with the flow when open, and is perpendicular to it when closed, making for easy visual confirmation of the valve's status. The shut position 1/4 turn could be in either CW or CCW direction. (S = SHUT, O = OPEN).
Ball valves are designed to moderate high volumes, high temperatures and high pressures.
It is a quarter-turn valve that is composed of a valve body and a “ball” that is seated in the center of the valve body and which has a port to direct flow. It also has a set of rounded seats that create a seal when the ball is in the closed position. A lever-style handle is used to turn the position of the port in the ball in order to control or shut off the flow of contents through a pipe system. Since its design is simple, ball valves are extremely durable and easy to repair.
One of the major benefits to using a ball valve in a pipe system is if the valve does happen to fail, it is not necessary to remove the valve from the line in order to repair it. This makes it a popular choice in closed-line systems such as oil pipelines, lines containing corrosives or chemicals and hydraulic applications.
The style of the ball valve that is required and the material that it should be composed of will be determined by the application. Some of the materials commonly used to construct ball valves include stainless steel, brass and even PVC. It is vital to let your valve supplier know what will be flowing through the ball valve before you install it in order to ensure compatibility.
The ball valve's ease of operation, repair, and versatility lend it to extensive industrial use, supporting pressures up to 1,000 bar (100 MPa; 15,000 psi) and temperatures up to 752 °F (400 °C), depending on design and materials used. Sizes typically range from 0.2 to 48 inches (5.1 to 1,219.2 mm). Valve bodies are made of metal, plastic, or metal with a ceramic; floating balls are often chrome plated for durability. One disadvantage of a ball valve is that they trap water in the center cavity while in the closed position. In the event of a freeze, the sides can crack due to expansion of ice forming. Some means of insulation or heat tape in this situation will usually prevent damage. Another option for cold climates is the "freeze tolerant ball valve". This style of ball valve incorporates a freeze plug in the side so in the event of a freeze up, the freeze plug ruptures (acts as a sacrificial disk), thus making for an easy repair. Now instead of replacing the whole valve, just screw in a new freeze plug.
Ball valves in sizes up to 2 inch generally come in single piece, two or three piece designs. One piece ball valves are almost always reduced bore, are relatively inexpensive and generally are throw-away. Two piece ball valves are generally slightly reduced (or standard) bore, they can be either throw-away or repairable. The 3 piece design allows for the center part of the valve containing the ball, stem & seats to be easily removed from the pipeline. This facilitates efficient cleaning of deposited sediments, replacement of seats and gland packings, polishing out of small scratches on the ball, all this without removing the pipes from the valve body. The design concept of a three piece valve is for it to be repairable.
Full port
A full port or more commonly known full bore ball valve has an over-sized 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 and more expensive so this is only used where free flow is required, for example in pipelines that require pigging.
Reduced port or reduced bore
In Reduced port (more commonly known as reduced bore) ball valves, flow through the valve is one pipe size smaller than the valve's pipe size resulting in flow area being smaller than pipe. As the flow discharge remains constant and is equal to area of flow (A) times velocity (V), {\displaystyle A_{1}V_{1}=A_{2}V_{2}} the velocity increases with reduced area of flow.
V port
A V port ball valve has either a 'v' shaped ball or a 'v' shaped seat. This allows for linear and even equal percentage flow characteristics. 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 might damage a standard valve. When machined correctly these are excellent control valves, offering superior leakage performance.
Cavity filler
Many industries encounter problem with residues in the ball valve. Where the fluid is meant for human consumption, residues may also be health hazard, and when where the fluid changes from time to time contamination of one fluid with another may occur. Residues arise because in the half open position of the ball valve a gap is created between the ball bore and the body in which fluid can be trapped. To avoid the fluid getting into this cavity, the cavity has to be plugged, which can be done by extending the seats in such a manner that it is always in contact with the ball. This type of ball valve is known as Cavity Filler Ball Valve.
There are a few types of ball valves related to the attachment and lateral movement of the ball:
Trunnion, floating and actuated
A trunnion ball valve has additional mechanical anchoring of the ball at the top and the bottom, suitable for larger and higher pressure valves (say, above 10 cm and 40 bars). A floating ball valve is one where the ball is not held in place by a trunnion. In normal operation, this will cause the ball to float downstream slightly. This causes the seating mechanism to compress under the ball pressing against it. Furthermore, in some types, in the event of some force causing the seat mechanism to dissipate (such as extreme heat from fire outside the valve), the ball will float all the way to metal body which is designed to seal against the ball providing a somewhat failsafe design.
Manually operated ball valves 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, hydraulically or motor 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.
Multiport
Three- and four-way have an L- or T-shaped hole through the middle. The different combinations of flow are shown in the figure. It is easy to see that a T valve can connect any pair of ports, or all three, together, but the 45 degree position which might disconnect all three leaves no margin for error. The L valve can connect the center port to either side port, or disconnect all three, but it cannot connect the side ports together.
Multi-port ball valves with 4 ways, or more, are also commercially available, the inlet way often being orthogonal to the plane of the outlets. For special applications, such as driving air-powered motors from forward to reverse, the operation is performed by rotating a single lever four-way valve. The 4-way ball valve has two L-shaped ports in the ball that do not interconnect, sometimes referred to as an "×" port.
Applications
Ball valves can be used in transmission and storage, gas processing, industrial applications, and many more. They provide reliable leak protection, which is especially beneficial in gas applications. Ball valves have low pressure drop and can open and close quickly. A variety of construction materials, trim options, and designs make them extremely versatile.
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