What is ball valve
4 min read
ball valve
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.
Types of ball valve
- Full port
- Reduced port
- V port
- Cavity filler
- Multiport
Full port ball valve
A full port or more commonly known as a full bore ball valve has an oversized 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, making it suitable for applications where free flow is required, such as pipelines requiring pigging.
Advantages of ball valve
- Quick quarter turn on-off operation
- Durable
- Simple design
- Easy maintenance
- Wide range of sizes
Disadvantages of ball valve
- Poor throttling characteristics
- Slurry or viscous liquid can cause ball valves to fail
- High pressure drop
Applications of ball valve
- Air, gaseous, and liquid applications
- High-pressure applications
- High-temperature applications
- Corrosive services
- Slurries
Conclusion
Ball valves are durable, performing well after many cycles, and reliable, closing securely even after long periods of disuse. These qualities make them an excellent choice for shutoff and control applications, where they are often preferred to gates and globe valves, but they lack their fine control in throttling applications.