Types of valves

Types of valves

- Categories : Hydraulic Master blog

There are as many types of valves as you can imagine to use them. We can spot valves in every branch of industry. They are so needed that even machines responsible for valves production are equipped with valves.

Speaking in short terms every type of valve is just a mechanical device which controls special fluid or air by opening and closing itself to produce power and for example control other devices. We can spot various valve types in almost every kind of industry because they are the most effective solution to help produce large quantities of energy which control other machines.

      

Each type of valve is made of hardened metals. This helps ensure the best standards and avoid unnecessary accidents. Valves must be specially reinforced to provide the best standards in the industry and sometimes produce huge amounts of power to control other powerful devices. Almost every valve is subjected to huge pressure and that's why they are made of elite materials. They must be rust-resistant as well because environments, where they might be used, will check they're all of the most sensitive points.

Besides the fact that there are so many types of valves and valve's sub-products we can mention a few of them:

Gate valve which is the most common type of valve. It is a linear motion valve used to start or stop fluid flow. These valves are either in a fully open or fully closed position. In gate valves is used air, fuel gas, feedwater, steam, lube oil, a hydrocarbon.

  

Globe valve is used to start/stop and regulate the fluid flow. They are used in the systems where flow control and leak tightness is necessary. As compared to gate valve they provide better shut off and it is costlier than a gate valve.

A check valve prevents backflow in the piping system. The pressure of the fluid passing through a pipeline opens the valve, while any reversal of flow will close the valve.

Plug valves are valves with cylindrical or conically tapered "plugs" which can be rotated inside the valve body to control flow through the valve. The plugs in plug valves have one or more hollow passageways going sideways through the plug, so that fluid can flow through the plug when the valve is open. Plug valves are simple and often economical.

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.

A butterfly valve is a valve that isolates or regulates the flow of a fluid. The closing mechanism is a disk that rotates.

A needle valve is a type of valve with a small port and a threaded, needle-shaped plunger. It allows precise regulation of flow, although it is generally only capable of relatively low flow rates.

The pinch valve is a full bore or fully ported type of control valve which uses a pinching effect to obstruct fluid flow.

Relief valve or pressure relief valve (PRV) is a type of safety valve used to control or limit the pressure in a system; pressure might otherwise build up and create a process upset, instrument or equipment failure, or fire. The pressure is relieved by allowing the pressurized fluid to flow from an auxiliary passage out of the system. The relief valve is designed or set to open at a predetermined set pressure to protect pressure vessels and other equipment from being subjected to pressures that exceed their design limits

As it was mentioned at the beginning there are so many types of valves and their sub-species that one article is not enough to explain this topic. To simplify it we can say that valve is a device which produces power by opening and closing itself by letting special fluid or air go in or out.

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