Ball valves come in a variety of shapes and sizes.
Ball Valves With a Split Body
It has a two-part body, a cover, ball, seat rings, and stems. A flange connector holds the two halves of the body together. The size of one bodily portion differs from the other. The more extensive body section is used to enter the ball, and the minor body component is attached to it via a bolted connection.
It is impossible to separate the filling box from the rest of the body during construction. A smaller split-body ball valve has a threaded connection between the two halves of the valve. Additional leakage points include the two-part body’s flanged or threaded junction.
It has flanged end ball valves with split bodies and standard ports.
Ball Valves With Flanged Ends, Split Body, and Regular Port
Ball valves with split bodies are available in sizes ranging from NPS 12 (DN 15) to NPS 36. (DN 900)
Ball Valves With a Top-Entry Port
top-entry ball valves with a standard port and socket weld ends
Socket weld end ball valves with top entrance, ordinary port, and socket weld end.
The valve bonnet cover may be removed from top-entry ball valves, allowing access to the valve internals for installation, disassembly, repair, or maintenance. You don’t even have to take the valve out of the pipeline. Refer to Figure 4.
Ball Valves for End-Entry
There is only one component of the end-entry ball valve. An insert holds the ball in place once it is introduced from one end. End connectors are flange or screwed. Small, low-cost valves frequently employ this design. NPS 6 is the largest size that they come in (DN 150).
Three-Piece Ball Valves
Valve internals is held in the centre of the valve, and the stem goes through a top-mounted hole. The centre body is kept together by bolts or studs and nuts between the two end caps. They can be butt-welding or socket-welding, as well as threaded or flange-mounted. NPS 12 (DN 15) through NPS 36 (DN 45) sizes are available in this design (DN 900). There are two more places where leaks might occur: the two end cap joints.
Ball Valves in a Double Trunnion
This ball-valve design’s top and bottom trunnions are inherent to the ball and serve as short-shaft extensions. When the shaft inserted in the top trunnion is moved to open or close the valve, these trunnions revolve freely in bearings. Other designs allow the ball to float in the direction of the slot on the top of the ball, but this design keeps the ball firmly in place. The valve is opened and closed by rotating a shaft located in the top slot.
In the case of split body oversized size valves, the floating-ball design is more prevalent than the trunnion-mounted form. Trunnion-mounted ball valves require far less torque to open and close than floating ball valves.
Ball Valves that are either lubricated or non-lubricated
O-ring seals and bolted packing glands are used to seal the stems of most valves. Plug valves use a lubricant-seal mechanism similar to that of several valve types. In Fig. 2, an example of this is shown. Lubricated ball valves have lubrication seal systems, while non-lubricated ball valves do not.
Using Ball Valves Has Many Benefits
- The following are some of the benefits of utilising ball valves in your system:
- Service that’s airtight from start to finish.
- It’s straightforward to open and shut.
- Smaller than a gate valve in terms of size.
- In comparison to a gate valve, it is significantly less in weight.
- Gate and globe valves have limitations in terms of flexibility; multi-port valves don’t. It decreases the number of necessary valves.
- Ball valves come in various styles, allowing for a wide range of options.
- Useful in both clean and dirty environments.
- Dependable performance in high-temperature and high-pressure environments.
- Less force is needed to open and close this type of valve than operating a gate or a globe.
