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Ball Valve Function Basics
A ball valve functions as a quarter-turn valve, which controls flow through a hollow, perforated, and pivoting sphere, hence the name. It is in the same valve family as butterfly valves and plug valves, which are also quarter-turn valves. The sphere has a port, or a bore, in its center, which is critical to its function. When the bore in the ball valve function is lined up with the associated pipeline, the valve is open, so fluid can move through the bore. Turned 90 degrees, it is situated perpendicular to the flow of the fluid, so the valve is closed and the fluid can’t come through. That being said, ball valve function is not well suited to applications in which you need to throttle the flow of a fluid.
The way a ball valve functions makes it easy to see if the valve is open or shut. The handle that operators use to adjust where the sphere is aligned with the flow when the valve is open, and it is perpendicular when the valve is closed. And the ball valve can be devided into many different types for different functions, such as floating ball valve, trunnion mounted ball valve, top entry ball valve, dbb ball valve, subsea ball valve, etc.
Another widely used valve is butterfly valve. The invention of the butterfly valve has allowed for the improvement of processes and applications in various industries.
What is a Butterfly Valve?
A butterfly valve is a mechanism that regulates the flow of materials within large pipe diameters by the quarter-turn rotation of a disc. A rod feeds through the center of a disc and this rod is connected to an actuator that controls the motion of the disc. The disc position is either parallel or perpendicular to the flow of media. A butterfly valve differs from other valves because the disc is always in the flow causing a pressure change for any position of the valve.
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