Control valves: Most basic but vital aspects

In this article, I want to explain the most important details about control valves and talk about its function, parts and types, in a nutshell, to help you expand your knowledge and also provide a few useful sources that can further enrich your knowledge on the subject.

So, let’s dive into knowing a bit about control valves and then moving on into learning about its popular types and parts.

Famous as the final control element in an automatic control terminology, control valves are units enabling you to regulate or control the pressure or flow rate of a material.  There are different control valve types that are tailored for different purposes. Here, we’ll name the most popular types and explain about them briefly.

 

Different control valve types

The categorization of control valves are based on different parameters and features. They can be based on functionality, or the actuating medium, etc. Here are some of them:

1.     Actuating medium

This categorization includes manual valves, hydraulic valves, and pneumatic valves.

2.     Functionality

In this category, you can find some popular designs such as spring-loaded safety valve, shut-off and on-off valve, and check valve.

Famous shut-off and on-off valves include Gate valve and pinch valve. And you can find the turbine bypass valve in the check valve section.

3.     Movement profile of the controlling element

Control valves with different motions are under this category. Gate valve, diaphragm, and globe valve are among well-known control valves of this category with Linear Motion. The other type would be Rotary Motion that includes Plug valve, Ball valve, and Butterfly valve.

4.     Pressure drop profile

This categorization includes low and high recovery valves. Some valves such as butterfly valve, plug valve, gate valve, and ball valve are considered as high-recovery valves and others such as angle valve and globe valve are in the low-recovery valve type.

 

Some of the most-used ones are:

Gate valve, Globe valve, Ball valve, Butterfly valve, and Plug valve. You can learn all about different control valve types here.

 


Control valve parts

Now let’s talk about the parts that create a control valve. There are some basic parts that each and every control valve should have and based on the difference in the design, some parts might be added to the valve to prepare the unit for the desired outcome. The most basic control valve parts are as follows:

-          Body

Body or shell works as a framework for the control valve to keep all the parts together without falling. This body is forged or cast with different shapes using suitable materials. These materials should both endure pressure and durable enough to last for a long time.

-          Bonnet

The opening in the body of control valves is covered by the bonnet. They, too, work as a boundary of a pressure valve and are connected to the body with a bolted, welded, or threaded joint.

-          Trim

Different internal parts of control valves together are called trim, such as seat, disc, guides, bushings, spacers, and internal springs. The relation of the disk position to the seat and their interface is what helps to determine the performance of the control valve.

Valve disc’s position has a huge role in stopping the flow or throttles and the valve seat (or seal rings) provides a place for the disc to sit on. Depending on the design, there might be more than one seat in the valve.

-          Stem

Both ends of the stem are connected to different units, one to the disc and the other to the actuator or the handwheel. Stem provides movement to open or close the valve, resulting in the control of the fluid.

-          Yoke

This part connects the bonnet or the body with the actuating mechanism.

-          Actuator

Actuators are used to fully close or open the valve and are considered as one of the vital components of the control valves. The positioning signal sent to the actuator is the cue for controlling or regulating the valve.

-          Packing

This part helps to prevent the leakage in the control valve and seals the space between the stem and the bonnet.

If you need to learn more about control valve parts, check out this link.

 

All in all, using control valves enables you to control various fluids such as chemical compounds, gas, steam, water, etc. and you can manipulate the flowing fluid to keep it at the desired point. They can be used in different industries such as petrochemicals, power, gas, steel, etc. Using control valves have lots of advantages including easy maintenance and high performance. You can use these devices to eliminate the need for manually controlling the pressure and also to bring safety to each and every level of the process within the system. Check out this article to learn more about the advantages of control valves.

 

Now that you’ve learned the most basic but vital aspects of control valves, how about leaving a comment to express your feelings and experiences with control valves?

**

Sources:

https://www.linquip.com/blog/control-valve-types/

https://www.linquip.com/blog/control-valve-parts/

https://www.linquip.com/blog/control-valves-101-guide-to-understand/

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turbine

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Introduction of electric motors and types

Image
  You've probably heard of electric motors by now. A critical piece in all electrical appliances. In this article, we will introduce electric motors in detail and examine its types, so stay tuned. An electric motor is a component that converts electrical energy into kinetic energy. Most electric motors are  electromagnetic -based. Most electric motors are rotary, but there are also linear motors. In a rotating motor, the moving part (usually inside the engine) is called the impeller or rotor, and the fixed position is called the station or stator. The motor consists of electric magnets wound on a frame. Although this frame is often referred to as armature, the term is often misused. Types of Electric Motor Electric motors may be classified by considerations such as power source type, internal construction, application and type of motion output. In addition to AC versus DC types, motors may be brushed or brushless, may be of various phase (see single-phase, two-phase, or three-...
Read more

Introduction and review of Suspension Insulators and Strain Insulators

Image
  In this article, we will have a detailed explanation and review of Suspension Insulators and Strain Insulators. Join us and read this article. First, we will introduce Suspension Insulators, and after reviewing it, we will submit Strain Insulators What is Suspension Insulators  ? The suspension type insulator consists of several insulation parts connected in series and forms a string. In suspension insulators, each porcelain discs is designed to work at 11 kV, and as the operating voltage increases, the number of discs in the string and in series increases as well. For example, the number of insulator discs required is 12 in 132 KV transmission lines.  Read More in Linquip What is Strain Insulators  ? According to  Wikipedia , A strain insulator is an electrical insulator designed to work in mechanical voltage (strain) to withstand the pull of a suspended electrical wire or cable. They are used in overhead electrical wiring to support radio...
Read more

Everything you should know about HVAC

Image
What is HVAC? What do you know about it? What is its use? In this article, we will take a closer look at HVAC, so join us to get the answers to these questions and any other questions about HVAC. The importance of HVAC Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) is the technology of indoor and vehicular environmental comfort. Its goal is to provide thermal comfort and acceptable indoor air quality. HVAC system design is a subdiscipline of  mechanical engineering , based on the principles of thermodynamics, fluid mechanics and heat transfer. As was mentioned earlier, an  HVAC system  is intended for thermal control of areas as well as comfort for occupants. Temperature is factor that affects the performance and health status of many systems. Take the case of a server room temperature as an example for which high temperature adversely affects the system’s reliability and operation of the servers is a great source of heat ge...
Read more