Ball valve

This article is about ball valves. For the oat valve used
in toilet tanks, see ballcock.
A ball valve is a form of quarter-turn valve which uses

Cut-away view of a ball-valve mechanism

a hollow, perforated and pivoting ball (called a oating

ball) to control ow through it. It is open when the balls
hole is in line with the ow and closed when it is pivoted
90-degrees by the valve handle.[1] The handle lies at in
alignment with the ow when open, and is perpendicular
to it when closed, making for easy visual conrmation of Cut-away view of ball valve components: 1) body 2) seat 3) oat-
ing ball 4) lever handle 5) stem
the valves status.[2]
Ball valves are durable, performing well after many cy-
cles, and reliable, closing securely even after long periods 1 Types
of disuse. These qualities make them an excellent choice
for shuto applications, where they are often preferred to
gates and globe valves, but they lack their ne control in
throttling applications.
The ball valves ease of operation, repair, and versatility
lend it to extensive industrial use, supporting pressures
up to 1000 bar and temperatures up to 752F (500C),
depending on design and materials used. Sizes typi-
cally range from 0.2 to 48 inches (0.5 cm to 121 cm).
Valve bodies are made of metal, plastic, or metal with a
ceramic; oating balls are often chrome plated for dura-
bility.
A ball valve should not be confused with a ball-check
valve, a type of check valve that uses a solid ball to pre-
Duplex ball valve
vent undesired backow.
Other types of quarter-turn valves include the buttery There are ve general body styles of ball valves: single
valve and plug valve. body, three-piece body, split body, top entry, and welded.

1
2 1 TYPES

The dierence is based on how the pieces of the valve 1.4 Cavity ller
especially the casing that contains the ball itselfare
manufactured and assembled. The valve operation is the Many industries encounter problem with residues in the
same in each case. ball valve. Where the uid is meant for human consump-
tion, residues may also be health hazard, and when where
In addition, there are dierent styles related to the bore
the uid changes from time to time contamination of one
of the ball mechanism itself.
uid with another may occur. Residues arise because in
Ball valves in sizes up to 2 inch generally come in single the half open position of the ball valve a gap is created
piece, two or three piece designs. One piece ball valves between the ball bore and the body in which uid can be
are almost always reduced bore, are relatively inexpensive trapped. To avoid the uid getting into this cavity, the
and generally are throw-away. Two piece ball valves are cavity has to be plugged, which can be done by extending
generally slightly reduced (or standard) bore, they can be the seats in such a manner that it is always in contact with
either throw-away or repairable. The 3 piece design al- the ball. This type of ball valve is known as Cavity Filler
lows for the center part of the valve containing the ball, Ball Valve.
stem & seats to be easily removed from the pipeline. This
There are a few types of ball valves related to the attach-
facilitates ecient cleaning of deposited sediments, re-
ment and lateral movement of the ball:
placement of seats and gland packings, polishing out of
small scratches on the ball, all this without removing the
pipes from the valve body. The design concept of a three 1.5 Trunnion
piece valve is for it to be repairable.
A trunnion ball valve has additional mechanical anchoring
of the ball at the top and the bottom, suitable for larger
1.1 Full port and higher pressure valves (say, above 10 cm and 40 bars).

A full port or more commonly known full bore ball valve A oating ball valve is one where the ball is not held
has an over-sized ball so that the hole in the ball is the in place by a trunnion. In normal operation, this
same size as the pipeline resulting in lower friction loss. will cause the ball to oat downstream slightly. This
Flow is unrestricted but the valve is larger and more ex- causes the seating mechanism to compress under the
pensive so this is only used where free ow is required, ball pressing against it. Furthermore, in some types,
for example in pipelines which require pigging. in the event of some force causing the seat mech-
anism to dissipate (such as extreme heat from re
outside the valve), the ball will oat all the way to
metal body which is designed to seal against the ball
1.2 Reduced port providing a somewhat failsafe design.

In Reduced port (more commonly known as reduced Manually operated ball valves can be closed quickly and
bore) ball valves, ow through the valve is one pipe size thus there is a danger of water hammer. Some ball valves
smaller than the valves pipe size resulting in ow area are equipped with an actuator that may be pneumatically,
being smaller than pipe. As the ow discharge remains hydraulically or motor operated. These valves can be used
constant and is equal to area of ow (A) times velocity either for on/o or ow control. A pneumatic ow control
(V), A1 V1 = A2 V2 the velocity increases with reduced valve is also equipped with a positioner which transforms
area of ow. the control signal into actuator position and valve opening
accordingly.

1.3 V port 1.6 Multiport

A V port ball valve has either a 'v' shaped ball or a 'v' Three- and four-way have an L- or T-shaped hole
shaped seat. This allows the orice to be opened and through the middle. The dierent combinations of
closed in a more controlled manner with a closer to lin- ow are shown in the gure. It is easy to see that a
ear ow characteristic. When the valve is in the closed T valve can connect any pair of ports, or all three,
position and opening is commenced the small end of the together, but the 45 degree position which might dis-
'v' is opened rst allowing stable ow control during this connect all three leaves no margin for error. The L
stage. This type of design requires a generally more ro- valve can connect the center port to either side port,
bust construction due to higher velocities of the uids, or disconnect all three, but it cannot connect the side
which might damage a standard valve. These can be re- ports together.
ferred to as a type of control valve but are not as accurate
as a balancing valve, needle valve, globe valve, or pressure Multi-port ball valves with 4 ways, or more, are also
regulating valve. commercially available, the inlet way often being or-
 3

[2] Ball Valves, Issues and Material Selections for Manufac-

T L turing. academia.edu. Retrieved 24 June 2015.

4 See also
Buttery valve
Control valve

Gate valve
Globe valve

Piston valve
Hydrogen valve

Plastic pressure pipe systems

Needle valve
Thermal Expansion

Pinch valve

5 External links
Schematic 3 way ball valve: L-shaped ball right, T-shaped left
ValveTypesSelection
thogonal to the plane of the outlets. For special ap-
plications, such as driving air-powered motors from
forward to reverse, the operation is performed by ro-
tating a single lever four-way valve. The 4-way ball
valve has two L-shaped ports in the ball that do not
interconnect, sometimes referred to as an "" port.

2 Images
Super duplex ball valves

Balls for alloy ball valves

Stems for incoloy valves

Ball for a titanium ball valve

Brass ball valve used for PEX piping

Double block and bleed ball valve

purple: disc, pink: seat, green: stem, blue: bonnet,

red: lever

Assorted ball valves

3 References
[1] ball valve. Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com, LLC. Re-
trieved 24 June 2015.
4 6 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

6 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

6.1 Text
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