Gate valves with flanged end connections remain hugely popular across many industries. Their robust construction and straightforward operation have made them workhorses on piping systems everywhere. However, like any valve type, flanged gate valves also have their limitations.
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Let’s take a balanced look at the main advantages and disadvantages.
Flange Gate Valves – Key AdvantagesHere are some of the key advantages of Flanged gate valves:
One of the biggest benefits of flanged gate valves is the convenience factor. Those flanged end connections make installation a breeze – simply bolt the valve body between matching pipe flanges. Likewise, removing the valve for maintenance is just as straightforward.
When in the full open position, the wedge-shaped gate drops completely out of the flow path. This provides an unobstructed, full bore opening equal to the pipe ID. The lack of any flow obstructions helps minimize pressure drop and resistance to flow.
Gate valves have a delightfully uncomplicated design. The two-piece body houses a gate that slides perpendicular to the flow path between parallel seats. With minimal moving parts and no complex mechanisms, there’s less to go wrong or require extensive maintenance.
Flanged Gate Valves – Key DisadvantagesFlanged gate valves certainly have a few limitations. Let’s discuss some of the key disadvantages of flanged gate valve:
One of the biggest safety concerns with gate valves is the possibility of the valve stem blowing out. If the stem packing leaks and goes untended, the buildup of pressure can forcibly eject the entire stem — creating a dangerous projectile. Proper maintenance is critical.
Speaking of packing, leakage around the stem is another common issue as the valve cycles open and closed over its lifetime. The sliding motion and exposure inevitably causes the packing material to degrade and harden, requiring repacking.
Gate valves are designed for straight open or closed service, not modulating flows. Attempting to throttle the valve with the gate partially open can cause vibration, hunting, and excessive wear on the gate and seats over time. Using them for frequent operation also increases packing deterioration.
The larger the valve size, the greater the torque required to open and close the gate against flow forces and friction. This can make manual operation very difficult, often necessitating a gear operator or actuator.
ConclusionLike any valve type, flanged gate valves have their advantages and limitations. They can provide an economical, reliable shutoff solution for liquid and gas systems that don’t require frequent cycling or modulation. Just be sure to properly assess the operating conditions.
When you need quality flange gate valves from a trusted manufacturer, Xintai Valve has the experience to meet your specifications. Our team leverages decades of valve expertise to deliver dependable products you can count on.
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What is a ball valve?
The ball valve is evolved from a plug valve. Its opening and closing member is a ball that is opened and closed by rotating the ball 90° around the axis of the valve stem. The ball valve is mainly used to cut, distribute and change the flow direction of the medium on the pipeline. The ball valve designed as a V-shaped opening also has a good flow regulation function.
Advantage:
1 has the lowest flow resistance (actually 0);
2 It can be reliably applied to corrosive media and low boiling liquids because it will not get stuck during work (in the absence of lubricant);
3 It can achieve complete sealing within a large pressure and temperature range;
4 It can achieve fast opening and closing. The opening and closing time of particular types is only 0.05~0.1s, to ensure that it can be used in the automation system. When the valve is quickly opened and closed, the operation has no impact;
5 Spherical closures can be automatically positioned at the boundary position;
6 working medium is sealed reliably on both sides;
7 When fully open and fully closed, the sealing surface of the ball and the valve seat is isolated from the medium, so the medium passing through the valve at high speed does not cause erosion of the sealing surface;
8 Compactness and light weight. It can be considered as the most reasonable valve structure for low temperature media systems;
9 Symmetrical valve body structure, especially in case of the welded valve body structure, it can well withstand the stress from the pipeline;
10 closing parts can withstand the high pressure difference when closing. 11 The ball valve of the fully welded valve body can be buried directly in the ground, so that the valve internals are not eroded, and the maximum service life can reach 30 years. It is the most ideal valve for oil and natural gas pipelines.
Disadvantages:
1 Because the most important seat and seal material of the ball valve is PTFE, it is inert to almost all chemicals, and has a small friction coefficient, stable performance, not easy to age, wide temperature range and excellent sealing performance. Comprehensive characteristics. However, the physical properties of Teflon, including higher coefficient of expansion, sensitivity to cold flow, and poor thermal conductivity, require that the design of the seat seal must make compromise with these characteristics. Therefore, when the sealing material is hardened, the reliability of the sealing is broken. Moreover, PTFE has a low temperature resistance and can only be used at less than 180 °C. Above this temperature, the sealing material will age. In the case of long-term use, it is generally not used at 120 °C.
2 Its adjustment performance is worse than the shut-off valve, especially the pneumatic valve (or electric valve).
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