Butterfly valves take a leadership position in most commercial and industrial operations. Butterfly valves fall into several categories and are among the most significant valves in industrial plants and refineries. Let us dive in and know more about butterfly valves and their various applications.
About Butterfly Valves
Butterfly valves are part of the quarter-turn rotational motion family that supports starting, regulating, and stopping the flow. Butterfly valves are effortless to open and use. Big butterfly valves come with a gearbox with a handwheel linked to the stem. These valves owe a disk present on top of the rotating shaft.
The disk blocks the line as the butterfly valve completely closes. The disk sets itself at right angles for the gas or liquid flow as the valve opens. Glimpse through the various roles butterfly valves play in many applications.
Role Of The Butterfly Valve In Various Applications
1. Food Processing Industry
While discussing the butterfly valves in the food processing sector, there are ample such as sandwich valves, double butterfly valves, sanitary butterfly valves. The butterfly valves incorporated in the food industries come with NH liners appropriate for food applications, such as acidic liquids, mineral oil, and vegetable oil.
These valves are unaffected by hydrocarbons and abrasion-resistant and hence best for use with solid-laden liquids. The hydrogenation of nitrile rubber (NBR) is a good feature, as it escalates the temperature resistance of HNBR. Reliable butterfly valve with liner is employed in the food industry that bears liquid fluids up to 150 deg C.
2. Oil And Gas Industry
The triple offset butterfly valve is a great choice for the oil and gas industry, for its ability to withstand demanding conditions and heavy-duty nature. Space-saving, weight factor, and premium cost make the triple offset butterfly valve a great choice. The pressure ratings are up to ASME Class 1500 with zero leakage features that make it appropriate for oil and gas applications.
3. Water Systems
For regulating fluid flow, butterfly valves take the lead role. The valve bears an actuator outside, linked with a remote control mechanism or an automatic system that takes responsibility for the desired flow of liquid. A valve spindle works exceptionally for taking up manual control of the valve. Butterfly valves play a primary role while installing floating dock ideas for high-pressure, low-pressure water services.
4. Power Plant Applications
The resilient seated concentric butterfly valves, triple offset butterfly valves, high-performance butterfly valves, and more are highly incorporated in the power industry applications. The modern power plant strives continuously to escalate operational performance and efficiency. Thermal transients, power plants, gas turbine acceleration, and gas turbines start work with increased temperature and high flows. Butterfly valves accommodate such scenarios and render the best services in power plant applications.
Apart from the applications presented above, butterfly valves also play a major part in fire protection, cooling water, slurry service, air service, vacuum service, high temperature and pressure steam services, compressed gas or air services, and more. The wastewater treatment, and water purification systems that partner with molecular sieve manufacturer also incorporate butterfly valves for better functioning.
Benefits of Butterfly Valves In Industries
Regulates Flow
As a regulating valve, the butterfly valve has an actuator that works with the disc and stem of the valve. The angular opening helps in the appropriate amount of fluid to run through, and thus the actuators help in the flow rate of liquid.
Backflow Prevention
Backflow prevention is mandatory during the wash-down process in food manufacturing, which works tremendously with butterfly valves. Backflow prevention is a mandatory feature in the food industry as clean and tidy plants are important for better sanitary conditions.
Flow Isolation
The quarter-turn action, effortless manipulation, and lightweight features make butterfly valves the best choice for flow isolation. Manufacturers guarantee exceptional system performance by installing butterfly valves as isolation valves.
During Continuous Load Applications
Though butterfly valves handle massive volumes of fluids, load changes make them sensitive. During minimal load changes, the capacity of the load is limited. However, enhancing designs results in a better control range.
Serve As Throttling Valves
With advancements in technology and machinery, manufacturers are taking the lead in engineering high-performance butterfly valves. Butterfly valves for high pressure and temperature applications prove beneficial by following high industry standards. For handling large capacities of medium such as seawater and viscous oil, these butterfly valves are the best.
Conclusion
Butterfly valves occupy the role of handling large volumes of capacities in industries. Butterfly valves are the prime choice for on/off services or flow control features. With the latest development, there is accurate throttling performance during high pressure and temperature applications. The high-performance butterfly valves are budget-friendly, easy to install and mandate less maintenance. These extraordinary beneficial features make the butterfly valve the best choice for all industries.
