Whether you&#;re implementing a simple piping system to assist with transporting materials through your processes or designing a complex multi-step system full of automated controls, monitoring, and more, flow control is likely essential to your project.
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Stainless steel valves are a common way of implementing flow control. However, with the various designs and types available, choosing the proper valve configuration is essential to ensure safe, long-lasting performance and avoid common pitfalls.
In this guide, we&#;ll look at two common valve designs used for flow control -- ball valves and needle valves -- and discuss characteristics of both that could make either of them the ideal pick for your process.
Flow control is an essential part of most piping systems. Before discussing how valves play a role in flow control, it&#;s important to discuss the basics of how flow control works and any considerations you might make when implementing flow control solutions in your system.
Understanding this fundamental topic will better help you to choose the ideal valve design for your needs.
At its most basic, flow control is the process of limiting or regulating the flow of liquids, gases, or any other substance which is flowing through your piping system.
Flow control may take place within main piping lines to help control pressure and ensure smooth operation. Flow control is also an essential element of many monitoring and instrumentation systems. It helps reduce the risk of damaging sensitive instruments and provides greater control over the monitoring process.
While pipe size, routing, and pressure can influence how substances flow through the system, this is often a static situation. You wouldn&#;t frequently change any of these factors as doing so would be cost and time-prohibitive in most cases.
Valves offer a flexible means of providing variable or dynamic flow control, meaning you can easily increase or decrease flow based on the state of the valve and the desired factors.
Flow control occurs in one of two ways: on-off control or throttling control.
On-off control functions how it sounds. The valve is typically fully open or fully closed, creating an on or off state. While the valve might work in some middle state between on and off, there is typically no accurate way to set the exact flow rate.
Operating an on-off valve in an intermediary state may also cause damage to the valve or reduce its service life.
Throttling control valves allow for variable flow rates with precision adjustment. Overall accuracy and the degree of control provided will depend on the valve type chosen and system parameters.
This relationship between on-off valves and throttling valves is at the heart of comparing ball valves with needle valves.
If you only need on-off functionality, there&#;s a strong chance that ball valves will be an ideal fit.
On the other hand, ball valves cannot begin to compete with the regulating capabilities of a needle valve. Where fine control is essential, needle valves win out every time.
But let&#;s look deeper at both valve types to understand why this is the case and help you determine which is best suited to your needs.
Ball valves get their name from their design. At the center of the valve, you&#;ll find a ball with a channel through the center. By rotating the ball 90 degrees, you expose this channel to the flow path, creating a fully opened or fully closed state.
The short-throw actuation of a ball valve makes it an ideal option for flow control where full open or closed states are common or where fast state switching is required.
The design also allows for an exceptional air-tight seal. Since the valve seat wipes itself with each actuation and parts within the valve are few, cleaning and maintenance requirements are minimal.
For high-flow operations, choosing a full port design means there is little worry about pressure drops.
These factors combine to make it a versatile, cost-effective option for flow control in a wide range of piping processes.
But the rapid actuation and minimal travel distance that make the valve ideal for some uses make it unsuitable for situations requiring precision flow control or extended throttling use.
Finally, when used with suspended solids or sticky textures, it is crucial to monitor valve surfaces for build-up and abrasion. Failure to keep surfaces clear can lead to leaking and eventual valve failure.
Common industries where you might find ball valves in use include:
Agriculture
Construction
HVAC
Manufacturing
Mining
Oil and Gas
Stainless steel ball valves can increase corrosion resistance for brewing, petroleum refining, and operations in marine or seawater environments.
Needle valves use a needle-shaped plunger to block the path of flow through the valve. A threaded, rotating stem adjustment mechanism allows for fine control of the plunger positioning.
An obvious benefit of this level of precision is the ability to make minute adjustments to flow rates. This also makes needle valves popular for use in valve manifolds, allowing for easy mixing of multiple processing lines.
Most needle valves are also highly resistant to both hot and cold temperatures while providing exceptional service life in high-pressure or high-vibration environments.
Finally, they create a high pressure drop when open, allowing for even easier metering and control of processes.
However, these perks come with tradeoffs -- many of which center on the screw-tap adjustment method.
Needle valves are not suitable for situations that require rapid changes in the valve&#;s state. Moving through the full range of motion of the needle-shaped plunger often requires numerous rotations of the screw handle.
The fact that the handle rotates so freely also can make it hard to gauge if the valve is open or closed based on appearance alone.
The pressure drop and precision control also create a highly restricted flow. As such, needle valves are rarely ideal for high flow rate scenarios and processes.
Industries where you might find needle valves in use include:
Chemical processing
HVAC
Manufacturing
Petrochemicals
Pharmaceuticals
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Wastewater treatment
Common use cases for needle valves include automatic combustion control systems, fluid power systems, gas bleeder lines, metering systems, sampling lines, and vacuum systems.
Flow control is the process of limiting or regulating the flow of liquids, gases, or any other substance which is flowing through your piping system.
Ball valves are ideal for use in situations sensitive to flow rate changes or requiring quick valve actuation.
Ball valves are designed for on-off operation. Avoid extended periods of throttled operation.
Needle valves offer flexible flow control options with designs allowing on-off, throttling, and fine metering operation depending on your needs.
The threaded shaft design allows for fine-grained control of the needle-shaped plunger. However, this comes at the cost of quick actuation and makes it difficult to gauge the valve&#;s open or closed state visually.
Matching the valve&#;s flow control characteristics to your intended use case will ensure that the valve offers long-lasting, efficient operation.
Unified Alloys offers a range of instrumentation valves and fittings from leading brands including Parker A-Lok, Parker Hannifin, and Ham-Let to provide effective monitoring, flow control, and isolation of critical elements in your piping process. With more than four decades of experience in various industries across Canada and North America, our team of sales analysts can help highlight options relevant to your industry, process, or requirements. Contact us today to discuss options and find out more about our selection of high-quality stainless steel products.
Mako Products: Ball Valves vs. Needle Valves in Flow Control
University of Florida Engineering: Matching Valve Type to Function: A Tutorial in Valve Selection
Metalphoto of Cincinnati: What is the Best Type of Flow Control Valve for Your Application? Learn about Gate Valves, Globe Valves and Other Flow Control Valves
Wikipedia: Needle Valve
Wikipedia: Ball Valve
ScienceDirect: Flow Control Valve
Hays Fluid Controls: Flow Control Valves: Everything You Need to Know
Instrumentation and control systems take time to design. It&#;s good to know ahead of time which fittings or valves will work best for your chosen fluid, as well as, the best choice for flow management to balance your network.
Mako Products carries an extensive offering of flow control valves to give you the best regulation for your setup. The two most popular valves we offer are ball valves and needle valves, but what&#;s the difference between the two?
They&#;re both considered flow control valves but have separate ways of controlling flow that make them unique. Before you decide on the best one for you, let&#;s discuss their differences and the recommendations for using each one.
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Simply put, a ball valve is an on-off valve. It can be used to control flow by its main characteristic, the ball, being open or closed. Ordinarily, this only requires a quarter-turn of the ball valve handle.
The ball inside isn&#;t a solid ball, it has a hole through the center. As a result, it permits flow when open and stops flow when closed at 90 degrees. Furthermore, a ball valve can be partially open to regulate the flow of gas/liquid.
An advantage to the ball valve is that it&#;s relatively easy to tell when it is open or closed. Notably, this only requires a quick visual assessment of where the handle is turned. We&#;ll discuss further advantages in a moment.
On one hand, a needle valve can be as simplistic as the ball valve with the on-off feature. However, needle valves also have the ability to regulate flow in a variety of other settings.
These additional settings are possible because the needle valve has a needle-shaped plunger which is adjustable. Specifically, the plunger is capable of moving up and down allowing for half-open, barely open, or fully open positioning. This adjustability enables needle valves to have more precision in controlling flow than the ball valve
It&#;s important to note the function of each of these valves in order to choose the best option for your system. Both valves can be used in a variety of industries including petrochemicals, manufacturing, heating and cooling systems, wastewater treatment, chemical processing, and pharmaceuticals to name a few. We&#;ll showcase more specialized applications for each valve below.
As discussed, the core difference in the two valves is the additional regulating opportunities a needle valve provides. The precise control of needle valves makes them &#;an ideal choice for calibration applications because they&#;re capable of being fine-tuned.&#;
When a high degree of accuracy and control are important, it&#;s better to stick with the needle valve. Two prime examples of areas where precise flow regulation is necessary and needle valves are the better option, are vacuum systems and metering systems. A few other regular applications include gas bleeder lines, sampling lines, fluid power systems, and automatic combustion control systems.
Further information on needle valves can be found on the blog page of our website in this article, &#;How Does a Needle Valve Work?&#;.
Because of their generally lower cost and robust durability, ball valves are preferred in applications where a good sealing system is required. They&#;re a notable industrial choice because of their reliable and air-tight sealing when in the closed position.
Common industries where ball valves are used include oil and gas, agriculture, manufacturing, mining, heating and cooling, and construction.
With outstanding corrosion-resistance, stainless steel ball valves are notable for their use in petroleum refining, seawater environments, and brewing systems.
Still curious about ball valves? Read more specific information on our line of ball valves by checking out our article &#;What is a Ball Valve?&#;.
We&#;ve laid out the main difference between ball valves and needle valves and have provided common applications, advantages, and disadvantages for each. When you&#;re ready to choose your valve we have several high-quality, affordable options for you at Mako Products!
Mako Products offers Mako threaded end needle valves and Superlok compression end and threaded needle valves, with a variety of sizes and options available. Our Mako threaded ball valve options go up to 4&#; with numerous options. Superlok tube end and threaded ball valves are available in trunnion, floating, flanged, swing out, and many other instrumentation valve types.
Let one of our customer care representatives get you the valve and size you need by contacting our team.
Best Type of Flow Control Valve for Your Application?
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Ball Valves
Applications of Needle Valves
Types of Industrial Valves &#; Applications, Advantages, and Disadvantages
What is a Needle Valve and What is the Purpose of Needle Valves
A Guide to Applications for Stainless Steel Ball Valves
If you are looking for more details, kindly visit globe valves vs ball valves.