The history of ball valves
The humble ball valve has a checkered history and somewhat murky origins. It may not be cloak and dagger stuff, but it's not without mystery... Take a look around to see where the ball valve is indispensable. For example, the ball valve is crucial to the petroleum industry, water, electric power, chemical, paper, pharmaceuticals, food, steel and other fields. If it seems we could not get a long without the ball valve, it's probably true! Given the importance of the ball valve today, it's a mystery why it took so long to invent.
Ball Valve history does not go back to ancient Greece or the American revolution or does it? The modern ball valve was invented in 1967 or about 1957 according to different sources. Who cares when the ball valve was invented? Besides the patented owner, probably not many people. Still the ball valve was major advancement over plug valves used in the 20th century. The earliest ball valves were commercially available around 1967. For ancient parallels, the ruins of Pompeii turned up a bronze tapered plug quarter turn valve that resembles to the ball valve today.
