When ball valve is closed
When a Ball Valve is closed, the hole is perpendicular to the ends of the valve, and flow is blocked. The handle or lever will be inline with the port position letting you “see” the valve’s position. The ball valve, along with the butterfly valve and plug valve, are part of the family of quarter turn valves.
Ball Valves are durable and usually work to achieve perfect shutoff even after years of disuse. They are therefore an excellent choice for shutoff applications (and are often preferred to globe valves and gate valves for this purpose). They do not offer the fine control that may be necessary in throttling applications but are sometimes used for this purpose.
Ball valves are used extensively in industrial applications because they are very versatile, supporting pressures up to 1000 bars and temperatures up to 200°C. Sizes typically range from 0.5 cm to 30 cm. They are easy to repair and operate.
The body of Ball Valves may be made of metal, plastic or metal with a ceramic center. The ball is often chrome plated to make it more durable.
A ball-check valve is a type of check valve with a ball without a hole for a disc, and is not covered in this article.
More products of valves
