Key Takeaways
- High-pressure butterfly valves are highly versatile, capable of handling a wide range of temperatures, large fluid flow rates, and liquids with suspended solids.
- Their compact, lightweight design requires less structural support and costs less than comparable valve types such as ball, globe, and gate valves.
- Butterfly valves require minimal maintenance due to their durable construction, which reduces long-term operating costs and downtime.
- These valves serve as effective pressure regulators, automatically breaking their seal to release pressure spikes and stabilizing flow in fluctuating-pressure environments.
- High-pressure butterfly valves can handle corrosive fluids and acids, making them a reliable choice for demanding industrial applications such as water purification and food manufacturing.
Are you having trouble choosing a valve for your engineering project? Consider a high-pressure butterfly valve.
Research shows the market for butterfly valves generated $6.24 billion in revenue in 2022. It is expected to be worth more than $14.5 billion by 2033, growing 8.1%.
The high-pressure butterfly valve offers several advantages in oil and gas, refining, chemical, and steam applications. Let’s explore the benefits of butterfly valves.
High-Pressure Butterfly Valve
High-pressure butterfly valves stop or regulate liquids’ movement through pipes. When they are fully closed, their metal discs block the pipes. When this type of valve is opened, its disc sits at a 90-degree angle to a liquid’s or gas’s flow.
Butterfly valves may be used in any application that can handle discs in flow streams. Sometimes people use gears or handles to operate butterfly valves. Actuator devices that make objects move are used in other situations.
These valves are often used in the following types of applications:
- Compressed air applications
- Gas applications
- High-temp and high-pressure water services
- High-temp and high-pressure steam services
- Fire protection
- Cooling water, gas, and air
Butterfly valves can also come in handy in vacuum service applications and slurry services.
Versatility
A major benefit of high-pressure butterfly valves is their versatility.
Butterfly valves are extremely precise and respond quickly to various control signals. These valves can operate at many temperatures. High-pressure butterfly valves can also handle liquids featuring suspended solids, as well as large fluid flow rates.
Multiple Applications
Another advantage of high-pressure butterfly valves is their low closing and opening pressure levels. This makes them perfect for situations involving moderate temperatures and high pressure.
These valves’ seals are highly efficient, so they’re also a wonderful choice for distributing water on a large scale.
Butterfly valves may even help prevent the effects of a phenomenon called a water hammer.
Water hammers are surges or waves caused when liquids or gases must change direction or stop suddenly. These pressure waves can cause serious problems, including pipe rupture, pipe collapse, vibration, and noise.
Tiny Size
Yet another reason to choose a high-pressure butterfly valve is its small size. It won’t take up a large amount of space in a pipe.
These small valves don’t require as much structural support as ball valves. Ball valves are flow control devices that use hollow, pivoting, and perforated balls to control the fluids flowing through them.
Butterfly valves are also cheaper than globe and gate valves since they have a lightweight design. A globe valve is a spherical flow regulation device, and a gate valve controls a fluid’s flow using a disc or gate.
Low Maintenance
Butterfly valves also don’t require much maintenance.
These valves don’t wear down easily, so they last longer. This decreases the operating costs associated with them. It also reduces the amount of time needed to maintain them.
Flow Regulation Ability
Butterfly valves can regulate flow more efficiently than other kinds of valves. That’s because they contain circular plates that reduce and control flow.
Their superior flow-regulating ability makes them a top choice for water treatment and agricultural applications.
Keep in mind that butterfly valves can leave residue in pipelines.
Pressure Regulation
Another reason a butterfly valve is a popular choice is that it’s an excellent pressure regulator.
Let’s say the temperature suddenly increases. The valve will break its seal, allowing for increased pressure. This leads to a partial vacuum that lasts till the pressure amount mirrors the outside air’s pressure level.
Use butterfly valves in applications involving constantly fluctuating pressure levels, too.
Handling Corrosive Fluids
Butterfly valves can easily handle corrosive fluids and acids. This makes them a hardy, reliable valve option.
Brass valves are the best option in situations where corrosion can happen because brass is tough. These types of valves are often used for water purification and food manufacturing.
Don’t use a brass valve if it will be exposed to water containing high amounts of chlorine. Chlorine may damage the valve.
Additional Valve Benefits
Butterfly valves have several other benefits.
These valves are simple to install. They can accommodate various fluids, and they operate quickly. They don’t require much time to close and open.
Butterfly valves are usually suitable for situations involving chemicals, too.
High-pressure butterfly valves are also fast and easy to open/turn. The handle’s 90-degree rotation provides a full valve opening or closure.
A butterfly valve has a shorter shaft than a gate valve. The shaft, also called the stem, connects a disc to an actuation mechanism. The actuation mechanism is the component that causes the device to operate.
This is another benefit because you’ll have less trouble accessing the valve.
A large butterfly valve usually comes with a gearbox. A handwheel is linked to the stem. This design makes the valve’s operation simple, but this type of valve isn’t as speedy as a small butterfly valve.
A disadvantage of a butterfly valve is that you can’t “pig” it for cleaning. Pigging involves using devices known as pigs to do maintenance on the valve.
How We Can Help
A high-pressure butterfly valve offers several advantages. It is small, easy to turn, and lightweight. It is also less expensive than other types of valves.
At Everlasting Valve Company, we take pride in offering top-quality valves for numerous industry applications. The industries we serve range from power generation to cement production, petroleum production, and petroleum refining.
Get in touch with us to learn more about our valves, and request a free quote today!
Frequently Asked Questions
A high-pressure butterfly valve controls the flow of liquids or gases through a pipe using a rotating metal disc — when fully closed, the disc blocks flow, and when open, it rotates 90 degrees to allow fluid to pass through freely.
They are well-suited for oil and gas, chemical processing, power generation, water treatment, fire protection, agriculture, and any application involving compressed air, high-temperature steam, or high-pressure water services.
Butterfly valves’ efficient sealing and precise flow control help mitigate the sudden pressure surges caused by water hammer, reducing the risk of pipe rupture, collapse, vibration, and noise.
One notable limitation is that butterfly valves cannot be “pigged” for cleaning — a maintenance process that uses specialized devices to clear the interior of a pipeline — which may make them less ideal for applications requiring that type of upkeep.
Brass butterfly valves are typically the best choice for corrosive environments, though they should not be used in systems with high chlorine content in the water, as chlorine can degrade the valve material over time.