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Ball Valves
What are ball valves?
Ball valves are specially designed valves that are mostly used as shut-off valves in pipelines through which liquids or gases (water, oil, compressed air) flow, especially in large diameter pipes. Ball valves can be used to completely shut off the flow. As the name implies, a ball with a bore is used as the shut-off body. Ball valves are often also referred to as ball gate valves.
The structure of a ball valve
Basically, a ball valve consists of a (two-part) housing in which a cannulated ball is located. The ball is connected to the hand lever by a rotatable axle. The axle is sealed by a stuffing box. The lever of the ball valve can be turned from 0° to 90°. 0° means maximum flow, whereas 90° prevents any flow.
Ball valves are usually equipped with lever or wing handles.
Ball valves can be further distinguished by the flow rate. On the one hand, there are ball valves that provide a full flow and ball valves that provide a reduced flow. In a full flow ball valve, the hole in the shut-off ball has the same inner diameter as the connected pipe. With this type of ball valve design, only minor flow losses occur. If the ball is smaller than the diameter of the pipe, we speak of ball valves with reduced passage. With these, the flow loss is higher.
Furthermore, there are ball valves with floating or guided ball. In the floating ball version, the ball is usually held in place by sealing rings on both sides. In the case of ball valves with guided ball, the balls each have a pin on two opposite sides, which are supported in the housing. In this case, only one sealing ring is required. The sealing rings of the ball valves are either made of plastic, often polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), or of metal. Ball valves with a plastic seal are suitable up to a maximum temperature of approximately 200°. For applications with higher temperatures, metal seals must be used.
There are also multi-way ball valves that have an L- or T-bore instead of a smooth through-hole. Multi-way ball valves can be used to distribute the flow of the medium to several outlets.
The advantages of ball valves
Ball valves in general have a lot of technical advantages that distinguish them from other industrial valves. For example, full bore ball valves have the advantage of offering very good piggability. Furthermore, ball valves are in principle very compact in design and, depending on their construction and material, exhibit good tightness even at high pressure.
The different types of ball valves from G. Bee
Ball valves are available in many different designs. In the following, only the ball valves from G. Bee will be discussed in more detail.
G. Bee ball valves can be divided into ball valves for manual operation and ball valves for automatic operation.
Ball valves for manual operation:
Ball valves for manual operation:
Buy ball valves from G. Bee online at PACH Systems
You will find approx. 1400 ball valves from G. Bee in our onlineshop. Our comprehensive range of ball valves includes a suitable ball valve for almost all requirements - Check it out and buy ball valves from G. Bee at PACH Systems!