Ball Valve Research Articles

Experiment and Flow Analysis of the Flow Coefficient Cv of a 1 inch Ball Valve for a Thermal Power Plant

Experiment and Flow Analysis of the Flow Coefficient Cv of a 1 inch Ball Valve for a Thermal Power Plant

Laboratorijsko mjerenje parametara toka pri pojavi hidrauličkih tranzijenata

U radu je dan opis pojave oscilacija vodnih masa na sustavu akumulacija - dovodni cjevovod – vodna komora, kao i opis pojave hidrauličkog udara koja nastaje uslijed naglog zatvaranja zatvarača na danom sustavu. U svrhu dobivanja mjerodavne hidrodinamičke analize oscilacija vodnih masa u cilindričnoj vodnoj komori provedena su eksperimentalna mjerenja na fizikalnom modelu GUNT HM156 koji predstavlja sastavni dio mjernog instrumentarija hidrotehničkog laboratorija Građevinskog fakulteta Sveučilišta u Rijeci. Hidrodinamička analiza je provedena na temelju više eksperimentalnih pokusa u kojima su kao ulazne vrijednosti uzete promjenjiva razina gornje vode u akumulaciji te različiti dotok vode (protok) u cilindričnu vodnu komoru koji je reguliran putem kuglastog ventila. Hidrodinamička analiza se bazira na dva odvojena dijela. U prvom dijelu je razmatrana isključivo promjena oscilacija vodnih masa u vodnoj komori kod naglog zatvaranja solenoidnog ventila, dok je drugi dio analize vezan za pojavu hidrauličkog udara i definiranje brzine širenja tlačnih poremećaja u vodi. Za potrebe istraživanja na fizikalnom modelu korištena je sofisticirana mjerna tehnika kao i primjena osciloskopa.

An investigation of the failure of a 1/4" ball valve

This paper describes the failure analysis of a 1/4 in. brass ball valve that operated extensively in a partially opened state. The valve showed signs of extreme erosion and corrosion damage and was eventually replaced due to leakage from the valve body. The failure mechanisms observed are a result of improper valve selection and/or operational error. Summary of failure causes•The valve was left partially open for prolonged throttling applications. This resulted in extensive fluid and cavitation erosion.•Abrasive particles (sand) became embedded in the seals. These particles scratched grooves into the ball surface and prevented proper sealing.•Saltwater weakened the brass components through a de-alloying corrosion process. Corrosion was further expedited by cavitation.Ball valves are not intended for continuous throttling operations in harsh environments. Use of a globe type valve is recommended for controlling fluid flow rate in this application.

Paramedian Supracerebellar Approach in Semi-Sitting Position for Endoscopic Resection of Pineal Cyst: 2-Dimensional Operative Video.

In this video, we present the case of a 41-yr-old female with new onset of recurrent syncopal episodes. She underwent extensive evaluations and diagnostic work-up by cardiology and neurology, excluding any other cause than a large pineal cyst that was found on magnetic resonance imaging. Surgical indications for pineal cyst resection are very limited as most pineal cyst can be treated conservatively. Recurrent drop-attacks (without loss of consciousness) or syncopal episodes (with brief loss of consciousness) have been associated with pineal cysts secondary to a possible ball valve effect with shift of position causing sudden obstruction of the ventricular system followed by rapid rising of intracranial pressure. Several approaches, different positions, and alternative surgical techniques (microscopic vs endoscopic) have been proposed for resection of pineal region lesions. The semi-sitting position provides excellent exposure of the pineal region secondary to gravity-based retraction of the cerebellum, and carries minimal risk of air venous embolism when head elevation is reduced to 30° and lower extremities are elevated. The paramedian supracerebellar approach is less invasive and faster than midline supracerebellar approach, because it requires exposure of just 1 transverse sinus (nondominant for centered lesions) and avoids exposure of the torcula. The endoscopic technique greatly improves the ergonomics of the approach when compared to the microscope based technique, and provides excellent visualization of all the neurovascular structures in the pineal region. Surgical resection was successfully performed with no complications and complete cyst resection. Patient was discharged on postoperative day 1 and remains free of syncopal episodes. The patient signed informed consent including the use of photographic and video material for educational or academic purposes.

Design and Simulation Study on Continuous Circulation Valve Drilling System

Continuous circulation valve (CCV) drilling is an important form of continuous circulation drilling (CCD), whose key technology lies in the design of CCV. In this paper, a T-type integrated triple valves is designed and developed, which integrates the by-pass pressure relief valve and the main channel three-way ball valve in the same principal axis section. The CCV can be switched up and down and bypass through manual adjustment mechanism, which achieves the switch between normal circulation drilling and bypass circulation drilling. In order to verify the rationality of the design, ABAQUS software is used to analysis the situation with different tension, pressure, bending, twist, internal pressure and external pressure. The result confirmed that the overall strength met the requirements. So as to analyze the feasibility of manually rotating hexagon wrench to adjust and switch the three-way valve, the maximum torque of T-type three-way valve is discussed by combining simulation analysis and numerical calculation, and the Switch t-type three - way valve can be realized manually. Further simulation verifies that the overall sealing is good of the three-way valve body valve when the three-way valve is opened and closed. The change of the diameter of T-type three-way valve causes the acceleration of liquid flow rate and the increase of mud internal pressure, which has certain iMPact on the three-way body. Generally, the three-way body has no influence on the flow flux of mud in the whole drill pipe. Finally, it is verified through field application that the T-type integrated three-way valve design is reasonable, and the simulation and calculation analysis reach the expected goal.

An analysis of quarter-turn valve drive transmission mechanisms

This article addresses problems of optimization of power specifications and efficiency improvement of electric drives for quarter-turn valves. What is proposed is a quad-link transmission mechanism having a variable transmission function matched with the ball valve torque specification. Using the elaborated and proven methodology of comparing technical solutions at the design phase, based on the qualitative-quantitative assessment and analysis of engineering and manufacturing parameters, two alternatives of the transmission mechanism construction were compared. Advantages and disadvantages of the proposed technical solutions are being analyzed. Preferable embodiments of the high-efficiency quarter-turn valve electric drive with the proposed transmission mechanism were determined.

DESIGN OF WATER LEVEL CONTROL SYSTEMS USING PID AND ANFIS BASED ON FIREFLY ALGORITHM

At present, a controlling system of the fluid flow measurement is needed in industrial processes. Determination of the water quantity is also used to reduce the volume of water usage in the holding tank varies. The effort to overcome this problem has made using a system for regulating performances while a water flow based on the tank volume controlled using a PID system. This system uses a flow sensor to detect the water speed, an electric ball valve as an actuator. In principles, this tool is used to stabilize the output water speed per minute at a predetermined set point. This study is focused in five designed method comparison in associated with a water level without control, standard PID method, PID-Auto tuning method Matlab, PID-FA method, and ANFIS-PID-FA method. The results of the PID-FA training data are used as an input from ANFIS. From the simulation, it is also found that five control models have different performances while the ANFIS-PID-FA model is performed in the best control model. The ANFIS-PID-FA model has also the smallest overshot and undershot on the water level and output flow of 0.0021 pu, 0.0093 pu, 0.0072 pu, and 0.0096 pu DOI : https://doi.org/10.26905/jeemecs.v2i1.2804

VALVE SELECTION FOR THE PURPOSE OF REDUCING THE WATER HAMMER EFFECT IN A PRESSURIZED PIPELINE

This paper discusses the gravity-fed hydraulic system, which consists of the upper reservoir, the lower reservoir, the pipeline, and valves. To achieve simpler and more efficient protection of a system against water hammer, it is advisable to establish conditions in which the pressure rises as little as possible during transient regimes without using any protective equipment. The discussion focuses on the pressure rise caused by different valve types: butterfly, needle, and ball valves, as well as two valve closure intervals – 20 and 40 seconds. The systems considered have nominal diameters of DN 300 and DN 600. The problem was studied using a simulation of unsteady flow regimes of hydraulic transport. The obtained results regarding the maximum pressure rise due to water hammer were used to select the most satisfactory control valve for the considered hydraulic system.

Valve Operability During a Fire

Fire and explosion are a major cause of concern for refinery, gas processing, petrochemical, and gas installations. The safest way to deal with a fire is to prevent it. However, fire prevention strategies are not always successful, and fires can happen. Therefore, valves should be designed and tested to be fire-safe. This paper reviews valve design features that can help prevent fires, including secondary sealing between the ball and body in case of losing a soft seat, a graphite fire-safe ring design for stem and seat sealing, antistatic devices, and antistatic tests to ensure that the valve is fire-safe. In addition to design considerations, a fire-safe design should be validated through tests defined in standards such as API 607, API RP 6FA, and ISO 10497. The API RP 6FA tests reviewed in this paper include seven tests that check the operability of the valve from closed to open position. A case study was done to prove the operability of a fail close 38″ pipeline ball valve on an oil export pipeline in case of fire during the first 20 s from the open to the closed position. Thermal analysis on the body of the valve proved that there was no thermal expansion inside the valve after 150 s of fire. Additionally, the maximum radial displacement on the valve body after 150 s of fire was 0.34 mm which is negligible. Thus, the valve thermal expansion did not disturb the operation of the valve after 20 s.

Performance analysis of a ball valve used for gas pipelines by introducing nondimensional parameters

The present study deals with the performance characteristics of a ball valve used for gas pipelines by introducing nondimensional parameters. The ball valve has relatively complex flow characteristics on the inside and downstream of the valve, although it has a simple structure as compared with the other valves. The nondimensional parameters, which define the valve operating conditions, are introduced to analyze the nature of the physical properties due to the valve’s complex flow. To define the valve flow conditions with respect to valve size, seven nondimensional parameters were selected: pressure ratio, volumetric flow rate ratio, mass flow rate ratio, Reynolds number, Mach number, valve flow coefficient, and inherent flow coefficient. The open-loop type experimental setup is designed to measure the pressure drop and the volumetric flow rate of the ball valve according to the opening rate (angle) of the test valve. Based on the experimental data, obtained by the data acquisition system of the test rig, useful nondimensional parameters to define the nature of the valve performance have been selected and determined. Throughout the experimental analysis of the ball valve, it was found that the nondimensional parameters of pressure ratio, Reynolds number, and Mach number have a similar tendency as related to the valve performance. It can be seen that the intrinsic characteristics of the ball valve are represented by the selected nondimensional parameters, which are defined irrespective of the valve size. The authors proposed a quadratic polynomial for the volumetric flow rate ratio, and the mass flow rate ratio, and introduced the formula for predicting the inherent flow coefficient by the cubic approximation polynomial. It is noted that the nondimensional parameters of the ball valve can be used to determine the performance characteristics with respect to the valve-opening rate and size effectively.

Simple yet effective modifications to the operation of the Sediment Isolation Microplastic unit to avoid polyvinyl chloride (PVC) contamination

Effective microplastic extraction from sediment and soil samples requires a density separation step, with the ability to remove >80 % of plastic particles without introducing substantial contamination. Additional benefits such as affordability and simplicity allow microplastic campaigns on limited budgets the ability to achieve high extraction efficacies. Coppock et al. (2017) designed the Sediment Microplastic Isolation (SMI) unit with these criteria in mind, warning that long-term use may lead to polyvinyl chloride (PVC) contamination. As part of the method validation work for a large-scale international project, collecting samples from more than 100 rivers globally, a pilot study of extraction efficiency and contamination potential of an SMI unit was performed. PVC contamination occurred during the extraction of 20 samples, with indicative grey shavings found in both negative controls and field samples. The original protocol was modified and artificially spiked sediments (positive blanks) were run to test extraction efficacy. The modification, requiring the PVC ball valve to remain open throughout the extraction. This modification eliminated contamination caused by wear and tear of the ball valve, while still maintaining recovery rates >80 %.Three points describing the change not the original:•The PVC ball valve is open while sample is agitated with a magnetic stirrer.•The PVC ball valve remains open while the solution is decanted.•The upper chamber is unscrewed and rinsed; recovering particles attached to the inner walls that would be lost using other filtration approaches.

Rare case of inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor presenting with pneumothorax

Introduction. An inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor (IMT) is a rare mesenchymal tumor of unclear etiology, which demonstrates myofibroblastic differentiation accompanied by inflammatory cells. IMT is a frequent primary lung tumor in children and is of nonspecific symptomatology and imaging methods. Its definitive diagnosis requires histopathology and immunohistochemistry of the tissue sample obtained after a rigid bronchoscopy or after complete surgical resection. Case report. A 16-year-old male patient was admitted to our clinic for further treatment of IMT verified by rigid bronchoscopy. He had previously been treated at another institution for left-sided pneumothorax with thoracic drainage. Since it had not resulted in lung reexpansion, a chest computed tomography was performed followed by rigid bronchoscopy that eventually established IMT diagnosis in the distal part of the left main bronchus. Since the tumor sur-rounded the left lobar carina and infiltrated the pulmonary artery, pneumonectomy was undertaken. Its morphology and immunoprofile determined the IMT diagnosis. Four years after surgical resection, the patient showed no recidivism of the illness. Conclusion. IMT is one of the most frequent primary lung tumors in children and needs to always be suspected up-on. Pneumothorax can appear as an IMT manifestation. Its occurrence could be the consequence of either a visceral pleura lesion in case of peripheral tumors or a ball valve mechanism in case of endobronchial tumors. Definitive diagnosis of IMT requires not only histopathology but also immunohistochemical analysis. Complete surgical resection results in the best survival rates. Further monitoring of patients is necessary due to the risk of recurrence.

An integrated AHP-DEA methodology for evaluation and ranking of production methods in industrial environments

Decision making about the superior method to produce products is essential to growth and dynamism of productive organisations. In this regard, utilising a model to evaluate the comprehensive performance of different manufacturing methods is significant. In addition, defining and finding the suitable indexes of decision making is required to the proper implementation of performance evaluation system. Thus, in this study, it is attempted to select the best production method and to supply material using data envelopment analysis (DEA) technique and analytic hierarchy process (AHP). In this regard, the performance of ball valve production in Petro Nab Sepahan Manufacturing Company is assessed and ranked using these two methods by considering dimensions such as quality, cost and function as well as acquired measures.

Establishing meter under registration on domestic premises with roof tanks

Abstract The Public Authority for Electricity and Water in Oman carried out an initial estimate of legitimate domestic night consumption (LDNC) based on an assessment of night consumption surveys of over 1,500 premises. However, no allowance for meter under-registration (MUR) had been applied in the assessment. This paper reports on a study to identify MUR in Oman, which can be applied to the results of the survey for LDNC. All premises in Oman are required to have a roof tank in order for customers to maintain their supply in the case of mains water supply interruptions. Regulations require that the roof tanks provide at least two days' storage. It is believed that roof tanks could have a significant impact on MUR due to the long ‘tails’ generated by the operation of the ball valve controlling the refilling of the roof tank. It was therefore decided that a study should be carried out to review the main drivers for MUR and the likely level of MUR to be expected in Oman, particularly at low flows such as those experienced at night time when a single toilet is flushed. In regards to the sample of properties included in the MUR survey, it was suspected that in the case of apartment blocks, the revenue meters will normally be located after the roof tank, in which case the roof tank will not influence MUR. This study sought to confirm this. Half the premises were fitted with an unmeasured flow reducer on a bypass so that the potential of such devices to reduce MUR could be investigated. Oman has continuous water supply. There were no supply interruptions during the study. The paper describes details of the plumbing arrangements developed for the study and the results established as part of the programme. It also takes the opportunity to report on the level of daily and night consumption experienced on the study area.

Why are Butterfly Valves a Good Alternative to Ball Valves for Utility Services in the Offshore Industry?

Ball and butterfly valves are quarter-turn type valves that are widely used in the oil and gas industry for stopping and starting (isolation and opening) of the flow of fluid. Ball valves have a very robust design and they are a very common choice for aggressive process services involving flammable and possibly toxic fluids such as hydrocarbons. On the other hand, butterfly valves are lighter, more compact, and cheaper than ball valves, so they are a good choice for non-aggressive services such as water, oxygen, etc. Butterfly valves are not as robust as ball valves in process services, and therefore require higher maintenance costs. This paper aims to focus on the characteristics that make butterfly valves more suitable than ball valves in utility services. The parameters discussed are face-to-face, weight, and torque. Torque is a measure of how much force can act on a valve operator to rotate the valve closure member to be opened or closed. A comparison of the face-to-face (length) of ball and butterfly valves in Class 150 (pressure nominal 20) and size ranges of 4” to 20” shows that butterfly valves are approximately 84% more compact than even short pattern ball valves. It should be noted that utility services are mainly found in low pressure classes such as Class 150. Also, butterfly valves are not recommended to be used in sizes less than 4” due to pressure drop. The weight comparison between ball and butterfly valves in the above-mentioned size and pressure class shows that butterfly valves are approximately 75% lighter than ball valves. The last part of this paper compares the torque values and actuator size of 10” Class 150 butterfly and ball valves. The torque values of the butterfly valve are lower than the torque values of the ball valve, which leads to a more compact actuator, a mechanical device installed on the top of the valve for automatic operation. In fact, there is much space limitation on offshore platforms compared to onshore units. Additionally, offshore platforms have limited weight capacity so it is an advantage to save space and weight on the platforms through selecting a lighter and more compact valve.

Recent advances and challenges on application of tissue engineering for treatment of congenital heart disease.

Congenital heart disease (CHD) affects a considerable number of children and adults worldwide. This implicates not only developmental disorders, high mortality, and reduced quality of life but also, high costs for the healthcare systems. CHD refers to a variety of heart and vascular malformations which could be very challenging to reconstruct the malformed region surgically, especially when the patient is an infant or a child. Advanced technology and research have offered a better mechanistic insight on the impact of CHD in the heart and vascular system of infants, children, and adults and identified potential therapeutic solutions. Many artificial materials and devices have been used for cardiovascular surgery. Surgeons and the medical industry created and evolved the ball valves to the carbon-based leaflet valves and introduced bioprosthesis as an alternative. However, with research further progressing, contracting tissue has been developed in laboratories and tissue engineering (TE) could represent a revolutionary answer for CHD surgery. Development of engineered tissue for cardiac and aortic reconstruction for developing bodies of infants and children can be very challenging. Nevertheless, using acellular scaffolds, allograft, xenografts, and autografts is already very common. Seeding of cells on surface and within scaffold is a key challenging factor for use of the above. The use of different types of stem cells has been investigated and proven to be suitable for tissue engineering. They are the most promising source of cells for heart reconstruction in a developing body, even for adults. Some stem cell types are more effective than others, with some disadvantages which may be eliminated in the future.

Deep belief network-based internal valve leakage rate prediction approach

If a leak occurs for a valve in a natural gas station, it will first cause economic loss. Second, the gas leakage may also lead to the pollution of other pipeline systems as well as to environmental pollution. Under extreme conditions, it may even lead to an explosion, endangering the safety of the staff. Therefore, we urgently need a means to solve these problems. At present, acoustic emission (AE) detection technology is the most widely used method of diagnosing the valve leakage. The effects of gas leakage mainly depend on the valve leakage rate. However, the internal valve leakage rate is a multivariable, nonlinear, and time-varying process. Therefore, the accurate prediction of the valve leakage rate is an important challenge. Recognising this challenge, a novel prediction method, namely, regression-based deep belief network (DBN), which substitutes the linear regression (LR) layer for the linear softmax classification layer at the top of the general DBN’s structure, has been proposed to predict the internal leakage rates of a valve in a natural gas pipeline. The internal leakage signals of a ball valve and a plug valve were collected using the AE system. The time–frequency features of the signals, inlet pressure of the pipe, and the valve type are used as the input variables to predict the leakage rates with the DBN model. The ball valve leakage data, plug valve leakage data, and mixed leakage data of both are used to establish and test the proposed models separately. At the same time, the back-propagation neural network (BPNN), support vector regression using linear (L-SVR), polynomial (P-SVR) and Radial basis function (RBF-SVR) kernels and the proposed DBN were all developed and compared to check the performance. After analysing the prediction results of these models, we found that the nonlinear and unstable features of the valve internal leakage signals could be well studied by using the DBN model. In addition, the performance of the DBN model was superior to that of the traditional prediction models for the three types of data. Therefore, it can be proven that the proposed model has huge practical application value for predicting the gas leakage rates of a valve in a natural gas pipeline system and has a guiding significance for predicting the other fluid leakage rates of a valve in other pipeline systems.

Computer simulated “Virtual TAVR” to guide TAVR in the presence of a previous Starr-Edwards mitral prosthesis

BackgroundWe evaluated the utility of the HeartNavigator III software (Philips Healthcare, Netherlands) to create a patient specific three-dimensional model using ECG-gated CT images to plan Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR) in a patient with previous Starr-Edwards mitral prosthesis. MethodsA patient with a previous Starr-Edwards mitral prosthesis considered too high risk for conventional surgery required TAVR. It was uncertain whether this would be possible whilst avoiding the complication of the aortic prosthesis interacting with the high-profile Starr-Edwards cage and ball valve mechanism. To ensure it would be feasible and aid in the planning of the procedure a patient specific three-dimensional model was created from ECG-gated CT images using HeartNavigator III software (Philips Healthcare, Netherlands). ResultsThe patient specific model allowed simulated “virtual” TAVR implantations to be performed with different models and sizes of aortic prosthesis. These pre-implant simulations allowed a safe and feasible implant strategy to be chosen. The images were also co-registered with fluoroscopy to guide deployment. ConclusionUsing a patient-specific CT simulation technique we performed TAVR with a high level of precision, achieving a clear margin between a Portico (Abbot Vascular, US) TAVR and the Starr-Edwards cage.

Predicting the Load-Carrying Capacity and Wear Resistance of Duplex-Coated Low-Strength Alloys for Severe Service Ball Valves

The load-carrying capacity and wear resistance of a duplex-coated 316 stainless steel were determined, and a finite element numerical approach was developed to predict and corroborate experimental observations. Low-strength alloys are generally used for highly demanding valve applications due to their superior chemical stability, galvanic corrosion resistance, and lower susceptibility to stress corrosion cracking failure. Hardfacing (using thermal spraying, laser cladding, or plasma transferred arc welding) is currently the most common solution to protect valve components. Hardfacing provides a thick, hardened case that significantly improves tribological performance. However, hardfaced layers provide lower wear resistance compared to vacuum-deposited hard coatings. One solution to further improve hardfacing performance is a duplex approach, which combines the two processes. This study investigates the following materials: a 316 stainless steel base hardfaced with laser-cladded Co-Cr superalloy and topped with a CVD nanostructured W-WC coating. Tribological properties of three configurations were assessed for their ability to delay initiation of plastic deformation and surface cracking under quasistatic loading and for their resistance to dry reciprocal sliding wear. The results demonstrate that finite element modeling allows numerical prediction and comparison of the load-carrying capacity and wear resistance of duplex-coated AISI 316 stainless steel.

A fault diagnosis and quality prediction method of ball valves based on state transition probability matrix in Markov chain

Product quality is very important because many faults have a real impact on users directly. It is significative that Markov chain theory is applied in product quality prediction. A new method of state transition probability matrix in Markov chain is used to provide fault diagnosis and quality prediction in this paper. The aim of this study is to deliver a quality prediction method for mechanical and electrical product by using the data collection and analysis techniques. Firstly, a new approach of fault diagnosis was presented by using the theory of state transition probability matrix. Then, Markov chain theory is used to build the mathematical patterns in the quality prediction with the state transition probability matrix. Finally, we illustrate the veracity rationality and science of the approved method using a numerical example of ball valves.