Valves are components commonly found on almost all process systems involving liquid control. Irrespective of the scale of the operation, it is likely that valves, tanks, pumps, and pipelines are a part of the pumping system. There are many kinds of valves. Valves control the flow rate, routing, and direction of fluids inside a processing operation. Flow can begin, modulate, or stop between full and zero rates utilizing an appropriately configured and sized valve. Some valves let the diversion of media flow to a collection of outlets in place of a single outlet and inlet pair. Dedicated valves regulate outlet or inlet pressure or prevent fluid flow from moving in an unwanted direction. These abilities are packed into varying valve product features that present a vast selection range to an engineer or process designer.

Generally, the types of industrial flow control valves are classified according to an arrangement or structure contained inside the body of the valve that obstructs the flow of liquid. Common valves are plug, globe, gate, butterfly, and ball. This blog will focus on the oldest type of valve, the plug valve. The shape of a plug valve is like a cylinder or cone. It employs a rotating plug within a valves body to control the flow of fluid. Plug valves have at least one horizontal passageway to permit flow through them when open. Often plug valves are used for moving gases or liquids, but they are rarely ever utilized for moving solids. Depending on their use, they usually have a couple of ports but can also have at least three ports. Plug valves are flow control valve that permits the user to decrease or increase flow by carrying out the handle rotation or other similar operation.

How do Plug Valves Work?

Plug valves such as butterfly and ball valves span from closed to open positions with a shaft revolution of ninety degrees completely. The installation of the plug inside a plug valve is done in the movement pathway inside the valve body and revolved through a shaft or stem expanding to the bodys exterior. The plugs are often tapered towards the bottom and attached to a seating surface inside the valve body cavity that stops the liquid from detouring the plug. An opening done through the port of the plug can be formed to give specific flow characteristics. There are multiple versions of the primary plug valve, which might make it suit particular users. A standard version is the sleeved or lined plug valve, with an interior or insert lining of material that develops an isolating barrier between the plug valve media and the valve body. This permits the use of less costly materials to construct the body that might be otherwise subjected to corrosion by getting exposed to aggressive media.

Media of Plug Valves

As discussed earlier, plug valves can move gases or liquids. Perhaps, a significant factor that needs to be considered when choosing a plug valve is knowing what kind of media should be moved. For instance, in the piping industry, a globe valve employs a plug mechanism for controlling the movement of fluids. When the proper lubrication of plug valves is done, their utilization can be done for handling sluggish or abrasive materials present in piping systems and untidy upstream applications. You need toshop plug valves at wholesale rates from formen valve to get highly lubricated plug valves for running your piping operations.

Advantages of Plug Valve

• Ninety-degree rotation from closed to open provides rapid operation.
• With appropriate configuration, the plug valve can suit well for frequent operation.
• Plug valve has a simple structure, and it uses a low component count
• The servicing of the valve can be done in place.
• Usually, the resistance to flow is low when completely open.
• Some versions have a dependable leak-tight facility because of tapered plug wedging action, lubricant injection, and replaceable sleeves.
• The presence of corrosion-resistant liner might offer comparative cost reductions as valve bodies can even be built with a less costly material.

Disadvantages of Plug Valve

• Higher friction inside the plug closure mechanism might need relatively higher operating torque than the rest of the types of valves.
• Without a specially developed plug, generally not well suited to throttle applications.
• Fast shut off offered by plug design might not suit some uses where hammering might occur.