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Floating Ball Valves Are More Than Just Floating Ball Valves

This document discusses two types of floating ball valve seat designs - self-relief seats and double piston seats. Self-relief seats allow the upstream seat to move away from the ball if the upstream side is depressurized, while double piston seats compress the seat against the ball from both external and internal pressure. The document focuses on how double piston seat designs allow for double sealing even in low pressure systems by increasing the internal cavity pressure up to 20 bars using a neutral medium like nitrogen, water or oil. An auxiliary valve is needed to control the internal cavity pressure and create double sealing.

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66 views3 pages

Floating Ball Valves Are More Than Just Floating Ball Valves

This document discusses two types of floating ball valve seat designs - self-relief seats and double piston seats. Self-relief seats allow the upstream seat to move away from the ball if the upstream side is depressurized, while double piston seats compress the seat against the ball from both external and internal pressure. The document focuses on how double piston seat designs allow for double sealing even in low pressure systems by increasing the internal cavity pressure up to 20 bars using a neutral medium like nitrogen, water or oil. An auxiliary valve is needed to control the internal cavity pressure and create double sealing.

Uploaded by

Utomo
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Floating ball valves are

more than just floating ball


valves: Part 2
When floating seats are used in a floating ball valve, they can be one of two basic
designs. They can either be self-relief seats, as illustrated in fig. 5, or double piston seats,
as illustrated in fig. 6.

Figure 5

Figure 6

Regardless of which solution is used, the main seal of the valve will be its downstream
seat, just as in fixed seat valves. The difference between the valves illustrated in figs. 5
and 6 consists of the way in which the upstream seat works. The seats in both solutions
are spring-loaded and seal as upstream seats when the valve cavity is depressurized.
Thus, both valves can achieve double sealing in the direction of the pressure (double
barrier).

The fact that the seats in fig. 5 are self-relief means that the pressure inside the cavity
forces the upstream seat away from the ball if the system is depressurized on the
upstream side of the valve. There will always be some pressure left in the cavity; the
amount of that pressure depends on the springs’ resistance.

The seats illustrated in fig. 6 are double-piston seats. This means that they are
compressed against the ball when the system pressure comes from both outside and from
the valve cavity, as illustrated in fig. 7. It is the same area that is being activated in both
cases. On the left side, the external pressure pushes the seat against the ball and on the
right side the pressure from the cavity pulls the seat against the ball. The big advantage of
having floating ball valves with such a design is that the pressure inside the valve cavity
can be increased and double sealing can be achieved by means of over-pressurization.
This can be successfully used in low pressure systems.

Figure 7

Since the force of sealing in low-pressure systems is small, making these valves
completely leak-tight can be challenging. However, if we have a valve of the type
illustrated in fig. 8, we can increase the pressure inside the cavity to as high as 20 bars, as
shown in the example. We can use a neutral medium such as N2, water or lubricating oil,
depending on which one is compatible with the system environment. Of course, the
valve’s pressure limit must not be exceeded.
Figure 8.

When creating double sealing, either by means of depressurization or over-pressurization,


a prerequisite is for the valve body to be equipped with an auxiliary valve. There is
hardly anything that can be done without such a valve. As mentioned in the first part of
this article, it is unusual for auxiliary valves to be fitted in, nor are there normally any
holes made in, the body of the valve so as to make it possible to control the pressure
inside the cavity.

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