Middle-East Journal of Scientific Research 22 (7): 1077-1081, 2014

ISSN 1990-9233
© IDOSI Publications, 2014
DOI: 10.5829/idosi.mejsr.2014.22.07.21972

Prediction of Flow Coefficient and Hydrodynamic

Torque Coefficient in Butterfly Valve

K. Jeyaprakash, M. Mohamed Ariffuddeen, J. Selvakumar and V. Karthik

SNS College of Technology, Coimbatore, India

Abstract: A Butterfly Valve is commonly used as control device in applications where the inlet velocity is high
and the pressure drop required is relatively low. As the butterfly valves are used as shut off valves or throttling
valves, higher performance and better precision are required. Thus it is very essential to know about the flow
characteristic around the valve. In order to numerically analyze the incompressible fluid flow through a butterfly
valve, the available three turbulence models can be used. The available models are (1) k- turbulence model
(2) Reynolds Shear Stress turbulence model (3) k- turbulence model. Amongst all the available models, the
k- turbulence model is more accurate at boundary level flows especially at the valve opening angle smaller
than 20° and computationally cheap when compared to k- and Reynolds Shear Stress turbulence model.
Hence, the present work aims to conduct the numerical simulation using k- turbulence model. In this
proposed work, the performance factors of the valve such as flow co-efficient, hydrodynamic torque co-efficient
and also the accuracy of the employed method are predicted using CFX module in ANSYS. The results are
analyzed to understand the process of different fluids flow at different valve opening angle with different
surface roughness of the disc of the butterfly valve. The results of the three dimensional analysis can be used
in the design of butterfly valve for industrial purpose.

Key words: Turbulence model Flow coefficient Hydrodynamic torque coefficient Butterfly valve and
surface roughness

INTRODUCTION

Butterfly valves are commonly used in industrial

applications to control the internal flow of both
compressible and incompressible fluids. A Butterfly valve
typically consists of a metal disc formed around a central
shaft, which acts as its axis of rotation. As the valve's
opening angle, , is increased from 0° (fully closed) to 90°
(fully open), fluid is able to more readily flow past the
valve. Butterfly valves must be able to withstand the Fig. 1: Butterfly Valve of 1.8 m Diameter
stresses and forces that results from high Reynolds
number flows. Characterizing a valve's performance
factors, such as pressure drop, hydrodynamic torque and to assess the feasibility of using CFD to predict
flow coefficient are necessary for fluid system designers performance factors of Butterfly valve. The butterfly valve
to account for system requirements to properly operate of 1.8 m diameter is shown in Fig. 1.
the valve and prevent permanent damage from occurring Fig. 2 shows the flowchart of the proposed method.
to the valve.
This paper compares a 1.8 m diameter Butterfly Organization: The paper is organized into the
valve's experimental performance factors to those following sections. Section 2 is an overview of related
obtained using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and work. The valve performance parameters are described in

Corresponding Author: K. Jeyaprakash, SNS College of Technology, Coimbatore, India. E-mail: [email protected].
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Prema, et al. [6] investigated numerically the butterfly

valve disc geometry and its effect on the valve
performance at the fully open position when operating in
an incompressible fluid flow.
Song et al. [7] performed a structural analysis of large
Butterfly valves, in addition to validating three-
dimensional experimental data of a Butterfly valve's
pressure drop, flow coefficient and hydrodynamic torque
coefficient using general purpose CFD code CFX. The k-
turbulence model was selected by Song since it does not
involve the complex non- linear damping functions
required by other models. In the 20 degree case,
Fig. 2: Flowchart of the Proposed Scheme differences between experimental and simulation data
were found to be nearly 50%.
section 3. The turbulence model is described in The aim of the present work is to develop a CFD
section 4. Section 5 discusses the CFD geometry model. model of a butterfly valve using the CFX module in
Results & conclusion are contained in section 6&7 ANSYS 14.5, which accurately represents the flow-field
respectively. and provides insight of three-dimensional behavior of the
flow around the valve and predicts the performance
Related Work: Song and Park [1] conducted a numerical factors of the valve [8].
simulation of a three dimensional butterfly valve operating
in an incompressible fluid for various valve opening Flow and Hydrodynamic Torque Coefficient
angles. The flow field was visualized and the pressure Flow Coefficient: The flow coefficient is used to relate to
drop, flow coefficient and hydrodynamic torque the pressure loss of a valve to the discharge of the valve
coefficient values were determined. at a given valve opening angle. Today, CV is the most
Danbon and Solliec [2] conducted an experimental widely used value for valve size and pipe system. By
research to study the influence of an elbow located using the CV, a proper valve size can be accurately
upstream of a butterfly valve on the time average and on determined for most applications. The most common form
the fluctuating aerodynamic torque. Due to the rapid used by valve industry is Equation (1):
development in computing power and the progress in
computer visualizations, more researchers have adopted Q
Cv =
the use of numerical methods and computational fluid ∆P (1)
dynamics (CFD) techniques in their research. Sg
Leutwyler and Dalton [3] performed a CFD study in where the pressure drop P can be measured from static
two and three dimensions for symmetric Butterfly valves wall taps located 2 pipe diameters upstream and 6 pipe
in compressible fluids at various angles and over a range diameters downstream of the valve. And P is the
of pressure ratios. The general purpose CFD code pressure drop, Q is discharge of the incompressible fluid
FLUENT was used with the following turbulence models: and Sg is the specific gravity of the fluid.
Spalart - Allmaras, k- and k- . Leutwyler [4] favored the
k- turbulence model for its well-rounded capabilities and Hydrodynamic Torque Coefficient: Hydrodynamic torque
moderate computational costs. In addition to examining T ( ) is produced by the shaft of the butterfly valve when
grid refinement, coefficients for lift, drag and torque were the fluid flows through the valve at a given valve opening
validated against experimental values. angle . The hydrodynamic torque coefficient CT is a
Henderson et al. [5] measured torque and head loss factor, which is independent of the size of the valve.
of a symmetrical Butterfly valve installed in a hydro- Equation (2) shows the relation between CT, T and valve
electric power generating scheme for steady flow at diameter [9].
Reynolds numbers of order 106. This was done for valve
opening angles of 10 to 80 degrees in 10 degree T( )
CT =
increments. ∆Pnet d 3 (2)

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Table 1: Comparison of Different Turbulence Models

Strengths Weaknesses
k- and k- model are k- overestimates turbulence
computationally cheap
k- model is more accurate at Reynolds stress is computationally
boundary level flows expensive
Reynolds stress is generally Reynolds stress underestimated
more accurate long range effect

Turbulence Model: The Reynolds Averaged Navier-

Stokes (RANS) Equations are the models which seek to
modify the original unsteady Navier-Stokes Equations by Fig. 3: Mesh at valve opening angle 20 degree
the introduction of averaged and fluctuating quantities.
However, the averaging procedure introduces additional Table 2: Boundary Conditions
unknown terms containing products of the fluctuating Surface Domain Boundary Condition
quantities, which act like additional stresses in the fluid. Inlet Velocity Inlet
These terms, called Reynolds stresses, are difficult to Outlet Pressure Outlet
Valve Disc Wall
determine directly and so become further unknowns.
Pipe Surface Wall
The Reynolds (turbulent) stresses need to be modeled by
additional equations of known quantities in order to
achieve “closure”. To solve this, many turbulence models According to the Research of Song and Park [1] the
have been created. Hereinto, three models are most upstream and downstream pipe lengths should be at least
commonly used, i.e. the k- model, k- model and 2 and 8 disk diameters respectively [11].
Reynolds Shear Stress Model. The transport equation of
k and can be described in equation (3) & (4) [10]. Meshing of Valve: Besides those remarkable factors,
another important factor affecting the accuracy of the
simulation is the quality of “meshing”. Theoretically, the
∂ ∂ ∂   ∂k 
( k) + ( ku
= i)  + t
  + Gk − Yk + Sk(3) more elements in the geometry, the higher mesh quality
∂t ∂xi ∂xi  k  ∂x j  and the better the accuracy of the results is. Simultaneity,
a longer computer calculation time will be take [12].
Fig. 3 shows the closed view of CFD mesh on the X-Z
∂ ∂ ∂  ∂ 
( )+ ( ui )
=  + t
 +G −Y + S symmetry plane for a valve angle of = 20. Tetrahedral
∂t ∂xi ∂xi   ∂x j  elements were used for meshing the model with prism
(4)
layers for modeling.
where Gk represents the generation of turbulent kinetic
energy the arises due to mean velocity gradients and G Boundary Conditions: A summary of the boundary
is generation of . Yk and Y represent the dissipation of conditions used is given in Table. II., inlet velocity was
k and due to turbulence. Yk and Y are the turbulent set at 3 m/s with fully developed velocity profile, while the
Prandtl numbers for k and respectively. pressure at the outlet was set to zero Pascal. The valve
disk and pipe surface were both set as wall with surface
Correspondingly, the k- model offers no advantage roughness height 0.5 mm.
and the Reynolds stress model is too expensive in
computation. Comparison of different turbulence model is RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
given in Table I.
Fig. 4 shows the flow coefficient obtained for
CFD Geometry Model different turbulence models at various valve opening
Geometry Description: The valve disk diameter angles. The valve opening angle of 5°, 10°, 15° and 20°
considered for the present study is 1.8 m. A rubber seal the percentage of accuracy between CFX simulation
around rim of the valve was not modeled to avoid using k- turbulence model and experimental data has
problems associated with meshing very small volumes; been improved to 1.76, 4.12, 0.43 and 0.39% respectively
the gap closed by the seal is small and was not expected compared with k- model. CV is mainly dependent on the
to have a significant effect on the flow through the valve. root of pressure drop.

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dimensional analysis can be used in the design of

Butterfly valve in industrial purpose. This work can be
further expanded to different valve opening angles and
different turbulence models.

REFERENCES

1. Song, X.G. and Y.C. Park, 2007. Numerical Analysis of

Butterfly Valve-Prediction of Flow Coefficient and
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