3 Piece 316 Stainless Steel Ball Valve Description:
3 piece ball valve and gate valve are the same types of valve. The difference is that its closing part is a sphere. The sphere rotates around the centerline of the valve body to achieve opening and closing. The ball valve is mainly used to cut off, distribute and change the flow direction of the medium in the pipeline. The three-piece ball valve is a new type of valve that has been widely used in recent years. The working principle of the ball valve is to make the valve unblocked or blocked by rotating the valve. The ball valve switch is light, small in size, can be made into a large diameter, reliable in sealing, simple in structure, easy to maintain, the sealing surface and the spherical surface are often closed, and it is not easy to be eroded by the medium. It is widely used in various industries.
Within the Stainless Steel Ball Valve series, there are actually two types of Stainless, 304 and 316. These are two different material grades that have different make-ups. For more corrosion resistance, you can utilize the 316 grade, as it has an element called molybdenum which increases the corrosion resistance even greater than standard 304 Stainless.
The Advantages Of 3 Piece Ball Valves:
- The fluid resistance is small, and its resistance coefficient is equal to that of a pipe section of the same length.
- Simple structure, small size, and lightweight.
- It is tight and reliable. The sealing surface material of the ball valve is widely used in plastics and has good sealing performance. It has also been widely used in vacuum systems.
- It is easy to operate and open and close quickly. It only needs to rotate 90° from fully open to fully closed, which is convenient for remote control.
- The maintenance is convenient, the structure of the ball valve is simple, the sealing ring is generally movable, and it is convenient to disassemble and replace.
- When fully open or fully closed, the sealing surface of the ball and the valve seat is isolated from the medium. When the medium passes, it will not cause erosion of the valve sealing surface.
- It has a wide range of applications, with a diameter ranging from a few millimeters to a few meters, and can be applied from high vacuum to high pressure.
A 3 piece ball valve is preferred wherever regular cleaning is required. The valve body is composed of 3 separate pieces held together by bolts, which can be easily removed for cleaning and servicing. A unique advantage of the 3 piece valve design is that the ball valve ends can remain threaded into the pipe, while the center section containing the ball can be removed. These 3 piece ball valves have been specifically designed to be easily disassembled, cleaned, and reassembled. Stainless steel 3 piece ball valves are widely used for a variety of sanitary applications that are required for pharmaceutical and food/beverage industries.
The Working Principle Of 3 Piece Ball Valves:
1. Opening Process
- In the closed position, the ball is pressed against the valve seat by the mechanical pressure of the valve stem.
- When the handwheel is turned counterclockwise, the valve stem moves in the opposite direction, and its bottom angular plane makes the ball free from the valve seat.
- The valve stem continues to lift and interacts with the guide pin in the spiral groove of the valve stem, causing the ball to start rotating without friction.
- Until it reaches the fully open position, the valve stem is raised to the limit position and the ball rotates to the fully open position.
2. Closing Process
- When closing, turn the handwheel clockwise, the valve stem begins to descend and the ball leaves the valve seat and starts to rotate.
- Continue to rotate the handwheel, the valve stem is acted on by the guide pin embedded in the upper spiral groove, so that the valve stem and the ball rotate 90° at the same time.
- When it is about to close, the ball has rotated 90° without contact with the valve seat.
- In the last few turns of the handwheel, the angular plane at the bottom of the valve stem mechanically wedges and presses the ball, making it tightly pressed against the valve seat to achieve a complete seal.
