The valves are considered as the integral components in any piping system and they are the primary method for regulating the flow of fluids. Apart from controlling the flow of the fluid, this valve also has to control the pressure and direction of it. Sometimes, the valves are required to operate continuously, for instance control valves. And sometimes, valves are required to operate at intermittent periods such as the isolation valves. The fluid valves may be extremely simple in their design or they may also have complicated design based on their functionalities.

Regulation of flow by fluid valves

Majority of applications require that the flow of the fluid to be regulated or throttled at some level which may be either fixed or variable between zero flows or the maximum flow limits which in turn requires fluid valves. This is entirely based on the nature of the applications. Limiting the flow of the fluids inside the valve is achieved by introducing a form of resistance to the flow, by changing the direction of the flow or by bypassing the flow. The important feature of any flow control valve is that the output flow of fluid is related to the valve position at the input side. The various types of valves used here are globe valves, needle valves, ball valves and butterfly valves. Though the globe and the needle valves are suited for the purpose, ball valves offer unswerving flow control for a variety of fluids.

Properties of the fluid and operation of fluid valves

The properties of the fluid that has to be controlled always have a major impact on the design and structural components of the fluid valves. The piping industry had developed a wide range of designs and materials for producing the fluid valves in order to handle virtually all kinds of fluids available. So when you are selecting a valve, the vital things you have to keep in mind are viscosity of the fluid, boiling temperature, density and most importantly the flow rate of the fluids. The valves have to withstand forms of corrosion by different agents and they should comply with the safety standards.