The valves are used widely to control and regulate the flow of fluids though pipes. These valves are usually kept under the category of pipe fittings. But in modern times, there are companies that are specialized in manufacturing the various types of industrial valves. The term valve is employed in a variety of contexts such as military, industry, transportation, commercial and residential. The industrial valves are mainly concerned with oil and gas transportation, generation of power, mining, sewerage, and manufacture of chemicals. The valves may be either operated manually or they may be automatic.

The manual valves can be operated with the help of a hand wheel, lever or pedal. But the automatic valves are operated by the changes in the pressure, temperature or volume of the fluids. These differences trigger the piston or diaphragm and which then activates the valve. For instance, the safety valves found in steam boilers or hot water systems are automatic industrial valves. Some of the complex control systems in the industry also require valves and they cannot alone control the flow, based on the external input. So for this purpose these systems require an actuator. This actuator will knock the valve based upon its inputs and this in turn helps the valve to be set in an appropriate position.

Different types of industrial valves

The classification of the different kinds of industrial valves has to be based on two different criteria. The first criterion is the variation in their designs and the second one is based on the differences in their operation. Some of the common kinds of valves that are differentiated based on the first criterion are gate valve, poppet valve, check valve, butterfly valve, ball valve and pinch valve. The valves that are classified based on the operation are manual valves, solenoid valves, hydraulic or pneumatic valves.

Any kind of valve usually has the following important parts. They are body and bonnet which form the main casing of the valve and ports which allow the flow of fluid in and out of the valve. Other parts may include seat, stem, spring and valve ball.