How To Select High-Quality Ball Valves? J-VALVES Provides You with A Professional Guide

In various industrial and civil pipeline systems, ball valves can be seen everywhere. With many advantages such as simple operation and excellent sealing performance, they play a vital role in numerous fields like petroleum, chemical engineering, gas, water supply and drainage. However, there are a wide variety of ball valve products on the current market, and the quality varies greatly, which undoubtedly brings considerable troubles to purchasers. Don't worry. J-VALVES is here to analyze in detail for you how to select high-quality ball valves, helping you clear the fog and make a wise choice.

I. Understand the Structural Principle

A ball valve is composed of components such as the valve body, ball, and valve stem. It controls the on-off of the passage by rotating the ball. Understanding this basic principle is the foundation for judging quality and can help us better evaluate the cooperation of various components and the realization of functions.

II. Focus on the Quality of Materials

Valve Body Materials: 

cast iron has a low cost and is suitable for water supply and drainage under low pressure and normal temperature; cast steel has high strength and is used in medium and high-pressure industrial pipelines; stainless steel is corrosion-resistant and is the first choice for pipelines with corrosive media in food, pharmaceutical and other industries; brass is beautiful and has a certain degree of corrosion resistance, and is often used in small-diameter water heating and gas pipelines. The appropriate valve body material should be selected according to the actual working conditions. For example, when transporting acid-base media in the chemical industry, a stainless steel valve body is more reliable.

Ball Materials:

 Stainless steel balls are wear-resistant and corrosion-resistant, and can maintain good sealing performance even with frequent operations and contact with various media. They are very suitable for chemical transportation scenarios. Brass balls can be used in occasions with specific requirements for hardness and corrosion resistance and moderate pressure, but their overall performance is not as good as that of stainless steel balls, and they are prone to wear and affect sealing under harsh working conditions.

Sealing Materials:

 PTFE sealing materials have good chemical stability, strong corrosion resistance, and a low friction coefficient. They are applicable to a variety of media and a wide temperature range, and are commonly used materials for high-quality ball valves. Among rubber sealing materials, nitrile rubber is oil-resistant, and fluoroelastomer is highly resistant to high temperature and strong corrosion. However, their overall application range is narrower than that of PTFE and is greatly affected by environmental factors.

III. Examine the Sealing Performance

Check the Sealing Test Report of the Valve:

High-quality ball valves produced by regular manufacturers will definitely conduct strict sealing tests before leaving the factory, such as strength tests and airtightness tests, and will provide corresponding detailed test reports. When purchasing, be sure to ask the manufacturer for these reports and check whether the test data meets the relevant standard requirements. For example, the leakage amount of the airtightness test of high-quality ball valves will be strictly controlled within the extremely small allowable range specified by regulations. In contrast, the leakage amount of those ball valves with unqualified quality often exceeds the standard, and there is an obvious leakage risk. The comparison between the two is clear at a glance and directly reflects the quality differences of ball valves.

Actually Observe the Appearance and Structural Details:

carefully check the sealing parts of the valve, such as the joint between the ball and the valve seat. The sealing surface of a high-quality BALL VALVE is flat and smooth. In the closed state, the ball and the valve seat fit tightly, and there are almost no obvious gaps visible to the naked eye, which ensures a good sealing effect. On the contrary, some ball valves with poor quality may have problems such as scratches and impurities on the sealing surface, resulting in the inability of the ball and the valve seat to fit tightly, and it is easy to have medium leakage. The differences in the sealing performance of the two can be easily distinguished from the appearance details. At the same time, attention should also be paid to the design of the sealing structure. The advanced sealing structure of high-quality ball valves can automatically compensate for the changes in the sealing gap caused by wear and other factors during long-term use, continuously ensuring the sealing effect. However, once the inferior ball valves are worn, their sealing performance will be greatly reduced and they cannot effectively cope with such changes.

IV. Attach Importance to Operational Flexibility

Manual Ball Valves: 

High-quality ones have easy, smooth and unobstructed manual operation, and the handle is firmly installed. Inferior ones are difficult to turn, prone to jamming, and the handle is loose, which affects their use and service life.

Electric and Pneumatic Ball Valves: 

High-quality products have a good match between the driving device and the valve. Electric ball valves operate quickly and smoothly, with sufficient motor torque and overload protection. Pneumatic ball valves have an appropriate air pressure adaptation range and are sensitive in operation. Inferior products are prone to problems such as slow operation and inaccuracy and cannot work reliably.

V. Consider the Specifications, Dimensions and Applicable Working Conditions

Specifications and Dimensions:

 Select ball valves of appropriate specifications according to the diameter of the pipeline to ensure that the connection dimensions match and the nominal pressure level meets the requirements of the medium pressure. Only ball valves that are suitable can ensure the safe and stable operation of the system. Otherwise, problems such as leakage and damage are likely to occur.

Applicable Working Conditions:

 In a high-temperature environment, materials and structures that can withstand high temperatures are required. In a low-temperature environment, the low-temperature brittleness of materials should be considered. When transporting media containing solid particles, it is necessary to prevent the accumulation of particles from jamming the ball. Selecting ball valves in combination with working conditions can avoid potential usage hazards.

In short, when purchasing high-quality ball valves, it is necessary to comprehensively consider the above-mentioned factors in all aspects. Materials, sealing performance, operational flexibility, manufacturer's qualifications, applicable working conditions and so on cannot be ignored. J-VALVES hopes that through this professional reference, it can help you accurately select high-quality ball valves that are reliable in quality and meet your needs from the numerous and complicated ball valve products, so that they can play the best performance in your pipeline system and ensure the safe and stable operation of the system.

We hope that the above optimized article can meet your needs, allowing customers to more clearly compare the characteristics of different ball valve products and make more appropriate purchasing decisions. If you have other modification opinions or ideas, please feel free to let us know.