The Importance of Valves

Valves are more common than you might realise, in all different walks of life, not least within our own veins and arteries. And indeed, this is a great example of how important they can be: a literal case of life and death, for us.

In fact, in our industry, valves are so important in flow control that we now offer various different types. So, in this, the next in our series of blogs about flow control, we explain why they are useful – indeed, essential – to us and our customers.

Some of the different valves that IBS can provide are listed below:

• Gate Valves
• Swing Check Valves
• Knife Gate Valves
• Butterfly Valves
• Non-return Valves

Here, we detail a few of the key options (sadly, some sound more picturesque than they actually are), with four very different uses.

Gate Valves

A gate valve is – not surprisingly – like a gate: open or closed. It is used to either shut off, or fully release, a fluid flow. It is used either in the fully closed or fully open positions.

Butterfly Valves

The butterfly valve is a rotary valve with a disk-shaped element which is rotated 90° to open or close the flow passage. It is used in throttling service, particularly where large-size valves with automatic actuators are required. A Butterfly valve cannot be used where a non-obstructed, full opening is needed

Flap Valves

A Flap valve is a type of non-return valve that prevents liquid from returning back up a discharge pipe or a culvert. A flow of liquid arriving from upstream, will hit the back face of the flap valve door and push it off its’ seating face away from the frame – this allows the flow of liquid to continue. Once the flow has ceased, the door will swing back and rest against the sealing face on the frame, once again closing the orifice.  Any liquid building up against the front of the door or flap will push the door or flap further against the sealing face on the frame, ensuring a water tight seal – at this point no liquid can flow back through the orifice, thus preventing “back-flow”.

Check Valves

Check valves are similar to flap valves in operation, where they prevent the flow of fluid from returning to its source. The difference with a check valve is that it can be incorporated into pressurised pipework and these are vital for the protection of pumps and other equipment used to manage our water supplies. Some check valves are spring assisted, some have weighted arms to aid closure, whilst other can offer double protection to prevent cross contamination of drinking water supplies – the selection of the correct check valve is critical to ensure they operated as required

So – valves: for preventing, channelling, starting, stopping, sealing – and sometimes even life-saving – are important.

Contact us if we can help with any further information.