Cost Management in Choosing the Right Valve for Water Treatment Plant

Cost management in choosing the right valve for a water treatment plant is one of the most important foundations of balancing price with convenience. With so many options, it is possible to get safe and reliable performance from your valves without overspending. Matching the valve specifications to your application is key.

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Given the variety of valve types available on the market and the variety of applications that any one type can serve, choosing the right valve can be a difficult proposition. Even within a given valve category, different styles, specific features, and manufacturer characteristics can complicate matters.

Cost versus convenience is an indisputable critical factor that you cannot ignore when choosing valves. After all, choosing a $1,000 ball valve for a particular application when a $500 replacement valve can perform just as well is not a wise choice. Similarly, using a cheaper but inappropriate valve for a high-risk application in the name of cost management proves to be equally unwise.

Direct and indirect consequences of choosing a bad valve

Extra care must be taken when choosing valves for food processing plants in particular. There can be many direct and indirect consequences of poor valve selection, such as:

• Safety incidents
• Unjustified maintenance costs
• Capacity loss
• Energy loss
• Cost increase
• Product loss

Valve selection basics

Process requirements

Selecting the right type of valve is a function of understanding your process requirements. The physical and chemical properties of the fluid being regulated play a major role in valve selection. The base material of the valve will determine its compatibility with and suitability for the medium.

Carbon steel valves are often considered for most non-corrosive applications. Stainless steel valves are widely used in high-temperature and high-pressure corrosive applications. If you are selecting a valve for a moderate-temperature corrosive application, plastic may also be a great option for you.

Ball, plug, and ball valves are often considered when frequent adjustments in the process flow are required. Gate valves, on the other hand, are typically used in dual on-off applications or for isolation purposes.

Operating conditions

Start by determining the temperature and pressure requirements. Know the pressure and temperature ranges where the valve will be deployed. Correct information about operating temperature, pressure, and other parameters will help you choose the right size valve. Installing an oversized or undersized valve can lead to operational problems.

Valve manufacturers provide complete information about the maximum operating pressure and temperature of their products. Make sure the valve you choose can withstand the extreme operating conditions that may occur during process disturbances and distortions. In the case of a check valve, you should make sure that you choose a valve with the appropriate crushing pressure rating.

Valve Materials

1. Cast Iron: Typically used in low-temperature and low-pressure applications.
2. Wilt Cast Iron: Typically used in oil, gas, steam, and water pipeline systems due to its wide range of operating pressures and temperatures.
3. Stainless Steel: Stainless steel is known for its remarkable durability and corrosion resistance, and is used in a variety of applications, from general plant systems to the petrochemical industry.
4. Bronze: Bronze is an alloy of zinc, tin, lead, and copper. Bronze offers great resistance to corrosion and wear. Its good machinability makes it a viable option for complex castings. Bronze valves are widely used in low to medium-pressure services.
5. Brass: Brass is an alloy of zinc and copper. It offers excellent workability and formability and is less expensive than bronze.
6. Cast Steel: Cast steel is commonly used in refineries, petrochemicals, and oilfields because it can withstand a wide range of operating pressures and temperatures.

Improvement Potential

Avoid Expensive Materials When They Are Not Required You can secure huge savings by avoiding an expensive metal valve when it is not required for your process requirements and operating conditions. Plastic valves are often an ideal economical alternative, performing well in low-pressure, moderately corrosive applications. Valves made of stainless steel, brass, bronze, and other metals are often more expensive than plastic valves. However, they are not as durable and/or repairable as their metal counterparts.

Coated and Uncoated Valves

A wide range of surface treatments and coatings are available for valves, and many vendors offer valves with coated seats and other internal components, such as polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) lined valves. However, lined and coated valves come at a higher cost, and these devices should be chosen only in cases where uncoated or unlined valves cannot withstand the harsh conditions of the process.

Cost Factors in Valve Selection

The availability of different types of valves in different configurations and with different optional features has made it easier to deal with tight financial requirements in valve selection, without compromising process safety. For example, consider non-rising stem gate valves, which come at a lower price than rising stem valves. Both ball and butterfly valves can be used in cooking applications, but the former comes at a higher price. However, the ball valve is one of the most versatile types of valves, and researchers are constantly working to improve it further.

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Understanding Valves While You&#;re Choosing

Valves come in a variety of configurations There are many types, and each type comes with its own unique set of characteristics. Understanding the different valve designs will allow you to find the best type of valve for your process or project. Common types of valves include:

1. Ball Valve: These valves incorporate a ball to regulate flow. Ball valves come with quick-acting quarter-turn handles and are known to be easier and faster to operate than gate valves.
2. Butterfly Valve: The wafer-shaped design and construction of a butterfly valve makes it an ideal choice for tight spaces. You can find butterfly valve bodies in different configurations.
3. Gate Valve: In gate valves, linear motion is used to start or stop the flow of fluid. Generally, these valves are not preferred for flow regulation and are used in either fully closed or fully open positions.
4. Global Valve: Globe valves are well-suited for applications that require fluid adjustment. T-body, angular body, and Y-style are the three types of globe valves available.
5. Plug Valve: Plug valves regulate flow through cylindrical or tapered plugs. These valves come with a 90-degree rotating valve handle. Plug valves are good for high-temperature and high-pressure environments where tight sealing is required.
6. Check Valve: Check valves are self-activated valves used to prevent backflow in a line. There are various types of check valves available in the market, such as spring check valves, swing check valves, ball check valves, etc.

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Functional Classification of Valves

Valves can also be classified by function rather than design. The following are the most common functional designations used for valves:

1. Isolation Valves: Gate, Pressure, Butterfly, Ball, Plug, Pressure, Piston
2. Regulating Valves: Ball, Butterfly, Ball, Needle, Plug, Pressure, Diaphragm
3. Safety Relief Valves: Pressure Safety Valves (PSV), Pressure Relief Valves (PRV), Pressure/Vacuum Relief Valves (PVRV)
4. Check Valves: Lift and Swing Check Valves.

Clarity on Optional Features

Many vendors often offer &#;optional features&#; that they charge separately for. When purchasing budget valves, you should avoid wasting money on unnecessary optional features. For example, consider &#;stainless steel handles,&#; which are often offered as an option with ball valves. Yes, stainless steel handles are great, but any regular handle will do the job for you.

Valve Repair vs. Replacement

If you want to replace a damaged valve, you should first explore the valve repair opportunities around you. Today, we have a very vibrant valve service industry. There is no general rule of thumb for whether a valve should be replaced with a newer one or repaired. In some cases, you may save significantly by having a faulty valve reconditioned by a reputable vendor.

Diabolical Artificer

Dekatron

Join Date: Jul

Location: Sleaford, Lincs. UK.

Posts: 8,033

Re: Help for beginners

Sort the valves into the various types first P types, any valve starting with the letter P, EG, PL84, PCC84 etc, these are TV valves, and in the main not worth much. U types, used in AC sets etc, Eg UL84 etc are also of a lesser value.

The ones your after from a monetary POV are any valve starting with ECC, EG ECC81, 82, 83, the latter being worth more than the former. these double triodes have another designation - 12, EG 12AT7, 12AU7 and 12AX7, the last being an ECC83, and lastly EL84, all these "E" types have 9 pins, IE B9A base. Other valves to look for are EL34 and EL84, KT66 and 88, these have an octal base or 8 pins and are bigger in size, two other octal valves to put on the "good" pile are the 6SN7 and 6SL7, both octal.

Another way to sort them is by size, older valves will be bigger and have less pins on the whole, usually four or five, two to definitely put on the "good" pile are the PX4 and PX25 as mentioned previously, these can't be tested on the simple tester above, but there's a chance there is someone off the forum local to you who will help testing them.

It's a lot more complex than stated above, there being 's of other types of valves. Here's one good site to look up valves -

Andy.

"Start with a list and we'll tell you which are worthy of attention." That's a good idea, but broadly speaking the common valves which fetch the most money use only two types of bases, EG octal and B9A, so a simple meter like this one would do at first - https://orangeamps.com/products/accessories/amplifier-management/valve-tester/ it's easy to use in comparison with a "proper" valve tester.Sort the valves into the various types first P types, any valve starting with the letter P, EG, PL84, PCC84 etc, these are TV valves, and in the main not worth much. U types, used in AC sets etc, Eg UL84 etc are also of a lesser value.The ones your after from a monetary POV are any valve starting with ECC, EG ECC81, 82, 83, the latter being worth more than the former. these double triodes have another designation - 12, EG 12AT7, 12AU7 and 12AX7, the last being an ECC83, and lastly EL84, all these "E" types have 9 pins, IE B9A base. Other valves to look for are EL34 and EL84, KT66 and 88, these have an octal base or 8 pins and are bigger in size, two other octal valves to put on the "good" pile are the 6SN7 and 6SL7, both octal.Another way to sort them is by size, older valves will be bigger and have less pins on the whole, usually four or five, two to definitely put on the "good" pile are the PX4 and PX25 as mentioned previously, these can't be tested on the simple tester above, but there's a chance there is someone off the forum local to you who will help testing them.It's a lot more complex than stated above, there being 's of other types of valves. Here's one good site to look up valves - http://www.r-type.org/search.php Andy.

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