Directional issue of ball valves
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Some ball valves have a directionality, while others do not. Is there any difference in their internal structure? What will happen if a directional ball valve is installed in the wrong direction?
I’m also very curious; could some teacher give me some advice?
Based on their internal structure, ball valves are mainly divided into floating ball valves and fixed ball valves, with different sealing principles. Floating ball valves rely on the pressure of the medium acting on the ball surface to cause horizontal displacement of the ball, thereby pressing against the downstream valve seat to create a seal; there are valve seats both upstream and downstream, so there is no requirement regarding the installation direction. Fixed ball valves use the upstream valve seat for sealing, as the ball is fixed in place by upper and lower shafts, and its valve seats are also symmetrical up and down; hence, there is again no requirement for a specific installation direction. The need for a one-way flow direction arises mainly in certain special applications such as those involving low or high temperatures, or when the medium contains particles. In such cases, the valves are designed with one-way sealing capabilities, so they must be installed in accordance with the flow direction indicated on the valve body: handshake
For LS, it seems that a ball valve refers to a valve in which material flows through a hole at the center of the ball, right? The orientation of ball valves as I understand it refers to whether the handle of a manual ball valve is designed for left-opening or right-opening, purely for the convenience of operation. But it seems the question posed by the original poster isn’t this one
For the floating ball valves that we use commonly, fixed ball valves generally do not require a specific orientation; however, there are some ball valves, such as control ball valves, whose valve balls come in V-shaped or C-shaped designs, and these require a specific orientation.
It doesn’t matter whether it’s installed in the correct or reverse orientation. There are two valves at the outlet of the ammonia pump, one for each orientation; they have been in use for about 3 years now and are working fine.