The Advantages, Application & Components of Butterfly Valves

Valves find applications in diverse fields of operation to regulate the flow of a liquid in supply systems. Each valve has an indispensable utility courtesy of its design, material, and functioning. Butterfly valves have a special design and unique utilities. In this blog, we talk about the advantages, applications, and components of these valves.

Butterfly valves have a characteristically compact design and are therefore best suited for cramped spaces. Their name comes from the wing-like action of the disc which operates at right angles to the flow.

Advantages

  • A 90° rotation of the handle provides a complete closure or opening of the valve and makes these valves easy and fast to open.
  • These valves require very little material to design and are therefore relatively inexpensive to build.
  • Compared to other valves, they have much lower space requirements and can be used pretty well in tight corners or difficult pockets of a facility.
  • Lesser levels of wear and tear reduce the maintenance costs of butterfly valves.

Applications

Owing to the above-given features, butterfly valves find applications in diverse areas of operations such as sewage plants, chemical processing, and petrochemical plants. Here we list some of the specific activities that they are an integral part of.

  • Cooling water, air, gases, fire protection, etc.
  • Slurry and other services
  • Vacuum service
  • High-pressure and high-temperature water and steam services
  • Compressed Air or Gas Applications

Components

The four components of butterfly valves are body, disk, stem, and seat. Let’s look at each of them in some detail.

  • Body: These valves have bodies that fit between two pipe flanges. The most common body design is the lug and wafer body.
  • Disk: A flat disk fits inside the body of a butterfly valve and acts as a gate to the incoming fluid. When twisting the shaft, the disk rotates and allows the liquid to pass. 
  • Stem: It is the shaft that is held and twisted to make the disk rotate. This is either a one-piece shaft or has a two-piece (split-stem) design. Its material may be selected carefully for purposes of insulation, especially if the valve is directly exposed or submersed in the medium.
  • Seat: The seat of a butterfly valve utilises an interference fit between the disk edge and the seat to provide shutoff. The material of the seat can be made from many different elastomers or polymers to ensure durability and lubrication.

Butterfly valves are thus very high utility devices that often surpass other valves in terms of features, advantages, applications, and cost-effectiveness. 

VEMC is an authorised Kirloskar butterfly valve dealer and Kirloskar ball valve dealer. For more information on Kirloskar valves or any of our products, please reach out to us on +91 98199 07445. We would be happy to help find the right products and services based on requirements. As one of the leading valve dealers in the country, VEMC provides seamless end-to-end services to its clients. VEMC is ISO 9001:2015 certified and a pioneer in electromechanical engineering products, allied equipment, and services.