Wenzhou Unique Valve Co., Ltd.
Comparisons of Pneumatic Ball Valves and Electric Ball Valves
Sep 05, 2018
uv*******01
On this page
(1) Pneumatic ball valves
The pneumatic ball valve consists of the ball valve and the pneumatic actuator. It generally needs to be used in conjunction with accessories including the magnetic valve, air treatment FRL, limit switch, and positioner so as to be controlled remotely and locally as well as to be opened and closed in the control room. It improves safety, largely saves the cost of human resources and time, and makes manual control on site, ground and in dangerous places not needed any more.
(2) Classifications of pneumatic ball valves
According to the material, pneumatic ball valves can be divided into pneumatic stainless steel ball valves, pneumatic plastic ball valves, sanitary pneumatic ball valves, carbon steel ball valves with pneumatic actuator, cast iron ball valves with pneumatic actuator, etc.
According to the connection mode, pneumatic ball valves can be divided into pneumatic flanged ball valves, pneumatic threaded ball valve, pneumatic welded valves, etc.
According to pressure, pneumatic ball valves can be divided into pneumatic low pressure ball valves, pneumatic medium pressure ball valves and pneumatic high pressure ball valves.
According to the channel position, pneumatic ball valves can be divided into pneumatic straight-through ball valves, pneumatic three-way ball valves and pneumatic right-angle ball valves.
According to characteristics of the ball, pneumatic ball valves can be divided into floating ball valves and trunnion ball valves.
Floating ball
The ball of the floating ball valve is floating. Under the effects of medium pressure, the ball will shift and be tightly pressed on the sealing surface of the outlet end to ensure the sealing performance of the outlet end.
Fixed ball
The ball of the trunnion ball valve is fixed, and it will not shift after being pressed. All the trunnion ball valves are with the floating valve seat. Under the effects of medium pressure, the seat starts moving to make the sealing ring pressed on the ball so as to guarantee the sealing performance.
(3) Electric ball valves
The electric ball valve is composed of the actuator and the ball valve. It is a kind of device which is used for the pipelines in the industrial automation and process control. To be specific, it is generally utilized for the remote on-off control of the pipelines' media.
According to the definition of the electric ball valve in the “Glossary of terms for valves”, the electric ball valve is a kind of valve whose discs (balls) are driven by the valve stem to rotate around the axis of the valve. Electric ball valves are mainly used in cutting off media and making the media get through, or utilized for regulating and controlling media in the pipelines. As for the metal seated V-type ball valve, there is a strong shear force between the V-shaped ball and the metal valve seat made of surfacing hard alloy.
(4) Comparisons between pneumatic ball valves and electric ball valves
Cost
The pneumatic ball valve has heavy load, but is cheaper than the electric one. Thus, using pneumatic ball valves can reduce engineering cost.
Operational safety
Users who utilize the pneumatic ball valve can switch on/off the valve. When the electric ball valve has no power, it can only stay in its place, which presents that the pneumatic ball valve is safer than the electric one. Because when the electric ball valve is out of power, it will close so as to avoid the backflow and spillover of the filter. The pneumatic ball valve does not need electricity, whereas the electric ball valve uses 220V or three phase of 460V. That is to say, the electric ball valve is more dangerous in a damp environment while the pneumatic one is not affected. About maintenance, it is easy to maintain the pneumatic ball valve because it has only one moving part. The electric actuator of the electric ball valve needs to be maintained by professionals due to more parts of the electric actuator.
Performance
The pneumatic ball valve can adapt to frequent full load. The electric ball valve is limited by the load capacity of motors and maximal start-up times per hour.
Life cycles
The pneumatic ball valve has a long life cycle with about 2 million actions. The repeatable usage rate of the pneumatic ball valve can be controlled accurately, which can almost reach 0.25%.
Corrosion resistance
The pneumatic ball valve with epoxy coating inside and outside the pneumatic actuator has great adaptability to the work environment. It can adapt to bad work environment such as flammable, explosive, dusty, ferromagnetic, radioactive, vibratory environment.
Others aspects
When the pneumatic ball valve is not working properly, it can be repaired or replaced without power or air sources. About maintenance, the pneumatic ball valve does not need oil, whereas the electric ball valve need a large amount of oil. About manual operation, the pneumatic ball valve can be operated without power. About speed, the pneumatic ball valve works and responses quickly so as to adjust accordingly. The speed of the electric ball valve is constant and can not be changed.
The pneumatic ball valve consists of the ball valve and the pneumatic actuator. It generally needs to be used in conjunction with accessories including the magnetic valve, air treatment FRL, limit switch, and positioner so as to be controlled remotely and locally as well as to be opened and closed in the control room. It improves safety, largely saves the cost of human resources and time, and makes manual control on site, ground and in dangerous places not needed any more.
(2) Classifications of pneumatic ball valves
According to the material, pneumatic ball valves can be divided into pneumatic stainless steel ball valves, pneumatic plastic ball valves, sanitary pneumatic ball valves, carbon steel ball valves with pneumatic actuator, cast iron ball valves with pneumatic actuator, etc.
According to the connection mode, pneumatic ball valves can be divided into pneumatic flanged ball valves, pneumatic threaded ball valve, pneumatic welded valves, etc.
According to pressure, pneumatic ball valves can be divided into pneumatic low pressure ball valves, pneumatic medium pressure ball valves and pneumatic high pressure ball valves.
According to the channel position, pneumatic ball valves can be divided into pneumatic straight-through ball valves, pneumatic three-way ball valves and pneumatic right-angle ball valves.
According to characteristics of the ball, pneumatic ball valves can be divided into floating ball valves and trunnion ball valves.
Floating ball
The ball of the floating ball valve is floating. Under the effects of medium pressure, the ball will shift and be tightly pressed on the sealing surface of the outlet end to ensure the sealing performance of the outlet end.
Fixed ball
The ball of the trunnion ball valve is fixed, and it will not shift after being pressed. All the trunnion ball valves are with the floating valve seat. Under the effects of medium pressure, the seat starts moving to make the sealing ring pressed on the ball so as to guarantee the sealing performance.
(3) Electric ball valves
The electric ball valve is composed of the actuator and the ball valve. It is a kind of device which is used for the pipelines in the industrial automation and process control. To be specific, it is generally utilized for the remote on-off control of the pipelines' media.
According to the definition of the electric ball valve in the “Glossary of terms for valves”, the electric ball valve is a kind of valve whose discs (balls) are driven by the valve stem to rotate around the axis of the valve. Electric ball valves are mainly used in cutting off media and making the media get through, or utilized for regulating and controlling media in the pipelines. As for the metal seated V-type ball valve, there is a strong shear force between the V-shaped ball and the metal valve seat made of surfacing hard alloy.
(4) Comparisons between pneumatic ball valves and electric ball valves
Cost
The pneumatic ball valve has heavy load, but is cheaper than the electric one. Thus, using pneumatic ball valves can reduce engineering cost.
Operational safety
Users who utilize the pneumatic ball valve can switch on/off the valve. When the electric ball valve has no power, it can only stay in its place, which presents that the pneumatic ball valve is safer than the electric one. Because when the electric ball valve is out of power, it will close so as to avoid the backflow and spillover of the filter. The pneumatic ball valve does not need electricity, whereas the electric ball valve uses 220V or three phase of 460V. That is to say, the electric ball valve is more dangerous in a damp environment while the pneumatic one is not affected. About maintenance, it is easy to maintain the pneumatic ball valve because it has only one moving part. The electric actuator of the electric ball valve needs to be maintained by professionals due to more parts of the electric actuator.
Performance
The pneumatic ball valve can adapt to frequent full load. The electric ball valve is limited by the load capacity of motors and maximal start-up times per hour.
Life cycles
The pneumatic ball valve has a long life cycle with about 2 million actions. The repeatable usage rate of the pneumatic ball valve can be controlled accurately, which can almost reach 0.25%.
Corrosion resistance
The pneumatic ball valve with epoxy coating inside and outside the pneumatic actuator has great adaptability to the work environment. It can adapt to bad work environment such as flammable, explosive, dusty, ferromagnetic, radioactive, vibratory environment.
Others aspects
When the pneumatic ball valve is not working properly, it can be repaired or replaced without power or air sources. About maintenance, the pneumatic ball valve does not need oil, whereas the electric ball valve need a large amount of oil. About manual operation, the pneumatic ball valve can be operated without power. About speed, the pneumatic ball valve works and responses quickly so as to adjust accordingly. The speed of the electric ball valve is constant and can not be changed.
