HIGH CYCLE BALL VALVE

[OCANDOA]

Hi,
I'm looking for a ball valve that can withstand high operation cycles without leaking through the stem packing. I’ve only seen these types of valves for ANSI 600, any suggestions?

Description:
Isolation On-Off Ball Valve
Service: Gas
Ansi 1500 WCB Flange 4" (4x3) RJ (R39)
Temp: 100-120 ºF
Pressure: 1700-2150psig
Cycles: 1000-1500 Cycles/year

Regards,
Andres Ocando

 

[donf]

Ocandoa,

Try Ggosco Engineering at

http://www.ggosco.com/

I can't say if they've made what you're looking for, but their Sealmaster technology has handled that many cycles per day.

Donf

 

[zdas04]

Your cycle rate doesn't look that high to me either. I would try any of the big trunion ball-valve makers (I like Zy-Tec's PBV, but Grove, Cameron, and KF all make a good valve as well).

This is definately a trunion ball valve application. In case you're not familiar with the difference, a floating ball valve relys on dP across the ball to shift the ball into the downstream seat. A trunion ball valve has trunion bearings above and below the ball to hold it rigid and the seats (one on each side of the ball) are spring-loaded to push them into the ball. With 4 cycles/day the floating ball will tend to waller (a technical term from the south) out the upper (only) bearing and the shaft seal. A trunion ball valve will not have that problem.

With your conditions I'd wonder why you want a reduced port valve, if it is just cost then I'd guess you are looking at a false economy. You didn't specify the flow rate through the valve, but if I assume a 20-50 ft/sec velocity then at 2,000 psig you'd be flowing around 30 MMCF/d. If you take 1/4 psi pressure drop across the reduced port valve, then the annual energy to recover that parasitic pressure drop on 30 MMCF/d will be right at 1.4 MW. I pay more for a MW than the difference between the cost of a full-port and reduced-port 4-inch ball valve.

David Simpson, PE
MuleShoe Engineering

http://www.muleshoe-eng.com

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