Meter Skid - Gate or Ball Valves

[jmalter]

What is the current practice for valves on a metering skid for crude oil, ansi 600, 4"? Gate valves are avialable in API 6D, are less expensive then ball valves, and seem "off the shelve". Am I missing something?

 

[11echo]

I've seen both on meter skids in my area. I would guess operations dictates which is better ...ie whether the operator likes the 1/4 turn ball vlv.s or the more economical gate vlv.s, both would do the job. My 2 cents ...Mark

 

[mqas]

I concur with 11echo. Both will do the job and the preference is normally down to what the end user has the most experience of.

Ball Valves should have a smaller envelope dimension whether the valve are manual or actuated.

 

[caccp]

You could have many justifications for using ball valves for crude metering, custody transfer class . Where lack of valve sealing affects the accuracy, due to meter bypass or other parallel streams, ball valves as DBB valves (Double Block and Bleed) will allow to check their sealing. Using metal to metal seats, stainless steel hard plated ball, you’ll avoid the erosion problem by sand and hard particles carried by crude oil. You can keep the full performance for decades with no maintenance.