Blog

Blackmonk News
How To
Technical Information
Calculators
Calculator Documentation
Compressible Flow Calculator
Documentation

Gas Control Valve Sizing Calculator

Documentation

Heat Exchanger Calculator

Documentation

Horizontal Gas-Liquid Separator

Calculator Documentation

Line Pressure Drop Calculator

Documentation

Liquid Control Valve Sizing Calculator

Documentation

Pump Sizing Calculator Documentation

Restriction Orifice Plate (Gas) Sizing
Calculator Documentation

Restriction Orifice Plate (Liquids) Sizing

Calculator Documentation

Storage Tank Calculator Documentation

Vertical Gas-Liquid Separator Calculator
Documentation

Vessel Volume Calculator Documentation

Calculator Screenshots
Compressible Flow Calculator
Gas Control Valve Sizing Calculator
Heat Exchanger Calculator
Horizontal Gas-Liquid Separator
Calculator

Line Pressure Drop Calculator

Liquid Control Valve Sizing Calculator
Pressure Equipment Directive Calculator
Pump Sizing Calculator
Restriction Orifice Plate (Gas) Calculator
Restriction Orifice Plate (Liquids)
Calculator

Storage Tank Calculator

Vertical Gas-Liquid Separator Calculator
Vessel Volume Calculator
Services
About Us
Page 1 of 10 How To Size A Liquid Control Valve | Blackmonk Engineering
5/7/2014 http://blackmonk.co.uk/2009/11/13/how-to-size-a-liquid-control-valve/
Contact Us
Login
How To Size A Liquid Control Valve
Posted on November 13, 2009
Sizing a control valve means selecting a valve with the correct size orifice to allow good control
of flow rate within a required range.
There are other important factors to consider when selecting a control valve, such as valve type
and valve characteristic but this article will concentrate on valve sizing.
Sizing a control valve for a particular duty is governed by the required flow rate the valve must
pass and the pressure drop that can be allowed across the valve.
Steps To Accurately Size A Liquid Control Valve
Specify the required design flow rate 1.
Specify the allowable pressure drop across the valve 2.
Choose a valve type and body size from the manufacturers tables 3.
Calculate the first estimate of the piping geometry factor 4.
Determine if the flow through the valve will be sub-critical or critical. That is, will some of
the liquid vaporise causing flashing or cavitation?
5.
Calculate the effective pressure drop across the valve 6.
Calculate the first estimate of the required valve Cv 7.
Check that the calculated Cv is less than the actual Cv of the selected valve (re-select
suitable valve from manufacturers tables if required)
8.
Check that valve control range is OK 9.
Page 2 of 10 How To Size A Liquid Control Valve | Blackmonk Engineering
5/7/2014 http://blackmonk.co.uk/2009/11/13/how-to-size-a-liquid-control-valve/
If the Cv and control range are suitable the valve is correctly sized. If not re-select another
valve and repeat the sizing procedure from Step 3
10.
Sizing a control valve accurately is an iterative process requiring manufacturers information and
knowledge of the piping system in which the valve is to be installed.
However, the procedure is fairly simple and straightforward. It becomes even easier if it is known
that the liquid will not flash or cavitate as it flows through the valve. For preliminary estimates of
control valve size it is usually OK to assume that the piping geometry factor is 1.
Calculate Control Valve Cv
Traditionally, control valves are sized using a special form of the orifice equation which gives the
valve orifice size as a valve flow coefficient or Cv.
The Cv is defined as the flow rate of water in US gallons per minute that can pass through a valve
with a pressure drop of 1 psi at a temperature of 60F.
The equation for calculating the Cv in US units is:
Effective Pressure Drop
The effective pressure drop across a liquid control valve depends on the nature of the liquid
flowing through the valve and the valve design.
If the pressures upstream, inside and downstream of the control valve are greater than the vapour
pressure of the liquid at the flowing temperature, the effective pressure drop is equal to the actual
pressure difference between the upstream and downstream sides of the valve. In this case, the
flow is said to be sub-critical and the fluid remains in the liquid phase throughout the system.
In the vast majority of cases it is preferable to maintain sub-critical flow as it reduces valve
damage, improves controllability and requires simpler, less expensive valve designs.
However, if the liquid vapour pressure exceeds the system pressure inside or downstream of the
valve, vaporisation will occur and the flow will become critical. In this case, the effective
pressure drop across the valve will be limited by the valve design and the physical properties of
the liquid. When the flow is critical, the pressure downstream of the valve does not affect the
flow rate.
The flow is sub-critical if:
Page 3 of 10 How To Size A Liquid Control Valve | Blackmonk Engineering
5/7/2014 http://blackmonk.co.uk/2009/11/13/how-to-size-a-liquid-control-valve/
For sub-critical flow:
Where:
For critical flow:
Valve Liquid Pressure Recovery Factor, F
L
The valve liquid pressure recovery factor is the ratio of effective pressure drop to the pressure
difference between the upstream pressure and the vena contracta pressure.
The valve liquid pressure recovery factor is usually measured experimentally and is tabulated in
valve manufacturers catalogues.
Liquid Critical Pressure Ratio Factor, F
F
The liquid critical pressure ratio factor is a means of estimating the pressure at the vena contracta
of the valve under critical flow conditions.
Piping Geometry Factor, F
p
The piping geometry factor is an allowance for the pressure drop associated with fittings that may
be connected directly upstream and/or downstream of the valve.
If no fittings are connected to the valve, the piping geometry factor is 1.
Page 4 of 10 How To Size A Liquid Control Valve | Blackmonk Engineering
5/7/2014 http://blackmonk.co.uk/2009/11/13/how-to-size-a-liquid-control-valve/
The piping geometry factor is often listed in valve manufacturers catalogues. Alternatively, it can
be calculated using:
Most commonly, the fittings connected to a control valve are upstream and downstream reducers.
In this case the sum of the fittings factors for the reducers is:
Note:
Determining the control valve Cv becomes an iterative process when the piping geometry factor
doesnt equal 1.
Estimate the required Cv 1.
Select an appropriate valve from the manufacturers tables 2.
Calculate F
p
using the actual Cv of the selected valve 3.
Re-calculate the required Cv using the value of F
p
determined in Step 3 4.
Check that the re-calculated Cv is less than the actual Cv of the selected valve 5.
If the re-calculated Cv is less than the actual Cv, the selected valve is adequately sized 6.
If the re-calculated Cv is greater than the actual Cv of the selected valve, select another
valve with a larger Cv and return to Step 3
7.
Control Valve Sizing Rules Of Thumb
There are many rules of thumb designed to help with control valve sizing. The following
guidance is taken from Rules of Thumb For Chemical Engineers by Carl Brannan and the
authors personal notes.
Set the design flow as the greater of: 1.
1.3 x normal flow rate
1.1 x maximum required flow rate
Set the control pressure drop to equal 50% 60% of the frictional pressure loss of the
piping system
2.
Limit the maximum flow rate : minimum flow rate turndown to 5:1 for linear trim valves
and 10:1 for equal percentage trim valves
3.
The valve should be able to control the required range of flow rates between 10% and 80%
of valve opening
4.
Page 5 of 10 How To Size A Liquid Control Valve | Blackmonk Engineering
5/7/2014 http://blackmonk.co.uk/2009/11/13/how-to-size-a-liquid-control-valve/
Ideally select a valve that has a body size 1 pipe size smaller than the pipe in which it is to
be installed (e.g. select a 3 valve for a 4 pipe)
5.
Never select a valve larger than the pipe in which it is to be installed 6.
How To Size A Liquid Control Valve Example
The following example has been adapted from the Emerson Control Valve Handbook.
We need to size a valve in liquid propane duty. The required information is given below:
Design flow rate = 800 US gpm
Upstream pressure = 314.7 psia
Downstream pressure = 289.7 psia
Pressure drop across valve = 25 psi
Liquid temperature = 70F
Propane specific gravity = 0.5
Propane vapour pressure = 124.3 psia
Propane critical pressure = 616.3 psia
Pipe size = 4 inch
Calculation
Following the steps given at the start of this article:
Design flow rate = 800 US gpm 1.
Allowable pressure drop across the valve = 25 psi 2.
We will choose an Emerson 3 ES globe valve with linear trim as the preliminary selection.
From the valve table we can see that the actual Cv is 135 and F
L
is 0.89
3.

We will assume that 4 x 3 reducers will be used to install the selected 3 valve in the 4
pipe. In this case the piping geometry factor is:
4.
Page 6 of 10 How To Size A Liquid Control Valve | Blackmonk Engineering
5/7/2014 http://blackmonk.co.uk/2009/11/13/how-to-size-a-liquid-control-valve/
K = 1.5 (1 (3
2
/ 4
2
))
2
= 0.287
F
P
= [1 + (0.287 / 890)(135 / 3
2
)
2
]
-0.5
= 0.96
Check if flow through the valve is sub-critical or critical:
F
F
= 0.96 0.28 (124.3 / 616.3) = 0.83
DP
max
= (0.89)
2
(314.7 0.83 x 124.3) = 167.6 psi
P
1
P
2
= 314.7 289.7 = 25 psi
Therefore: P
1
P
2
< DP
max
so the flow is sub-critical
5.
The effective pressure drop across the valve is P
1
P
2
because the flow is sub-critical
DP
eff
=25 psi
6.
Calculate the first estimate of Cv:
Cv = (800 / 0.96)(0.5 / 25)
0.5
= 117.9
7.
The calculated required Cv of 117.9 is less than the actual Cv of the selected valve of 135 so
the valve is large enough
8.
Check if the control valve range is OK:
From the valve table, the selected valve will be about 75% open to give the required Cv of
117.9. This is within the acceptable control range of 10% to 80% of valve opening.
9.
The selected 3 linear trim valve is correctly sized for the specified duty 10.
Result
The selected valve is an Emerson 3 ES globe valve with linear trim and a maximum Cv of 135.
Blackmonk Engineering Calculator Result
The output from the Blackmonk Engineering Liquid Control Valve Calculator is attached below
for comparison. The values used in the example have been converted to metric units. As you can
see the calculated Cv is virtually identical to the hand calculation (118.2 compared to 117.9).
Page 7 of 10 How To Size A Liquid Control Valve | Blackmonk Engineering
5/7/2014 http://blackmonk.co.uk/2009/11/13/how-to-size-a-liquid-control-valve/

Tags: control valve, How To
Leave a Reply
Name (required)
Mail (will not be published) (required)
Website
Page 8 of 10 How To Size A Liquid Control Valve | Blackmonk Engineering
5/7/2014 http://blackmonk.co.uk/2009/11/13/how-to-size-a-liquid-control-valve/
Submit Comment
Search Keywords Search
Login Status
You are not currently logged in.
Username:

Password:

Remember Me
Login

Register
Lost your Password?
Sign up to our emails
Sign up for free email updates and subscriber only information.
Name:
Email:
Sign Up
We hate spam and will not share your details with any third parties. You can unsubscribe at
any time.
Page 9 of 10 How To Size A Liquid Control Valve | Blackmonk Engineering
5/7/2014 http://blackmonk.co.uk/2009/11/13/how-to-size-a-liquid-control-valve/
Process Calculators

2014 Blackmonk Engineering - Website Terms & Conditions.
OverEasy by
Page 10 of 10 How To Size A Liquid Control Valve | Blackmonk Engineering
5/7/2014 http://blackmonk.co.uk/2009/11/13/how-to-size-a-liquid-control-valve/