3/17/2017 ValveFlowandSizing

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InformationAboutValveFlowandSizing ValveFlowandSizing
Flow

FlowCoefficient Flow
FlowCharacteristic Avalvecanbeusedtostopandstartaswellasthrottleorregulatetheflowormovementofmediathroughasystem.Thegivenanddesired
propertiesoftheflowcanbeusedwhenselectingavalve.
InherentFlowCharacteristics

InstalledFlowCharacteristics FlowCoefficient
PressureDrop
ThevalveflowcoefficientisthenumberofU.S.gallonsperminuteof60Fwaterthatwillflowthroughavalveataspecifiedopeningwitha
Rangeability pressuredropof1psiacrossthevalve.Thecoefficientisusedtodeterminethesizethatwillbestallowthevalvetopassthedesiredflowrate,
whileprovidingstablecontroloftheprocessfluid.Itcanbeusedtocompareflowcapacitiesofvalvesofdifferentsizes,types,and
FlowRate manufacturers.Theflowcoefficientisdifferentforgases,liquids,andsteamandisalsodependentonthepressuredropacrossthevalve.
canapplytoeithertheopeningorclosingactiondependingonthefunction.
ValveSizing
Thesimpleequationisdefinedas:
Resources
Cv =flowxm(Specificgravityatflowingtemperature/pressuredrop)1/2

Theflowcoefficientvariesbasedonthemediatypeinthesystem.Thechartbelowdefinestheappropriateformulaandvariablesneededto
calculateCv foreachsystemtype.

Variableandformulasforcalculatingflowcoefficient.ImageCredit:Siemens

Forairandgases:CompressiblemediaThedensityofthegaschangeswithachangeinpressureandthereforetheflowratechanges.Low
pressureisdefinedasP2>P1/2andhighpressureisdefinedasP1>P2/2

Forliquids:IncompressiblemediaTheflowrateonlydependsonthedifferencebetweentheinletandoutletpressuressotheratestaysthe
sameaslongasthechangeinpressureremainsthesame.

Forsteam:CompressiblemediaThedensityofthesteamchangeswithachangeinpressure.Thereisacritical(choked1)andnoncritical
pressuredrop.Criticalisdefinedasthepressuredroppingby58%ormorefromtheinlettotheoutlet.

IfthecalculatedCv istoosmallthevalvewillbeundersizedandtheprocesssystemmaybestarvedforfluid.Thisalsocausesahigher
pressuredropacrossthevalvecausingcavitationorflashing.IfCv istoohighthevalvewillbetoobigleadingtomonetarywasteanddifficult
machinemaneuverability.AlargerCv canalsobeaproblemforthrottlingbecausetheflowcannotbeeffectivelycontrolledattheopenings.The
locationoftheclosureelementleadstothepossibilityofcreatingahighpressuredropandfastervelocitiescausingcavitation,flushing,or
erosion.

FlowCharacteristic
Theflowcharacteristicdescribestherelationshipbetweentheflowcoefficientandthevalvestroke.Itisinherenttothedesignoftheselected
valve.Forexample,asthevalveisopened,theflowcharacteristicallowsacertainamountofflowthroughthevalveataparticularpercentageof
thestroke.Thisisespeciallyimportantforthrottlecontrolbecauseitcontrolstheflowinapredictablemanner.Theflowrateisaffectedbythe
flowcharacteristicaswellasthepressuredrop.Inherentflowcharacteristiciswhenthevalveisoperatingwithaconstantpressuredropwithout

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3/17/2017 ValveFlowandSizing
takingintoaccounttheeffectsofpiping.Installedflowcharacteristicsconsiderboththevalveandpipingeffects.Thisisalsoconsideredanideal
curveandtakestheentiresystemintoaccount.

InherentFlowCharacteristics
Thethreecommontypesofinherentflowcanbeplottedascurvesonagraphhoweverthecharacteristicsofthesecurvescanonlybeaffected
bythebodystyleanddesign,andthepipingfactors.

Variablesforflowcharacteristics
Variable Symbol Unit

Temperature T degree

Inletpressure pi psia

Valvetravel L

Minimumcontrollableflow Q0

Thecurvesarebasedonconstantpressuredropacrossthevalveandgraphsareusuallyavailablethroughthemanufacturer.Forcontrolvalves,
asshownbelow,therearesixinherentcharacteristics.Thechartisplottedasstemopening%vs.flow%.Thestemopeningdescribeshow
muchthevalveisopen.Inthiscontext,valveopeningreferstothepositionofthediscrelativetotheclosedseatposition.Thethreemost
commonflowcharacteristicsarelinear,equalpercentageandmodifiedflow.

LinearTheflowrateisdirectlyproportionaltotheamountthedisctravels.Linearflowcharacteristicsproduceequalchangeinflowper
unitofvalvestroke.Ifthediscisopen50%,theflowrateisat50%ofmaximumflow.Thisprovidesbetterflowcapacitythroughoutthe
entirestroke.Linearvalvesarebestusedforwatersystems.
Theequationforlinearflowisasfollows:

Q=kL,dQ/dL=k

Where:k=constantofproportionality

Lecture - 25 Flow Control Valves

EqualpercentageTheflowrateisrelatedtothepercentthevalveopeningchangedinanincrementalmanner.Forexample,ifthevalve
changedfrom20%opento30%openandproduceda70%changeinflowrate,changingthevalvefrom30%to40%openwouldincrease
theflowrateanother70%.Equalpercentagevalvesarebestusedforthrottlingapplicationssincetheflowrateissmallatthebeginningof
thestrokeandincreasesattheendofthestroke.Thisprovidesexactcontroloftheclosureelementinthefirstpartofthestrokewherethe
closureelementismoreeasilyaffectedbytheprocessforces.Theequalpercentagecharacteristicalsoprovidesincreasedcapacityinthe
secondhalfofthestrokesothevalvecanpasstherequiredflow.

Q=Q0enL,dQ/dL=nQ

Where:e=2.718,n=constant

AdvantageIncreaseinrangeability,betterrepeatabilityandresolutioninfirsthalfofstroke.

QuickopeningQuickopeningflowischaracterizedbythemaximumflowproducedimmediatelyasthevalvebeginstoopen.Itisonly
usedforonoffapplicationsandduetotheextremenatureoftheflow,theinherentandinstalledcharacteristicsaresimilar.

Whenchoosingaflowcharacteristic,considerthedirectrelationshipbetweenvalveopeningandflowoverthedistancethevalvestemtravels.

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InstalledFlowCharacteristics
Valveshaveinstalledflowcharacteristicswhenthevalveisinstalledintoasystemwithpumps,piping,andfittings,causingthepressuredropto
vary.Thesystemcomponentsaltertheflowratesoitisnolongerdeterminedbythegeometryofthevalvebodyanddisc.Theflowrateisaltered
byresistancesresultingfrompipelines,orifices,orotherequipmentinserieswiththevalve.Foralinearvalve,theeffectmaybedescribedbythe
followingequation.

Q=L/[a+(1a)L2]1/2

Where:a=ratioofvalveheaddifferentialatmaxflowtozeroflow

DesignTip:Thebestchoiceisusuallyalinearvalveandbecausetheytendtobeusedmostoften,theinstalledandinherent
characteristicsaresimilarandlinear.Therefore,therewillbelimitedgaininthecontrolloop.Equalpercentagevalveswillalsoprovidegood
resultsandaretolerantofoversizing.

Thefollowinggraphsshowtheflowcurvesforlinear,equalpercentage,andquickopeningflowcharacteristicsforboththeinherentandinstalled
characteristicsofthevalve.Theadditionofthepipingfactorsintheinstalledcharacteristicsgenerallymovestheflowcharacteristicawayfrom
theidealcharacteristicandtowardtheinherentlinearcharacteristic.

(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/
xphSfqZ5SNk/Tt40vq4lNZI/AAAAAAAAAMo/zgPJVv4aRpI/s320/image020.jpg)

PressureDrop
Thepressuredropisthepressurechangebetweentheinletandoutletofthesystem.Thepressuredropmustexistforflowtooccur.Theformula
isasfollows:

P=G(q/FpCv )2
Discpositionwillgenerallydeterminethepressuredrop.Forexampleifthevalveisclosedthepressuredropwillbeminimalorzeroandifthe
valveisopenthepressuredropis100%.Ifthepressuredropistoohigh,alargervalveoravalvewithahigherCv canbeusedtolowerthe
pressure.

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3/17/2017 ValveFlowandSizing

ImageCredit:ITT
Theactualpressuredropisthedifferencebetweentheupstream(inlet)anddownstream(outlet)pressures.

Thepressuredropaffectstheflowcharacteristicofthevalve.

Quickopeningvalvesshowlittlechangeinfluidflowuntilthevalveactuallycloses.Thisisbecausethepressuredropacrossthevalve
isnotalargeenoughpercentageofthetotalsystemdropwhenthevalveisfullyopened.
Forlinearvalves,thepercentageoftheliftimprovesasthepressuredropsatfullflow.However,thischaracteristicisonlyapplicableifthe
pressuredropremainsnearlyconstantacrossthevalveforfullstemtravel.Forcontrolvalvesagoodruleofthumbisatmaximumflow,
2550%ofthetotalsystempressuredropshouldbeabsorbed.Pressuredropsof1530%ofthetotalsystempressureprovidegood
controlifthevariationinflowissmall.

Rangeability
Rangeabilityisaveryimportantfactorwhenselectingavalvetype.Itisdefinedasthemaximumtominimumflowratethatcanbecontrolledby
givenvalvetype.Thecharacteristicisaffectedbythreefactors:thegeometryofthevalve,theseatleakage,andtheactuator'saccuracyor
stiffnessatnearclosureofthevalve.Geometryisinherentduetothedesignoftheseatandclosureandexcessiveseatleakagecancause
instabilityinthevalveasitliftsofftheseat.

Rangeabilityiseasilycalculatedbasedonthevalvesgeometryandactuator.Ifthevalveisnotaccurateat5percentofstroke,thenthe
rangeabilityis20:1(100percentdividedby5%).Astherangeabilityincreases,awiderrangeofflowratescanbecontrolledbythevalve.Itisnot
imperativethatthevalvehasthehighestrangeabilitybecausemostsystemsdonothaveanexcessivelywideflowraterange.Vnotchedball
valveshavethehighestrangeabilityat200:1,whileglobevalveshaveahighrangeabilityof100:1.Higherrangeabilityusuallyindicatesthe
sensitivityislowerwhentheclosingelementisnearclosedandincreasesasthevalveopens.

FlowRate
Flowrateisaffectedbytheflowcharacteristicandthepressuredropacrossthevalve.

ValveSizing
Valvesareusedinmanyindustrial,commercial,andresidentialapplicationsandthereforemustbeavailableinawidevarietyofsizesandshapes
Valvescanbeaslargeas10tonsandassmallas1poundhowevermostvalvesusedinprocesssystemsareinstalledinpipingthatisequalto
orlessthan4inchesinsize.Thevariablestoconsiderwhensizingavalveinclude:

Media:specificgravityandviscosity
Inlettemperatureandpressure:undermaximumload
Pressuredrop:undermaximumload
Maximumcapacity
Maximumpressuredifferentialthevalvewillneedtocloseagain.

Thesciencebehindvalvesizingisdeterminingtheflowthroughthediameterofthevalve.Sincethrottlingvalvesmaycontaintwodifferentsized
openingsdesignedtoaccommodateapressuredrop,propersizingiscriticalforanefficientsystem.

Open/Closevalvesareexpectedtopass100%oftheflowwithoutasignificantdropinpressure.Theydonotthrottletheflowsothe
openingsaregenerallythesamesize.Ifthevalveistoosmall,theflowwillberestricted,defeatingthepurposeoftheon/offvalve.Alarge
valvewillcostmorebecauseincreaserswillneedtobeinstalled.
Throttlevalvesareexpectedtoproduceacertainamountofflowatcertainpositionsofopeningtocreateapressuredrop.Throttlevalves
workbestwhenthevalveusesthefullrangeofstrokewhileproducingdesiredflowcharacteristicsandmaximumflowoutput.

Oversizingavalvehappensmorefrequentlythanundersizingbecausethemanufactureraddssafetyfactorstothespecificationstheyreceive
fromtheuser,whicharegenerallythemaximumspecificationsofthesystem.Havinganoversizedvalveismoremanageableandsaferthan
undersizedvalves.

TheuseofincreasersorreducerstocreatenonstandardpipingconfigurationscanbecorrectedintheCv equation.Inordertodeterminethepiping
geometryfactor,Fp,theinsidediameterofthepipeisrequired.Inthetablebelow,"d"istheinsidediameterand"D"istheoutsidediameter.

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3/17/2017 ValveFlowandSizing

Pipinggeometry
factorforvalveswithreducersandincreasersonbothends.TableCredit:ValtekInternational

Resources
ValveandValveActuatorSelectionGuide(http://www.industry.siemens.com.br/buildingtechnologies/br/pt/automacao
predial/dc/Documents/Valvulas.pdf)
Skousen,PhilipL.ValveHandbook.NewYork:McGrawHill,1998.Print.
TheEngineeringToolBoxFlowCoefficient(http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/flowcoefficientsd_277.html)
ControlValveSelectionandSizing(http://kolmetz.com/pdf/EDG/ENGINEERING_DESIGN_GUIDELINE__control_valve_rev8.pdf)
ControlValvesandFlowCharacteristics(http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/controlvalvesflowcharacteristicsd_485.html)

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