How to Prolong the Operation Time of the Control Valve

Control valves are different from manual valves. Once installed, they must be maintained in order to function under normal conditions and prolong their service life. Let us discuss the different ways to lengthen the usage life of a flow control valve.

Must be operated at 80%

Right from the start, the control valve must be operated under the maximum opening. This is for the erosion that is caused by impact or air to happen on the valve case’s head. With the case destroyed and the flow rate increased, the valve opening must be reduced in a series of steps until the whole case is entirely utilised and the sealing face and the roots of the case are damaged. 

By operating widespread, the gap for throttling will be big. In this case, the erosion is weak and to some degree, it prolongs operation time.

Narrow valve diameter

Narrowing the diameter of the flow control valve will increase the work opening. There are two ways to achieve this. First is to change the other valve with that of a smaller diameter. Second is to replace the valve seat with a smaller one. These mentioned ways can help prolong a control valve’s operation time.

Alter the direction of the flow

If the flow direction of the open-type is in line with the opening, the erosion will happen on the sealing face. With this, the sealing face of the valve seat and the root of the case are likely to be destroyed quickly. On the other hand, if the flow direction of the close-type is in line with the closing, the erosion will happen under the sealing face of the valve seat and after the throttle. This why protecting the sealing face and the case root is important as this will help in prolonging the service time of control valves.

Change materials

To prevent impact and cavitation, adopting the impact-proof and cavitation-resistant special material is a better way to create the throttling element. Materials like hard metal and stellite can be used. However, if a more erosion-resistant type of flow control valve is preferred, there are some materials that come with physical and mechanical properties such as ceramics, hastelloy, rubber, and more.