The coordinated efforts of pumps and valves creates the safe and smooth movement of gases and liquids, where pumps raise, compress, or transfer fluids and gases while valves control flow. These two components, working together, are an essential part of industries that are involved in the transport, movement, or transmission of materials through pipelines.
Pumps and valves come in a variety of designs and types. The types of valves include ball, butterfly, check, diaphragm, hydraulic, and solenoid. In the case of pumps, they can be centrifugal, hydraulic, metered, or vacuum. Each type of valve and pump is designed to serve the purpose of a specific application.
A ball valve is a common type of valve that is found in industrial operations and homes. They are a simple on and off valve that can stop a flow by turning a handle. As its name implies, a ball valve has a ball in its middle that blocks flow and are made of brass, stainless steel, plastic, and cast iron.
For high pressure conditions, butterfly valves are used to control the flow in a system. They consist of a wafer-like disc that is in the line of the flow. When the valve is turned, it can slow the flow or completely stop it by turning the wafer such that it blocks the pipe. Though butterfly valve is the normal description for this type of valve, there are several versions of it such as pneumatic, triple offset, or flanged.
The purpose of a check valve is to control the flow such that it continues in one direction and cannot backflow. As the flow of materials stop and attempt to flow backwards, a check valve reacts and creates a seal to prevent the reversal. The simple design of check valves makes them applicable to any industry or conditions.
Much like a butterfly valve, a diaphragm valve is designed to control the flow of liquids with precision and accuracy. Unlike other valves, diaphragm valves do not have a metal disc but use a rubber diaphragm as their opening and closing mechanism. Like the butterfly valve, a diaphragm valve can regulate and control the flow or completely stop it. A control knob connected to a stem moves the diaphragm up and down.
The purpose of a hydraulic valve is to control the pressure of the flow in a hydraulic system since pressure can build up in the system when a hydraulic device is activated. The types of hydraulic valves are classified by function, sealing, method of control, and work. Hydraulic valves control the speed at which components can operate.
A solenoid valve, unlike other valves, uses electrical energy to open and close valves on mechanical devices. The design of solenoid valves allows them to fit easily into automated operations. Since solenoid valves come in a wide variety of types and configurations, they can easily be fitted to any automated application.
The purpose of valves is to control and monitor the flow rate. The other aspect of material flow is pumps, which supply the energy to move liquids and gases. Just like valves, pumps come in several varieties that can be adapted or configured to fit any type of conditions. The types of pumps include centrifugal, hydraulic, metered, and vacuum.
Centrifugal pumps using rotational energy to create kinetic energy. An impeller inside the pump rotates creating energy and moving the liquid to the center of the impeller. The created pressure increases the flow rate moving the material down the pipe. The term centrifugal pump is all encompassing and uses several of the many varieties of centrifugal pumps.
The purpose of a hydraulic pump is to move the hydraulic liquid in a hydraulic system. They are the central mechanism of a hydraulic pump since they move liquid into the chamber and move the piston. Hydraulic pumps harness the energy created by a liquid under pressure and converts it to mechanical energy, the main part of a hydraulic motor.
Vacuum pumps are a more sophisticated form of pump that is used in scientific and testing labs. The purpose of a vacuum pump, as the name implies, is to create a vacuum by removing air from a chamber or device. In the case of testing, it provides ideal testing conditions.
Other forms of pump and valve devices include flow meters that measure the movement, pressure, and flow rate of fluids. In connection with flow meters are metering pumps that are precision instruments for moving specific volumes of a liquid.
In situations where a stop valve with simply on/off capabilities are required many will turn to a device known as a ball valve.
There are several types of butterfly valves, each with a unique purpose. A high-performance butterfly valve is used to control the flow in systems with extremely high pressure. A pneumatic butterfly valve, on the other hand, is optimal for pressurized air systems that operate at a much lower pressure. For more complex systems, butterfly valves with multiple shut-off points are necessary. A triple offset butterfly valve provides a tighter seal because it is mounted in three positions.
Centrifugal pumps are used to increase the fluid pressure by using rotational kinetic energy. Inside the pump a rotating impeller will rotate creating energy and moving the liquid to the center of the impeller.
Check valves are a type of valve that is designed to prevent unwanted to backflow and only allow materials to flow in one direction.
Diaphragm valves are one of the many flow control devices available on the market today. They offer precision regulation to liquid, gas, and semi-solid slurry flows alike. Diaphragm valves regulate the transport of process streams by sealing process flow lines, either partially or fully, with a flexible membrane that is stretched by an actuator.
A flow meter, also spelled "flowmeter," is an instrument used to measure the flow of a liquid or gas in a supply pipe.
The device is fitted into a pipe to gauge the quantity of gas or liquid passing through it.
All hydraulic pumps are composed in the same basic way. First, they have a reservoir, which is the section of the pump that houses stationary fluid. Next, they use hoses or tubes to transfer this fluid into the cylinder, which is the main body of the hydraulic system. Inside the cylinder, or cylinders, are found two valves and one or more pistons or gear systems. One valve is located at each end; they are called the intake check, or inlet, valve and the discharge check, or outlet, valve, respectively.
The modern age of hydraulics began in the early 1600s, with the innovations of scientists like Benedetto Castelli and Blaise Pascal. It is, in fact, Pascal‘s law, upon which the principles of hydraulics are founded. His law states, in essence, that when pressure placed on a confined liquid increases at any point, equal and proportional increases will appear at all other points in the container.
Classified as a type of positive displacement pump, metering pumps move precise volumes of liquid in predetermined increments within specific time frames.
All metering pumps can process water, but some are designed to pump other liquids, like solvents, syrups, solutions, oil, and more. When used to pump chemicals,
including acids, slurries, bases, and corrosives, metering pumps may be alternatively referred to as chemical dosing devices. Other common names for metering pumps
include dispensing pumps, controlled-volume pumps, and proportioning pumps.
A solenoid valve is a type of valve that differs from other valves as this valve utilizes electricity energy to control mechanical devices which opens and closes the valve.
A vacuum pump is necessary for a range of industrial settings and applications. In labs, vacuum pumps help to control delicate testing environments when contaminants could destroy experiments. There are several types of vacuum pump systems, and these include: liquid ring pumps, dry pumps, oilless pumps and rotary vane pumps.