First three-way ball sector valve for the control of flow rates

Schubert & Salzer has now developed the first three-way ball sector valve for the ideal control of the flow rate of liquids and gases.

“Our approach of using the ball sector design for three-way valves is completely new. In this way, we achieve about 20% higher KVS values than three-way valves with a conventional design,” explains Reiner Wolf, head of mechanical design and development at Schubert & Salzer Control Systems. These extraordinarily high flow rates are achieved through the special design of the ball sector and the valve body. The resulting straight flow in one direction and the minimised flow deflection in the other result in the very high and almost identical KVS values.

Superior control accuracy is ensured by the optimised contour of the ball sector and its backlash-free bearing, together with the actuator and positioner. The positioning angle of 90 degrees enables a very large control range to be achieved. The rangeability is 300:1.

The forces of the flowing media are completely absorbed by the bearing shafts of the three-way ball sector valves, which is why pneumatic or electric actuators require only very low actuation forces. The relatively low actuator torque also remains almost constant over the entire actuation range. Changes in differential pressure therefore have hardly any effect on the control accuracy of the three-way ball sector valves.

The actuator can be attached to the upper or lower shaft end. This results in a particularly high degree of flexibility in adapting to different installation situations.

Especially in combination with the digital positioner type 8049 from Schubert & Salzer, the three-way ball sector valves can maximize their control potential. In addition to an Ex and FM version, the controller can also be equipped with IO-Link. This provides extensive status data for analysis and predictive maintenance.

Three-way ball sector valves offer particularly high added value in the temperature control and mixing processes of the steel, chemical, food and beverage industries as well as in power generation, the manufacture of plastic and rubber products and for use in test benches.

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