Which is better – ball valves or disc valves

Ball valves and disc valves perform identical functions, but still one of these devices is more economical, efficient and reliable. Let's try to figure out which is better – a ball valve or a disc shutter?

Ball valves are a well–forgotten old

The last decades of the last century can be safely called the era of ball valves. Approximately at the beginning of the 90s, instead of conventional valves, valves and closures, these products began to be actively used, significantly increasing the reliability and safety of operation of pipeline valves and systems connected to it. All this became possible due to the high tightness and long service life of the ball valve in comparison with the listed analogues.

On the other hand, the mass commissioning of ball valves often led to some negative consequences, including hydraulic and pneumatic shocks as a result of too abrupt opening of the crane, the wedge of outdated products due to the effects of aggressive and chemically active substances, which made it impossible to either open or close.

Disc valves are the best replacement for a ball valve

For these and many other reasons, specialists in the field of pipe fittings production have reconsidered their attitude to the ball valve and started looking for an alternative solution. One of these was the appearance of rotary type disc valves, which are characterized by similar indicators of tightness and reliability, have smaller scales, overall dimensions and cost. The principle of operation is similar to reverse coupling gates.

By reducing the overall size, similar parameters of the entire device in which they are embedded have decreased. This leads to significant savings in the operation of the pipeline system.

Unlike a ball valve, a disc valve structurally resembles a "sandwich", therefore it is placed between the flanges of the pipeline. The mounting length and weight are 5 times lower in comparison with ball analogues. The average cost of production is the same number of times lower. As for the operating temperature, in both cases it is approximately the same, since everything depends solely on the type of seals used.