The water valves are installed in a house plumbing system to restrict the flow of the water either partially or completely. The sizes and designs of the proportional flow control valves differ according to the purpose they are built for. For example, simple faucet valves let the water completely stop or flow in a house piping for domestic purposes. While on the other hand, the butterfly valves are installed in commercial areas to connect large pipelines, but ultimately they are the main suppliers of residential water. That is why they are also used for domestic purposes.
Keeping in view the various working patterns, domestic proportional control valves have the following types:
Ball Valve
This is the most important and widely used domestic proportional flow control valve all around the world. It is considered more reliable than a gate valve and compromises no leakages. This is why their use is very extensive and you may see them casually in any house including yours too. In a ball valve, there is a lever that rotates at a right angle. When the lever is in parallel with the valve body, maximum water will be flown out of it.
On the other hand, keeping the lever perpendicular to the valve body will block the water flow completely. By using a proportional flow valve, the flow can be set to either maximum or minimum but you cannot set it according to your particular pressure needs.
Butterfly Valve
The valve is called a butterfly device because its body is manufactured in this pattern. There is a disc mounted on the inside of the valve that controls the motion of flow in a particular direction. The composition of the disc is such that it has a maximum diameter at the center while a minimum on the sides. There are wings that are attached to either side of the proportional flow control valve disc. This arrangement gives the device a particular butterfly shape.
Butterfly valves are used to connect pipes that are 3 inches in diameter. Although they are not seen mostly in residential piping systems, they are the main suppliers of water to domestic pipelines. That is why they are often used in domestic plumbing systems as well.
Pressure Relief Valve (PRV)
A pressure relief proportional flow control valve is another addition to the valve family that may look like an ordinary valve but operates differently. Sometimes due to extensive pressures in the pipelines, the temperature of the water gets too high which creates steam in the piping system. Pressure relief valves evacuate this steam out of the valve which prevents sudden failure or bursting.
Pressure relief proportional air valves are installed on hot water tanks to regulate the flow of steam out of them and keep the remaining running water cool enough to be supplied to the residential colonies.
See:
- How to Install an Automatic Pump Controller using a Float Switch
- How to Choose the Best Solar Batteries & Panels for your System
Conclusion
Proportional flow control valves are integral components of a water system. That is why we must know what purpose we want and what would be the best valve choice according to that so that the water runs out of the domestic taps or other appliances without any trouble.
