Just like me, most of you would be thinking of how ‘valves’ play a role in comforting our lives. You will get your answers by the end of this article.
While many of you will be reading this blog with your N95 mask on, just remove it for a moment and have a look at the valves used in the mask. These valves are keeping the surface area of your face cooler inside the mask while exhaling as they open up. It releases the moist air exhaled by us and closes while inhaling.
We already have got used to new normal to tackle the COVID 19 pandemics and these masks are playing a vital role in saving millions of lives. So keep your masks ON while going out. Let me drive you through some other common appliances where these valves are doing magic.
In our smart homes, we just simply by turn a conventional TRV (thermostatic radiator valves) in our rooms to the desired temperature and we experience those cool breezes. We just sit and chill as if these cool breezes relaxing us. Where ever these smart TRVs are installed can be managed from anywhere.
Even when we are driving and adjusting our seats to our comforts these solenoid valves fills in, hold and discharge the air from air cushion in seat backs as lumbar support. So these valves help us to get in position to drive or relax and experience a lovely drive.
So almost everywhere in daily life, we are enjoying the magic of these valves. Apart from domestic appliances, these valves are playing a major role in our offices and industries too by comforting our workplaces.
These valves in Pharmaceutical facilities control the airflow in AHU’s (air handling units), water flow in chilled water piping and refrigerant flow in copper piping. These valves release the required refrigerant to AHUs to maintain the temperature and humidity in the offices, comfort and classified rooms. Mainly butterfly valves, control valves, check valves, gate valve, globe valve, ball valves, pressure relief valves and diaphragm valves used in the HVAC system.
These parts of a valve are pretty self explanatory.
Classification of Valves
Valves are classified based on mechanical motions:
Linear Motion Valves: The valves in which the closure member, as in gate, globe, diaphragm, pinch, and lift Check Valves, moves in a straight line to allow, stop, or throttle the flow.
Rotary Motion Valves: When the valve-closure member travels along an angular or circular path, as in butterfly, ball, plug, eccentric- and Swing Check Valves, the valves are called rotary motion valves.
Quarter Turn Valves: Some rotary motion valves like a butterfly, plug, ball valves require approximately a quarter turn, 0 through 90°, the motion of the stem to go to fully open from a fully closed position or vice versa.
Globe Valve: Globe valves one of the most commonly used valves in the industry. You must have seen these valves used in various application. They are used in discharge pumps of cooling towers to start, top and regulate the fluid flow.
Plug Valve :Plug valves are ideal for handling clean and dirty liquids, sludge, slurries and gases. The rotary motion in 3 way and 4 way plug valves suits best for diverting and throttling applications.
Ball valves: Ball Valves are used practically anywhere a fluid flow must be shut off, from a compressed-air line to a high-pressure, hydraulic system. They are quarterly turn valves specially designed to enable a degree of flow regulation.
Butterfly valves: Butterfly Valves are quarter-turn valves, the leak-proof valve having centre-mounted circular flaps that swing into, and out of, the flow stream. They are used in cooling towers, process plant, wastewater plants for regulating and isolating the fluids.
Check Valves : Check valves are generally used for controlling the fluid flow in a single direction only. They are used on gas lines, for air service, and with pumps—anywhere that fluid needs to move in a single direction.
Diaphragm Valves: Diaphragm valves having flexible membranes to manage the flow in pipes. They are mostly used in Pharma, Food, Cosmetics and semiconductor industries.
So hope you would have definitely got an idea of how valves are comforting our lives. To know more about application of these valves in pharmaceutical manufacturing, write to me on nitesh.p@hvax.in.