API600/BS1414 Gate Valves

What is gate valve?

A gate valve, also known as a sluice valve, is a valve that opens by lifting a round or rectangular gate/wedge out of the path of the fluid. The distinct feature of a gate valve is the sealing surfaces between the gate and seats are planar, so gate valves are often used when a straight-line flow of fluid and minimum restric?tion is desired. The gate faces can form a wedge shape or they can be parallel. Typical gate valves should never be used for regulating flow, unless they are specifically designed for that purpose. On opening the gate valve, the flow path is enlarged in a highly nonlinear manner with respect to percent of opening. This means that flow rate does not change evenly with stem travel. Also, a partially open gate disk tends to vibrate from the fluid flow. Most of the flow change occurs near shutoff with a relatively high fluid velocity causing disk and seat wear and eventual leakage if used to regulate flow. Typical gate valves are designed to be fully opened or closed. When fully open, the typical gate valve has no obstruction in the flow path, resulting in very low friction loss.
Gate valves are characterized as having either a rising or a nourishing stem. Rising stems provide a visual indication of valve position because the stem is attached to the gate such that the gate and stem rise and lower together as the valve is operated. Nourishing stem valves may have a pointer threaded onto the upper end of the stem to indicate valve position, since the gate travels up or down the stem on the threads without raising or lowering the stem. Nourishing stems are used underground or where vertical space is limited.
Bonnets provide leak proof closure for the valve body. Gate valves may have a screw-in, union, or bolted bonnet. Screw-in bonnet is the simplest, offering a durable, pressure-tight seal. Union bonnet is suitable for applications requiring frequent inspection and cleaning. It also gives the body added strength. Bolted bonnet is used for larger valves and higher pressure applications.
Another type of bonnet construction in a gate valve is pressure seal bonnet. This construction is adopted for valves for high pressure service, typically in excess of 15 MPa (2250 psi). The unique feature about the pressure seal bonnet is that the body - bonnet joints seals improves as the internal pressure in the valve increases, compared to other constructions where the increase in internal pressure tends to create leaks in the body-bonnet joint.
Gate valves may have flanged ends which are drilled according to pipeline compatible flange dimensional standards. Gate valves are typically constructed from cast iron, ductile iron, cast carbon steel, gun metal, stainless steel, alloy steels, and forged steels.

The gate valve is used for cut-off the medium, when full open the flow through the whole pipe, when the media running, there have a minimum of pressure loss. Gate Valves is usually used for the working environments which use frequently and keep the disc full-or full-closed. But it applicable to regulator or reducing the medium. When the flow of medium is high-speed, the disc to open at local conditions can cause the vibration of the disc, and the vibration damper may damage the disc.
The gate valve is divide into two big types by sealing surface configuration, include wedge-type gate valve and parallel-type gate valve, wedge gate-type valve can be divided into: single-disc gate valve, double-disc gate valve and flexible-disc gate valve; the parallel-type gate valve can be divided into single-disc gate valve and double-disc gate valve. According to location of the thread on the stem, the division can be divided into rising API600 gate valve and non-rising gate valve.

GATE VALVE APPLICATION
Face to Face Dimensions: ANSI B16.10
Basic Design : API 600
End Flange Dimensions: ANSI B16.5
Test Standards: API 598

GATE VALVE MAIN PARTS AND MATERIALS