Comparative Analysis of the Performance Characteristics of Butterfly and Pinch Valves

Abstract

Valves are important components in controlling the amount of fluid going to devices. One of these types is the butterfly valve (BFV) that adjusts the amount of flow by rotating the valve disk by means of its shafts which is usually located in the middle of the flow. Despite its common usage in various applications, the BFV is known to cause a high-pressure drop. Conversely, the pinch valve is another type of flow control device that uses a pinching mechanism to open and close the inner tube by pinching at different degrees. The absence of flow-controlling mechanisms in the flow path, such as the valve disk and its shaft, contribute to the minimal pressure drop in pinch valves. The high-pressure drop in BFVs and the minimal pressure drop in pinch valve flow make it worthwhile to investigate and compare their flow at all opening positions of the two valves. Therefore, this work numerically explores the potential of using the pinch valve as an alternative to the BFV in terms of its ability to attain a lower pressure loss, hence better flow rate. The influence of various BFV parameters such as shaft diameter, valve thickness, and valve disk edge were examined. The performance characteristics of both valves were obtained using CFD models formed on the SolidWorks program. This CFD model solves the differential equations using the finite element method. Moreover, a mathematical model to determine the area of the pinch valve at various pinching degrees was developed and compared with the results obtained from other mathematical models and CFD. It was shown that using a flat 1 mm valve disk thickness with round edges resulted in a 7.5% increase in mass flow rate compared to standard BFVs. On the other hand, using the pinch valve resulted in over a 700% mass flow rate compared to the BFV at a 25% opening position and a 49% increase in flow rate at a 75% opening position. Thus, the pinch valve has the potential to replace the BFV due to its better flow characteristics in any application.

Investigating the Impact of Operating Conditions on Relief Pressure Valve Flow through CFD and Statistical Analysis

“…Regarding the selection of turbulence models, the impact of different turbulence models on the accuracy of calculations is very important. The performed analysisinvolving the simulation of a pressure relief valve handling water and air as fluids, the choice of the k-epsilon turbulence model aligns well with common practices for such scenarios in CFD, being used in many scientific papers, such as [1,8,[23][24][25][26]. Also, this model makes a balance between accuracy and computational efficiency, making it well-suited for engineering analyses [8].The choice to use non-equilibrium wall functions in the simulation, particularly in the context of analyzing air/water flow through a discharge valve, is typically motivated by the flow characteristics near the solid boundaries (such as the valve surface) and the computational efficiency considerations [23].…”

“…Advancements in computational techniques have made it increasingly practical to analyze the intricate flow patterns within valves [4][5][6]. As a result, there has been a significant increase in research related to the functionality and design of valves [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11].…”

“…The model adopted in the flow simulation.The flow model k-epsilon[1,8,[23][24][25][26], Realizable, non-equilibrium wall function[23] Environment: air/waterAir density: 1.204 kg/m 3 Water density: 998.2 kg/m 3 Air dynamic viscosity: 1.813•10 −5 kg/(m•s) Water dynamic viscosity: 1.003•10 −3 kg/(m•s) Connection conditions Inlet pressure: (4.1-4.4) MPa Outlet pressure: 0.1 MPa Type of analysis Steady, 300 iteration…”