Difference between Plug Valve and Ball Valve

 

Plug valve:

Plug valves, refer to valves that are straightway which can be opened and closed rapidly. The plug valve is a simple structure which smaller in size and is widely used in a small diameter, low pressure and low/medium temperature situations. 

They usually work for the media which has suspended particles present since between the valve plugs and the sealing surfaces there lies a friction which can cause complete avoidance of contact with the flow media when the valves are fully opened. A single plug valve that can be connected to two to five flow channels thus simplifying the design of pipeline systems by decreasing the required amount of the valve in the pipeline systems and reducing the need of other connection fittings facilities.

Ball valve:

Ball valves are generally considered as an improvement of plug vales. They belong to the same valve type as plug valve. The ball valve differs from the plug since it adopts the ball as its disc instead of the plug which is seen in plug valve. 

The ball which is present in the ball valve opens and closes the valve by rotating around in a quarter turn motion. These valves are mainly used to regulate, distribute and change the flow direction of the media. The circular passageway with a full-bore, linearly connects the circular passageway of the valve body, so that there is little flow resistance only. The primary characteristics of the ball valve are that they are compact in structure, easier to operate and easier to maintain, highly suitable for solvent, water, natural gas, acid and other general media.

Various difference between them:

In general the plug valve and ball valve are the valves of similar type due to their common functional characteristics also both of them have a very wide range of applications.

Application Differences: 

For the better functioning of blocking media, plug valves can control flow in a much proper way than the ball valves do. But the main advantage of a plug valve is quite limited. The sealing on the surface of the plug valve is larger in size than that of the ball valve's, which enables a better sealing advantage on the face of the plug valve, but also makes it operational with a lesser flexibility because of the higher torque.

The Ball valves' sealing performance is capable of meeting most of the requirements of the practical applications it is used for due to its technological improvement of machining with accuracy and the type of sealing material used, which can make them obtain even more wider scope of applications.

Operational Principle Differences: 

The ball valve actually evolved from the plug valve since they both have a similar 90-degree rotational operation, but that solely depends up on the plug or a ball with a circular through hole or a channel which passes through its axis. When valve sphere rotates by 90 degrees, it will cut off the flow as a sphere at the inlet and outlet.

The plug valve has a conical plug whose body surface is formed by the conical pressure. Here the upper parts are sealed with a packing in between the plug and the gap in the body. Plug valve is simple and very economical because it usually has the handle exposed outside at the end instead of the bonnets that are commonly present in valves.

Cost Differences: 

The “plug” present in the plug valve is totally covered by the bushing which makes plug and the valve body free from wear. Bushing and top seal replacement with a complete repair and update of the valve enables the ball valve supplier and manufacturers to meet the long-term service requirements. This has a better an advantage over other metal ball valves that are hard-sealed in this temperature range. Additionally, the plug valve processes area is on the top face and flange, while the other parts are all one-step casting moulding and the internal body needs no further processing.

To Conclude: 

Compared with the ball valve, it offers low processing allowance which has an obviously visible price advantage. Now that it is clear as to how the plug and ball valves differ in their own unique way, we at Fevisa, is popularly knowns as Spanish Valve Manufacturers after years of understanding and research employ this cost-effective methodology in our WRAS approved valves which are the industrial standards that are on the rise. Being one of the leading Valve Stockist in Dubai has enabled us to help solve the various challenges that are faced by the industries that are primarily dependent on the valves for their various applications.