Instrument Valves – A Complete Guide

 

For more than 20 years, Instruthinkhas been among the leading manufacturers and suppliers of instrument valves, transmitters, flowmeters, and many other instruments in UK and other parts of the world. The entire catalog of instrument valves and manifolds are available, which support the whole range of switches, gauges, and pressure transmitters. Instruthinkalso supplies all the instrument valves to provide safety and reliability to various applications.

Below are the answers to all the questions about the instrument valves: 

What is an instrument valve?

 

The instrument valves are instruments of metal or plastic along with several parts. The outer part of the instrument valves is known as the seat. Sometimes, the instrument valves have a solid metal casing from the outside, and soft rubber from inside, so the instrument valves make a tight closure. The purpose of using instrument valves is to alter the section of the passage and direction of the flowing medium to control the flow of conveying medium. The primary use of instrument valves is in the processing lines and instruments such as ball, needle, manifold, and piston check valves. All the instrument valves meet the standard of ASME, and all are tested extensively.

How many types of instrument valves manifold are there?

 

The instrument valves manifolds combine with the number of ports to increase the flexibility. Moreover, the combination of manifolds causes a reduction in the complexity of the plumbing. There is a stamp on the manifolds and the part number and serial number. These numbers help trace. Also, the instrument valves manifolds permit granular control and keep monitoring the complex procedures.

• Multi-port manifold: The multi-port manifold assembles the pressure transmitter and pressure gauge matching.

Orifice: 4mm

Approximate weight: 2.0kg

Pressure: up to 6000 psi

Temperature: up to 400 degrees Celsius

All the dimensions are in millimeter

Material: 304SS or 316SS

Connection of the process: ½ “, ¼” NPT, BSP, G, etc

• Five-way manifold (direct mounting): The purpose of designing a five-way manifold is for direct mounting on the differential pressure instruments. The manifold gets connection with the two process isolation valves in which the first equalizer and second one is drain valves in the compact block

Instrument port: flanged

Process port: ½ “NPT female

Drain port: ¼ “NPT female

Maximum pressure: approximately 6000psi

Maximum temperature: 180 degrees Celsius

 

• Three-way manifold (direct mounting): The three-way (direct-mount) is with one side flange. The designing of the three-way manifold is for direct support towards the standard differential pressure transmitters. Therefore, this manifold mainly blocks the three valves, two actual processing of the isolation valves, and one equalizing valve.
• MA and MB Serial Manifold: The features of these serial manifolds are as follows:
• It is available in two-ways and three-ways manifold
• You can install it directly on the instrument like pressure transmitter and pressure switch.
• There are bolts and seal parts in the manifold
• The maximum working pressure is 600psig (414 bar)
• The maximum temperature is 648 degrees Celsius during the usage of Grafoil packing
• You can test every value under the pressure of 1000 psig nitrogen, and maximum leakage for the seating is 0.1SCCM
• Testing for hydraulic housing is 1.5 times more than the maximum working pressure
• Another solution for testing is also acceptable

What is the purpose of using instrument valves?

 

Nowadays, almost all industries are using piping and processing systems. It helps them in providing efficiency, safety, and delivering consistent performance. The instrument valve plays an essential role in the system because it is easy to maintain, has greater control over the processes, and improves the operations’ safety.

There are four primary purposes of using instrument valve that is as follows:

1. First, starting and stopping the fluid liquid.
2. Controlling the amount of the fluid flowing in the system
3. The instrument valve also controls the direction of the flowing fluid and avoids backflow.
4. The instrument valve helps regulate the system downstream or the pressure existing in the process.

These functionalities show that the instrument valve is the primary support for industrial processes. The instrument valve keeps working to address all the issues that may happen in the systems of the pipes of different sizes.

 

How to configure instrument valves? 

 

Using instrument valves is to isolate the gauges or other instruments quickly. Therefore, selecting the type of configuration affects the instrument valves’ implementation and usage. Following are the techniques to configure the instrument valves: 

• Isolation: The most straightforward configuration of instrument valves is isolation. In this configuration, the instrument valves use one inlet and outlet to connect the gauges and different devices easily. Even the replacing and maintenance is also simple.
• Blockage and bleed: The addition of one more port for the outlet in the isolation configuration is known as blockage and bleed configuration. The additional port helps improve the sampling, eliminating, calibrating, and tasks related to the services. However, they may remove the instrumentation while using a typical isolation configuration.
• Double rock and bleed: The double rock and bleed configuration is popular where there is the requirement of a greater level of isolation. To position the block valves (mainly ball valves) accompanying the bleed valve is to make the robust system for calibrating safely, sampling, servicing, purging, and much more.
• Gauge root: In this configuration, there is an addition of one more outlet. It means there is one inlet and three outlets. The gauge root configuration is flexible enough to connect with the gauges while other service tasks do not interrupt the processes. Even if you are using one instrument, the gauge root configuration provides extra accessibility by offering options for alignment and orientation.

Which factors to consider while choosing instrument valves for your application? 

While selecting the best instrument valves for your application, you must consider the following factors.

• Materials: Before proceeding towards selecting instrument valves, the consideration of the ideal materials is essential. If there is an involvement of the gases or slurries in the water treatment processes or harsh environments, then prefer stainless steel instrument valves. In addition, there are many benefits of using stainless steel instrument valves, such as it being resistant to corrosion, having an ideal weight, economical cost, and is easy to maintain.
• Characteristics to control the flow: There are instrument valves available that you can use for multiple purposes. You can easily control the flow according to the system’s requirements and receive performance for the long term from selecting your instrument valves. 
• Pressure requirements: Few instrument valves can hardly detect the upstream and downstream pressure readings. At the same time, the other instrument valves keep forcing the substance to process by the 90 degrees angle. But unfortunately, high flowing and high pressure are not possible. Always check and make sure that your instrument valves have compatibility with working conditions as all your processes need efficiency, effectiveness, and safety.

 

What are the types of instrumentation valves?

 

• Needle instrumentation valves: The principle of Needle valves helps isolate and control the flow of liquids and gases. The Needle name shows that this valve is suitable for preventing and stopping the fluid flowing in the pipeline. The needle valves can also handle high temperatures, approximately -50 to 190 degrees Celsius. The dust and threads cups are also present with the needed instrumentation valve. Usually, the needle valves are suitable for the gaseous and liquid aggressive medium, which are non-viscous and ideal for aggressive environments. The chemical, petroleum power generation and wastewater industries use needle valves for industrial applications.

• Ball instrumentation valve: The manufacturing of ball instrumentation valve is for high-pressure applications. It is available in different port sizes, styling, and end connections. The ball valve is highly demanding to the delivering of high-quality performance. The ball valve installation is primarily on the upstream onshore/offshore production of the oil and for early stages. As a result, the ball valves are available at economical pricing. The ball instrumentation valves suit high-quality machinery and deliver guarantees for working smoothly.
• Check valves: The check instrumentation valve’s purpose is to assure that the fluid flows in a single direction. In addition, the ball check valve helps prevent the reverse flow where the tight leakage shut-off is not necessary. The check valve closes whenever the differential pressure drops below the cracking pressure. The check valves are available in three ranges: 3000 psi, 6000 psi, and 12000 psi. The standard materials for the check valves are stainless steel 316, carbon steel (mainly for hydraulic purposes), and exotic materials including Hastelloy, Titanium, Super duplex, and Monel.
• Manifold valves: The manifold valves are available in various configurations like 2-way manifold valves, 3-way manifold valves, and 5-way manifold valves. These manifold valves are helpful in pressure gauges, system impulse lines, differential pressure, flow recording, and switches. There are some basic variants of the manifold valves, including remote mounting, direct mounting, one side flange, both side flange, and it depends on which type of manifold valve you are using. There are R type, H type, T type, and coplanar.
• Pressure gauge valves: there are two main types of pressure gauge valves. It comprises stainless steel 316, Alloy 400, and duplex/super duplex.
• Block and bleed valve: The block and bleed valve performs the block and bleed functionality and hand over more control than the multi-port valves. On one side of the valve, there is a line for flowing the process, and on the other side, there is a pressure gauge. The attachment of the plug is for bleeding purposes. The combinations are available according to the requirements of the customer. There is an enhancement for safety purposes in the block and bleed valve because of the blowing out of the proof designing of the bonnet.
• Multi-port valves: The multi-port pressure gauge is a single needle value along with more than one port on the side of the outlet. One port is primarily for the pressure gauge, and another is for the processing lines. This type of valve helps in installing the gauge in the line. The multi-port gauges are occasionally functional with solid plugs or bleeder plugs.

What are the features of instrument valves?

• The instrument valves require less maintenance.
• The design of instrument valves is compact.
• The instrument valves are easy to install and maintain
• The instrument valves are user-friendly
• The instrument valves deliver the accurate dimensions 
• There is durability and strength in the instrument valves 
• The instrument valves can switch on and off the medium present in the pipeline
• You can also adjust and control the flow and pressure of the flowing medium through the instrument valves 

 

What are the essential parts of the instrument valves?

 

There are some essential parts in every type of instrument valve. Each part of the valve offers different functionality during the working of the valve. You need to know about the parts of the instrument valves because it is helpful for the operators of the plant and workers to carry their tasks efficiently.

Below is the list of the parts of the instrument valves: 

• Body of the instrument valves
• Bonnet of the instrument valves 
• Trimming the inner elements such as stem, disc, sleeve, and seat of the stem of the instrument valves
• The actuator of the instrument valves
• Packing of the instrument valves 

 

How do the manifold instrument valves work? 

 

Nowadays, industries are using three kinds of manifold instrument valves. 2-way manifold instrument valves help connect with the pressure transmitter and pressure indication towards the instruments. 3-way manifold instrument valves and 5-way manifold instrument valves are beneficial in industries for differentiating the instruments. These instrument valves also connect with the flow level and measure the toxic gases, chemicals, and steam flow.

 

Working procedure of manifold instrument valves: 

Following are the instructions for lining up the transmitter through the 5-way manifold instrument valves in the processing line.

1. Opening of the equalizing valve
2. You need to close the higher side and lower side of the isolation valves
3. Closing the drain valve
4. Repeat step 2 again
5. After the closing of equalizing valve, the transmitter begins to show the readings

For checking the zero of DP instrument, do as follows:

1. Open up the equalizing valve
2. Closing the higher side and lower side of the isolation valve
3. After opening the vent of the transmitter, then we will receive the zero reading.

 

Who are the manufacturers of the instrument valves?

 

Some leading countries are manufacturing and supplying instrument valves. It includes the USA, India, Manchester, Canada, United Kingdom, and UK. For more than 20 years, in UK, Instruthinkis on the top manufacturer of instrument valves. We also supply three types of manifold instrument valves globally for oil, gas, and petroleum industries: multi-port manifold, 5-way manifold, 3-way manifold, and 2- way manifold instrument valves. Instruthinkdelivers the instrument valves according to the fluid flowing in your systems. You can choose ball valves, butterfly valves, check valves, or any other instrument valves entirely depending on the piping systems.

 

Which materials are used in the manufacturing instrument valves?

Three primary materials help produce instrument valves that differ from model to model and manufacturer. The instrument valves’ fundamental condition depends on the instrument valves’ reliability. There are several options available depending on your selection criteria.

1. Plating of Nickel: In Nickel plating, there is 100% Nickel plating above the Nickel Silver instrument valves. It is an economical option as the slippery texture in the material shows that it offers less resistance and actions fast. The plating quality is also essential, but you can make the surface better by applying the thick paint coating. It will make the instrument valves work for the long term.

Monel: Basically, Monel is an alloy of nickel and copper with other metals like iron, cobalt, and aluminum. Monel is a solid alloy and resistant to corrosion. The Monel instrument valves become greenish or brownish because of the electrolytic reactions between the pistons and casing, making the brass leach inside the piston. Due to the hardness in Monel, it is the perfect material for the instrument valves when compared with the casing of the brass.

Stainless steel: Stainless steel is the famous choice for instrument valves on a commercial level. In stainless steel, there is 18% chrome and 8% nickel. Like the Monel, stainless steel is also a rigid material and is suitable for preserving the complete tubing of the brass. In addition, the stainless-steel instrument valves can handle the tight casing that improves the pitches. The best material for instrument valves is stainless steel because it requires less maintenance and causes less trouble during the applications’ operations. 

Which type of instrument valves is suitable for oil and gas applications? 

Industrial applications use various kinds of instrument valves. The purpose of using instrument valves in the piping system is to control the flowing fluid present in the system. You can use the instrument valves manually or through an actuator to change and control the instrument valves’ opening. The oil and gas industries use different instrument valves, including gate, butterfly, globe, and ball.

These instrument valves perform the following functionalities after the installation on the special equipment or the piping system:

• Isolating
• Regulation
• Non-returning
• Specific purpose

You must know the instrument valves’ working, maintenance, and adjustment. It is essential in the success of the processing system, and its complete tasks depend on the instrument valves.

What is an instrument air manifold? 

The instrument air manifold or the manifold for air distribution is a shape of the pipe with different branches of the outlets to deliver the instrument’s air to the consumers like a control valve, actuating a valve, or other instruments operating through pneumatic. The number of outlets in the instrument air manifold is dependent on the number of instrument valves. The fittings of each outlet are with the block valve that can be the ball valve or need valve. There is an instrument tag number with every outlet delivering the instrument air. Below the instrument air manifold, the block valve is available for drainage. The importance of this draining valve is during the maintenance process to bleed the building up the condensing liquid.

The range of instrument air manifold is primarily valuable for petroleum, chemicals, pharmaceutical, food, and beverage industries. These manifolds are usually suitable for hooking up the instrument, and different options are available on the inlet and outlet sides.

How is the process designing of the instrument air valves? 

 

In oil and gas applications, you need to assess different elements that have to be present in the instrument air valve. The capacity of every aspect is suitable for determining the capacity of the instrument air system. The essential parts of the instrument air valves are the air compressor, cooler, inlet for filtering the air, separator for the moisture, receiver, and dryer of the air.

Final thoughts: 

Instruthinkmanufactures and supplies the instrument valves according to the requirements of the industrial applications. You can even order manifold instrument valves from the official website of Instruthink. Fill out the online form for a quick quotation. The customer care representatives at Instruthinkare always available to answer all your queries regarding the instrument valves. There are different instrument valves, so select and order carefully. Our team is also available on WhatsApp and Skype to assist you as much as possible. Don’t think anymore. Order any of the instrument valves now.