Comparing Flanged and Wafer Butterfly Valves

Butterfly valves serve a purpose in the cooling water system of thermal power plants in addition to being extensively used in general industries including the petroleum, gas, chemical, and water treatment sectors. There are two types of butterfly valves: flanged and wafer-style. With a flanged butterfly valve, pipe flanges are used to connect the flanges at the valve body's inlet and outlet ends. Only a few guide bolt holes rather than flanges are present at the valve body's inlet and outflow ends of the wafer butterfly valve. Wafer-type butterfly valves are lightweight and inexpensive. When choosing imported valves, try to stick to wafer-style models since they are less expensive.

The wafer valve's lengthy bolts necessitate extreme construction perfection. The bolts will be subjected to a significant shear force and the valve is more likely to leak if the flange bolts on either end of the valve body are misaligned.

On the other hand, disassembling the wafer butterfly valve is simpler. Additionally, the cost of the valve is not too high. The drawback is that both seal surfaces need to be disassembled because one of them is broken.

Although flanged butterfly valves are more expensive, they are often more dependable in sealing applications.

In most cases, the wafer butterfly valve cannot be used when the pipeline's downstream flange needs to be disassembled because doing so will cause the wafer type valve to collapse. In this instance, a nipple must be made to facilitate the flange's easy removal. The flanged butterfly valve is more expensive but doesn't have the aforementioned issues.

Wafer type valve bolts are typically lengthy and can result in valve leakage following expansion at high temperatures. For this reason, they should not be used on big diameter pipes during high temperatures.