Heating pipe on the gate valve and butterfly valve which is more suitable

In the valve selection of the heating system, gate valve and butterfly valve are two common choices, but there is no absolute difference between the two. The key is to make targeted selection according to the pipe diameter, space, working condition requirements and other factors.

The key advantage of gate valves is their tightness and low resistance. When the gate valve is fully open, the valve plate is completely lifted, the flow path is consistent with the inner diameter of the pipe, the medium is straight through, and the flow resistance is minimal. For hot water circulation systems, this helps to reduce pump energy consumption and improve the overall efficiency of the system. At the same time, the sealing performance of the gate valve is better than that of the butterfly valve, especially for the steam pipeline and the water supply pipeline with strict sealing requirements. However, its disadvantages are slow opening and closing speed, time-consuming operation, and large shape size, especially the high height of the valve stem, which requires a large installation space.

Butterfly valve is known for its compact structure and rapid operation. The butterfly valve is small in size and light in weight, and has obvious advantages when the space of the heating engine room is limited. Its opening and closing is 90°rotation, fast action, suitable for frequent operation or emergency cut off occasions. Under the same caliber, the price of butterfly valve is usually lower than gate valve, and the cost is more economical. However, the tightness of the butterfly valve is slightly inferior to that of the gate valve, and the valve plate remains in the pipeline when it is fully opened, which will generate some resistance to the convection.

In the actual project selection, pipe diameter is one of the decisive factors. Large diameter pipe (usually refers to DN600 and above) should choose metal hard seal butterfly valve, and small and medium-sized diameter (such as DN250-600) can choose metal hard seal gate valve. For small diameter pipe, both valves can be applied, and other factors need to be weighed.

On the whole, the valve selection of heating pipeline can refer to the following ideas:

Gate valves are a more secure choice for tight, space sufficient, infrequent operations such as steam mains or critical cutoff points.

If the installation space is limited, the need for fast opening and closing or frequent operation, and cost sensitive, such as in the heat exchange station or branch pipeline, butterfly valve is more advantageous.

It is worth noting that for the directly buried heating pipeline, the valve should be able to withstand the axial load generated by the thermal deformation of the pipeline, and the steel welded valve should be selected. The final selection of pipe diameter, pressure, temperature and installation conditions should be comprehensively determined.