Introducing The Marine Valves

Marine valve is a valve specially designed for the ship, which can be used to control the pressure, flow and flow direction of the fluid in the pipeline of the ship. Valve is the control device of fluid pipeline. Its basic function is to connect or cut off the flow of the medium in the pipeline, change the flow direction of medium, adjust the pressure and flow of medium, so as to protect the normal operation of pipeline equipment. The commonly used marine valves are cast steel valves, carbon steel valves, etc.

The marine valves can be divided into 12 categories and 1400 specifications. The maximum pressure that the marine valve can bear is 25MPa, and its maximum diameter is 900mm. The materials used to make marine valves are cast steel, carbon steel, alloy steel, copper alloy, aluminum alloy, titanium alloy, stainless steel, and non-metal. The medium of marine valve is mainly fresh water, sea water, air, steam, fuel oil, lubricating oil, etc.

Development of Marine Valve Technology

Since the 1970s, ball valves and butterfly valves with the advantages of light weight, small size, good sealing performance, quick and convenient opening and closing have been gradually applied in ships, and will replace cut-off valves and gate valves more and more, which will improve the performance of ships. Electric gate valves, electric cut-off valves, electric hydraulic ball valve, electric hydraulic butterfly valve, pneumatic butterfly valve and other remote control valves are also gradually adopted by some ship systems, improving the modernization level of the ship. In addition to the above valves, there are also some special valves that can meet the performance requirements of various systems of the ship, such as high-pressure butterfly valve, sea water solenoid valve, temperature control valve, high-pressure air solenoid valve, ventilation butterfly valve, etc.

Common Faults and Causes of Marine Valves

The common faults of marine valves mainly include damage, aging and corrosion.

The main reason of valve damage is the unreasonable structure of the valve. This will make the internal stress of the valve too concentrated, resulting in valve damage. It is also possible that the valve is damaged due to the poor quality of the product, such as uneven thickness and material of the valve wall. In addition to the above reasons, the causes of valve damage may also be poor welding quality, improper installation, etc. It should be noted that improper selection of valves may also cause valve damage. If the pressure on the valve exceeds the maximum it can withstand, the valve will also be damaged. Therefore, the staff need to check and maintain the valve regularly to extend its service life.

The main causes of valve aging and corrosion are the poor quality of the valve, the poor maintenance of the valve and the old valve was not replaced in time. 

With the development of technology, more and more new valves will be used in the ship industry. Some valves made of new materials will gradually replace those made of traditional materials such as cast steel valves, which will further improve the performance of the ship.