If you walk into any brewery you will see lots of valves and no brewery can operate without them. They direct beer, water, wort, steam, natural gas, caustic, sanitiser, air, C02 and even the malt. So when designing your brewery how do you know which valve is right for which application?
Types of Valves
Firstly, you need to understand what the different types of valves applications are, its advantages and its disadvantages. Here we discuss the two most common valves found in breweries.
Ball Valves
Ball valves operate on a ¼ turn principle and uses a ball with a hole through it to control the flow. When the valve is open the hole lines up with the valve body and allows the pipe contents to pass.
Advantages
- Low pressure drop across the valve when fully opened
- Many varieties available, including sanitary types, threaded, 1,2 or 3 piece construction.
- Easy to open and close (i.e. low torque required)
Disadvantages
- Poor flow control when partially closed, due to high pressure drop across ball
- Threaded variety are difficult to clean and should not be used on sanitary lines
- Deposits can accumulate around the balls edges and can be difficult to clean
- Generally have a long body and can be difficult to fit into short pipe lengths
Applications
- Shutoff applications for utilities (Water, Gas, Steam). On-Off operation only
- When solids are present in the flow (i.e. mash transfer lines) as they are not prone to blockage
- Air / Pneumatic and CO2 systems
- Can be installed fairly close to flow meters when opened fully
Butterfly Valves
Butterfly valves also operate on a ¼ turn principle and use a flat round disc called a wafer that sits inside the valve and swivels to admit flow. When opened, the discs edge sits inline with the flow allowing the content to pass.
Advantages
- Good flow control can be achieved with a relatively low pressure drop
- No cavities to allow solids and contaminants to build up around the valve body
- Easy to open and close (i.e. low torque)
- Easy to clean – many sanitary versions available
- Short body length.
Disadvantages
- Prone to leakage in higher pressure applications.
- Can block when solids are present in the flow, due to the disc edge sitting in the flow. (Not ideal for dry hopping applications)
- Temperature sensitive due to the seat materials, don’t use with steam.
- Should not be used close to flow meters due to turbulence created by the valves operation.
Applications
- Wort/beer transfer lines
- Tank port valves
- CIP/Sanitising Systems
- Flow rate sensitive applications, like heat exchanger flow rates.
There are numerous other valves available that can be utilised for other applications in the brewery such as; Steam systems, Packaging/filling equipment, solids handling (grain and grist), tank level control, sampling ports, automation systems, pressure and vacuum applications.
So when designing your brewery talk with your mechanical engineer to ensure the correct valves are used in the correct areas to ensure best performance from your brewery.