High Capacity Control Valve

A high capacity fluid control valve includes a valve body having a fluid inlet and a fluid outlet connected by a flow corridor, a valve seat disposed within the flow corridor the valve seat being located above a longitudinal axis of a flow pipes connected to the fluid inlet and the fluid outlet, and a valve plug disposed within the flow corridor, the valve plug cooperating with the valve seat to control fluid flow through the valve body. The valve seat is offset from the longitudinal axis of the flow pipes in a direction towards the valve plug.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Turning now toFIGS. 3,3A, and3B, one embodiment of a high capacity flow valve210constructed in accordance with the teachings of the disclosure is illustrated. The high capacity flow valve210includes a valve seat212located in a flow corridor218. The flow corridor218is defined by a hollow space within a valve body221that connects a fluid inlet222with a fluid outlet224. The fluid inlet222and the fluid outlet224may be formed in one or more connecting pipes216that may be integrally formed with, or otherwise connected to, the valve body221. The connecting pipes216may include a longitudinal axis214.

A valve plug230cooperates with the valve seat212to control fluid flow through the high capacity flow valve210. An actuator240moves the valve plug230within the valve body212to control fluid flow through the valve body212. The valve seat212is located above the longitudinal axis214(when viewed inFIG. 3), in a direction towards the valve plug230. By raising the valve seat212above the longitudinal axis, towards the valve plug230, the flow corridor218may be straightened (or at least less curved compared to prior art flow corridors) while still maintaining easy access to the actuator240, to the valve plug230and/or to a valve cage232because the actuator240, the valve plug230, and the valve cage232are oriented generally perpendicular to the longitudinal axis214of the connecting pipes216. Moreover, the flow corridor218reduces or eliminates turbulent or re-circulating areas of fluid flow. This, in turn, allows the flow corridor218downstream of the valve seat212to be more uniformly shaped, thereby providing a higher fluid flow capacity. In particular, the flow corridor218downstream of the valve seat212may have a cross-sectional shape that is symmetrical about two axes250a,250bthat are orthogonal to one another (seeFIG. 2). In some preferred embodiments, the flow corridor218downstream of the valve seat212has a round or an oval cross-sectional shape.

By locating the valve seat212above the centerline214, the flow corridor218may be smoothed so that the fluid flowing through the high capacity control valve210may experience a total of between 200° and 290°, preferably between 220° and 280°, more preferably between 240° and 270°, and even more preferably about 264° of directional change, as illustrated inFIG. 3B. This is less directional change than a traditional control valve10, which has about 304° of directional change (FIG. 1B). Less directional change produces less turbulence and thus more efficient fluid flow. As illustrated inFIG. 3B, the flow corridor218has a centerline262that includes a single 90° turn264in contrast to the control valve10ofFIG. 1B, which includes two 90° turns64. Furthermore, the flow corridor218may include 5 changes in direction260(FIG. 3B) while traditional control valves10include flow corridors18having six or more changes in direction60(FIG. 1B)

In other embodiments, the fluid flow path218may include directional vanes290(FIG. 3A) to further improve flow characteristics by assisting directional changes of the fluid flow.

Although high capacity control valves have been described herein have been described with respect to gaseous fluids, such as natural gas and propane, the disclosed high capacity control valves may be used to control other types of fluid flows.

Any of the embodiments of the high capacity control valves described herein advantageously reduce the angular changes of fluid flowing through the control valves, thus reducing turbulence and increasing efficiency. The disclosed high capacity control valves also advantageously have easily accessible valve trim and actuators.

Although certain high capacity control valves have been described herein in accordance with the teachings of the present disclosure, the scope of coverage of this patent is not limited thereto. On the contrary, while the invention has been shown and described in connection with various preferred embodiments, it is apparent that certain changes and modifications, in addition to those mentioned above, may be made. This patent covers all embodiments of the teachings of the disclosure that fairly fall within the scope of permissible equivalents. Accordingly, it is the intention to protect all variations and modifications that may occur to one of ordinary skill in the art.