Industrial Gate Valve: What You Need to Know

Jul. 28, 2025

Industrial Gate Valve: What You Need to Know

Gate valves play a role in industries by regulating the flow of fluids in pipelines.

There are types of gate valves, including knife gate valves flanged gate valves, wedge gate valves, sluice gate valves slab gate valves, and bellow seal gate valves.

Each type serves purposes and works under different conditions.

Understanding how these valves function their components, operation methods, and maintenance needs is vital for choosing the valve type to ensure effective industrial processes.

What is a gate valve?

A gate valve is a valve used to manage flow in a pipeline. It features a sliding gate (or wedge) that can be lifted or lowered to control the fluids flow through the valve.

Types of Gate Valves

Gate valves come in types with designs and functionalities tailored for specific uses.

Knife Gate Valve

The knife gate valve stands out with its edged gate that moves across the flow path to cut off flow when needed.

It is commonly applied in scenarios dealing with abrasive fluids, like slurries, wastewater treatment processes, and pulp and paper industries.

Flanged Gate Valves

Flanged gate valves have flanged ends that make it easy to install and remove them from pipelines.

They are ideal, for situations where regular maintenance or inspection is needed, like in water distribution systems, HVAC systems, and industrial processing facilities.

Wedge Gate Valves

Wedge gate valves use a wedge-shaped gate to create a seal against the valve seat.

These valves are commonly found in applications with pressure and high-temperature requirements such as oil and gas pipelines, power plants, and chemical processing plants.

Sluice Gate Valves

Sluice gate valves, also known as slide gates, consist of a rectangular gate that moves vertically to control water flow in channels, canals, or dams.

They are frequently used in the following:

Irrigation systems.
Flood control structures.
Wastewater treatment facilities.

Slab Gate Valves

Slab gate valves utilize a gate that slides between two seats to manage fluid flow.

They are often employed in pipeline scenarios where bidirectional flow control is necessary, like in oil and gas transmission lines and petrochemical refineries.

Bellow Seal Gate Valves

Bellow seal gate valves feature a bellows assembly that acts as a stem seal to prevent leaks of hazardous or corrosive fluids.

These gate valves are well suited for applications where precise closure and protection, from the environment are important such as in:

Chemical processing.
Pharmaceutical manufacturing.
Power plants.

Gate Valve Parts

Gate: The gate or wedge that manages the flow of fluid within the valve.

Valve Body: The primary enclosure of the valve housing the gate and other internal elements.

Bonnet: The cover of the valve body that grants access to components for maintenance or repair.

Stem: The upright shaft linked to the gate enables manual or automated operation of the valve.

Seats: The sealing surfaces where the gate meets to ensure a seal.

Packing: The material utilized to form a seal around the stem to prevent leaks.

Actuator: The mechanism for controlling valve operations, which can be manual, electric, pneumatic, or hydraulic in nature.

Gate Valve Symbol

In piping and instrumentation diagrams (P&IDs), a gate valve is typically represented by a rectangle with a line denoting the gate and another perpendicular line with an arrow indicating flow direction.

Credits to: Assuredautomation.com

Functions of An Industrial Gate Valve

Industrial gate valves play roles in industries and applications for different purposes:

1. Isolation: Gate valves are commonly used to isolate sections of a pipeline for maintenance, repair, or shutdown procedures.

2. Flow Regulation: These valves can adjust the flow rate of fluids within a pipeline by opening or closing to control the volume of flow.

3. Bidirectional Flow Control: Some gate valve types, like slab gate valves, enable flow control allowing movement in both directions.

4. Secure Shut Off: Gate valves ensure shut off when fully closed reducing the risk of leaks and enhancing flow control efficiency.

5. Versatility: Known for their versatility gate valves can manage a range of fluids, pressures, and temperatures making them ideal, for industrial uses.

Understanding how an industrial gate valve functions involves manipulating the gate to regulate flow.

How Does An Industrial Gate Valve Work?

When open, the gate is retracted from the flow path to allow fluid to move through the valve body.

When the valve is shut, the gate is moved down and extended into the flow path stopping the flow and creating a secure seal against the valve seats.

Industrial Gate Valves: FAQs

What is the ASME standard for gate valves?

The standard governing gate valves is ASME B16.34, which specifies materials, dimensions, design features, testing procedures, and pressure-temperature ratings for gate valves used in settings.

Adherence to this standard ensures that gate valves meet performance, safety, and reliability requirements in the industry.

How to operate a gate valve?

To manually operate a gate valve, turn the handwheel and operating nut of the valve clockwise to close it and counterclockwise to open it.

For gate valves or those with gear operators, use a wrench or valve key to slowly and smoothly turn the stem to avoid damaging components of the valve or causing abrupt changes in flow.

What is the importance of a gate valve?

Gate valves are essential in operations as they offer isolation, flow control regulation, and bidirectional flow management in pipelines.

They help prevent substances from spreading, facilitate maintenance activities and repairs, and ensure the functioning of industrial systems across different sectors.

How do you pressure test a gate valve?

Testing the integrity of a gate valve involves exposing it to pressure rather than its usual operating pressure to check for leaks.

This process includes pressurizing the valve with water or a suitable fluid and monitoring for any drop in pressure or signs of leakage over a period following industry standards and manufacturer guidelines for results and safe testing procedures.

How do you determine the position of a gate valve?

You can determine the status of a valve by examining the stem or actuator.

When the stem or actuator is fully open, the valve permits flow in the pipeline.

Conversely, when it’s completely closed, the valve stops the flow of fluid.

Some gate valves may feature position indicators or markings on their bodies for identification and regular visual checks and maintenance can ensure operation and positioning.

Key Takeaway

Wedge gate valves play a role in industries for regulating fluid flow in pipelines.

They provide sealing to withstand pressure and temperature exhibit durability and offer versatility making them ideal for a wide range of industrial uses.

Knowing about the kinds, operational principles, benefits and drawbacks of wedge gate valves is essential for choosing the right valve type and ensuring dependable operation in industrial settings.

Gate Valve Type, Advantage and Disadvantage, Applications

Gate valves are widely used for all types of applications and are suitable for both above-ground and underground installation. Not least for underground installations, it is paramount to choose the right type of valve to avoid high replacement costs.

Gate valves are designed for fully open or fully closed service. They are installed in pipelines as isolating valves, and should not be used as a control or regulating valves.

Operation of a gate valve is performed doing an either clockwise to close (CTC) or clockwise to open (CTO) rotating motion of the stem. When operating the valve stem, the gate moves up- or downwards on the threaded part of the stem.

History of a gate valve

The term Gate Valve originated from the words gatan, gap, gasse and gat, and implies a passage with a barrier, which can be hinged on one side, allowing it to be OPENED and CLOSED.

Some of the first known gate valves were used by the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans when irrigating fields with water. These were simple wooden barriers, but they were well-suited for the requirements of the task.

In the 19th century, intensive development of gate valves moved quickly forward due to their increasing use in industrial operations. Over time the materials involved in their manufacture were improved and modified to suit different applications.

In addition, there were significant improvements in the efficiency of both internal and external sealing methods.

Type of Gate Valve

There is a different type of gate valve, such as:

Standard

Wedge Types

Solid Tapered Wedge

Solid Pliable Wedge

Double Disc type

Bellow Design

Cryogenic Design

Knife Plate

Hulk Plate

advantages of gate valves

The closing feature is very good.

These valves can be used both ways in the circuit

They provide laminar flow, the pressure loss is minimum

Disadvantages of Gate Valves

They cannot be opened and closed quickly. To fully open or closed wheel or gearbox actuators, the shaft should be rotated as many as the full open revolution number. The full open revolution number is equal to the pitch

Assembly, start-up, and maintenance require large space.

In the fully closed position, the slow movement of the slide causes high flow speed. Due to vibration and collision, abrasion and deformation occur in the seating surfaces and the surface gets damaged from friction.

In systems where high-temperature changes irregularly, due to the load in the pipe at the valve end, leakages in gate valves occur.

At the place of operation, repair and maintenance of seating surfaces are difficult.

Application of Gate valve

Socket or butt-welding end-gate valves in air, fuel gas, feedwater, steam, lube oil, and other systems are typical applications. Threaded-end gate valves may be used in air, gaseous, or liquid systems.

Concern for leakage from threaded connection can be addressed by seal welding the threaded connection or by using thread sealants, as appropriate. In low-pressure and low-temperature systems such as fire protection systems’ water piping or water distribution pipelines, flanged gate valves are commonly used.

Refrences:

https://www.avkvalves.eu

http://www.schuf.de

http://www.pipingguide.net

https://www.ksb.com

A Gate Valve and Its Advantages

A gate valve is a wedge disc for opening and closing. The movement direction of the brake is required to be perpendicular to the direction of the fluid. It can be opened and closed completely, and cannot be adjusted or throttled. The gate valve is sealed by the contact between the valve seat and the gate. Usually, the metal material is sealed and welded to improve the wear resistance. The gate is divided into rigid and elastic gates and is widely used in chemical, petroleum, light industry, hospitals, environmental protection, etc.

Ⅰ. How does a gate valve work

How does a gate valve work? The opening and closing disc of the gate valve is the wedge disc, which has two sealing surfaces. The most commonly used mode is that the two sealing surfaces of the gate valve form a wedge. The wedge angle depends on the valve parameters, which is usually 5°, and is 2°52' when the medium temperature is not high. The gate of the wedge gate valve can form a whole, which is called a rigid gate. It is possible to manufacture gates that can produce slight deformation so as to improve the manufacturability, and compensate for the deviation of the sealing surface angle during processing. This kind of gate is called an elastic gate. After the gate valve is closed, the sealing surface can only be sealed by the pressure of the medium. In other words, according to the media pressure, the sealing surface of the gate can be pushed into the other side to ensure the sealing of the sealing surface, which is called self-sealing. Most gate valves adopt the method of forced sealing.

Ⅱ. Advantages of gate valves

1. The flow resistance is small. The media channel inside the valve is straight, and the flow resistance is small.

2. It is easier for it to do the opening action. Because compared with the shut-off valve, the movement direction of the gate valve is perpendicular to the direction of the medium flow, whether it is open or closed.

3. High and long opening and closing time. The opening and closing stroke of the gate is relatively large, and the elevator is carried out by screws.

4. Water hammer is not easy to occur.

5. The two sides of the channel are symmetrical, and the medium can flow in any direction from both sides, which is convenient for installation.

6. The structure length (the distance between the two connecting end faces of the system shell) is small.

7. The gate valve has simple body shape, short structure, good manufacturing technology and wide application range.

8. The gate valve boasts compact structure, good valve rigidity, soft channel, small flow resistance, long sealing surface between stainless steel and hard alloy, long service life, PTFE packing, reliable sealing, light and flexible operation.

How to Select the Right Valve (with Pros & Cons)

The suitability of a valve for a specific application is defined by the materials used in relation to the transported fluid as well as its mechanical design. Here is Indelac Valve Selection Guide.

Valve Selection Table

The tables below can be used as a valve selection guide taking into consideration the state of material, its nature and the function of the valve.

Conveyed Fluid

Nature of Fluid

Valve Function

Type of Disc

Liquid Neutral (Water, Oil, etc) On/Off Gate Rotary ball Plug Diaphragm Butterfly Plug gate Control valve, modulating Globe Butterfly Plug gate Diaphragm Needle Corrosive (Acid, alkaline etc.) On/Off Gate Plug gate Rotary ball Plug Diaphragm Butterfly Control valve, modulating Globe Diaphragm Butterfly Plug gate Hygienic (Food, beverages, drugs etc) On/Off Butterfly Diaphragm Control valve, modulating Butterfly Diaphragm Squeeze Pinch Slurry On/Off Rotary ball Butterfly Diaphragm Plug Pinch Squeeze Control valve, modulating Butterfly Diaphragm Squeeze Pinch Gate Fibrous Suspensions On/Off, Control valve, modulating Gate Diaphragm Squeeze Pinch

Conveyed Fluid

Nature of Fluid

Valve Function

Type of Disc

Gas Neutral (Air, Steam etc) On/Off Gate Globe Rotary ball Plug Diaphragm Control valve, modulating Globe Needle Butterfly Diaphragm Gate Corrosive (Acid vapors, chlorine etc.) On/Off Butterfly Rotary ball Diaphragm Plug Control valve, modulating Butterfly Globe Needle Diaphragm Vacuum On/Off Gate Globe Rotary ball Butterfly

Conveyed Fluid

Nature of Fluid

Valve Function

Type of Disc

Solids Abrasive Powder (Silica, etc) On/Off, Control valve, modulating Pinch Squeeze Spiral sock Lubricating powder (graphite, talcum, etc) On/Off, Control valve, modulating Pinch Gate Spiral sock Squeeze

Valve Type Pros and Cons

Because everything is easier to understand with a table, here is another one summarizing pros and cons for the most common valves.

Valve

Advantages

Disadvantages

Butterfly

Quarter turn

Difficult to clean

Open port

Difficulty with slurries

Used with chemical or corrosive media

Throttling limited to low differential pressure

Compact, lightweight design

Potential for cavitation and choke

Available in large sizes

Unguided disc movement is affected by flow turbulence

Low pressure drop and high-pressure recovery

High coefficient of flow

Ball

Superior ease of operation

Poor throttling characteristics

Maintains and regulates high volume,

Difficult to clean, leads to contamination

high pressure, and high temp flow

Rugged construction and long service life

Low purchase and maintenance cost

Able to function without side loads

Permits inspection and repair of seats and seals without removing the valves' body from the line

Does not require lubrication

Diaphragm

Extremely clean

Can only be used in moderate temperature (-60 to 450ºF)

Leak proof seal

Can only be used in moderate pressures (approximately 300psi)

Tight shut-off

Cannot be used in multi-turn operations

Easy maintenance

No industry standard face-to-face dimensions

Repairs can be made without interrupting pipe line

The body must be made of corrosive resistant material

Reduce leakage to the environment

Gate

Available in large sizes

Low pressure limitations

Can be used with slurries and viscous liquids

Slow open and close time

Used as a shut off valve

Erosion of the seat and disk can occur

Easy to maintain and disassemble

Poor throttling characteristics

Inexpensive

Difficult to repair

Inherently fire-safe (when used with a metal sheet)

Should not be used in sanitary applications

Bidirectional

Globe

Can be fast-acting

High head loss

Precise control

Large opening for disk assembly

Can be used in high-pressure systems

Heavier than other valves

Cantilevered mounting of the disk to the stem

Low coefficient of flow

Not good for clean or sterile applications

Pinch

Very Clean

Cannot be used in high temperature applications

Excellent drainage

Cannot be used in high pressure applications

Minimal turbulence

Cannot be used with gas media

Low airborne contaminants

Low maintenance

Low weight

Can be used in explosion-proof lines

Inexpensive

Once the right valve has been selected, it is time to select the right actuator! See link below to Indelac Actuator Selection Guide:

For more pipe beveling machineryinformation, please contact us. We will provide professional answers.

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