Isolation Valves
Reliable valve solutions for the safe shut off and isolation of industrial processes.
An isolation valve stops the flow of gas, liquid, slurry or powder. These valves typically operate in the closed or fully open position to direct process media, protect in emergencies and facilitate safe maintenance. Isolation valves are also known as shut off valves, on-off valves or stop valves.
Over the past 20 years, more and more countries around the world are focused on combating fugitive emissions. There’s a way for manufacturers to do their part, says Jeff Roseneder, by taking a closer look at basic seal design in ball valves.
With Clarkson KS1 knife gate valves from Emerson, the improvement was dramatic and immediate. After 8 months, the new valves remain in service, never having required a repair or change out. The installed cost of each valve was less than $27,000, so the project paid for itself in just over two weeks, and it has been generating nearly $10,000 per week in savings since.
read moreTom Mullins and Daniel Quintero presented How Will Valve Automation Change in a Sustainability and Decarbonization World at the 2024 Ovation User Group Conference.
read moreJean-Paul Boyer, Massimiliano Franco, Nagendra Maddula, and Eugenio Sudati recently published an article in LNG Industry magazine, “The Key to Valve Selection for Challenging LNG Applications”. It describes key design parameters for choosing the best valves for LNG terminal operations.
read moreIsolation Valve FAQs
An isolation valve stops the flow of gas, liquid, slurry or powder. These valves typically operate in the closed or fully open position to direct process media, protect in emergencies and facilitate safe maintenance. Although there are differences in intended use, isolation valves are also commonly known as shut off valves, on-off valves or stop valves.
Isolation valves are available in variety of designs including ball valves, butterfly valves, gate valves, globe valves, knife gate valves and triple offset valves. Each design type has its own advantages depending on the process conditions, system design or goals of the plant owner.
Isolation valves are installed in piping systems to isolate flow to ensure safe maintenance of process equipment including control valves, pumps and tanks. Isolation valves can also be used for on-off process control, to connect external equipment, facilitate testing and to shut down processes in an emergency.
Valves are the leading source of fugitive emissions in a typical process facility. Leakage can occur around the valve stem, body seals and end connections resulting in the unintended release of process media. It is therefore critical to carefully select low emission valve technology that features quarter turn action, a proven stem seal system, minimal body joints and where possible, welded end connections.