Butterfly Valve Design and Application

Author(s): Henry C. Schwenk

Source: Journal (American Water Works Association), Vol. 49, No. 6 (June 1957), pp. 772-
774
Published by: Wiley
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/41254879
Accessed: 02-12-2022 02:08 UTC

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide
range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and
facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at
https://about.jstor.org/terms

Wiley is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Journal
(American Water Works Association)

This content downloaded from 137.132.123.69 on Fri, 02 Dec 2022 02:08:35 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 Butterfly Valve Design and Application

A paper p
ing, Baltim
Pratt Com

problem. Although butterfly valves are

THE
sincebutterfly valveashas
ancient times been used
basically a simple device, their nature
a practical
device for the control of fluids. In makes them subject to forces not com-
modern usage, it has passed from montheto most other valve types. It is
use of light-weight dampers for control, important, therefore, to discuss briefly
to the use of metal seat valves in which the characteristics of the butterfly valve
the disc is wedged at an angle to the (specifically, the rubber-seated type
body in an effort to minimize leakage. which has recently come into popular
This development was followed by the use in certain applications within the
disc arm pivot valve method which as- water works industry) and the effect
sisted in obtaining tight shutoff in metal of flow conditions on it.
seat valves, and, finally, by the present The question of the forces subsumed
high-quality rubber seat butterfly valves in line or flow conditions and their ef-
which can be obtained to AWWA fect on valve construction is the aspect
of butterfly valve selection most puz-
specifications from five to six different
manufacturers. zling to the prospective valve buyer,
A great deal of information concern- who wonders why he cannot simply
ing the design of butterfly valves has specify a 2 5 -psi valve when that is the
been published in recent years. The maximum pressure he expects to en-
valve manufacturers have expended counter. An investigation of the influ-
much time and energy on technical lit- ence on valve design of these forces
erature designed to provide industry should explain the apparent anomaly.
with background material and up-to- The basis for considering line dy-
date design information. The AWWA namics when using butterfly valves is
has, as is well known, approved two ex- the fact that the butterfly is not a bal-
cellent specifications (1, 2) designed to anced valve. An unrestrained butterfly
guide the water works industry in the valve disc under flowing conditions will
selection of butterfly valves for common go to the closed position. This is an
applications. elementary fact, and is true regardless
An explanation of some butterfly of the direction of flow with respect to
valve design considerations is ex- valve orientation. This tendency to
tremely helpful in understanding this close under flow conditions gives a clue
valve type, in applying it properly, and to the nature of the flow torque and
in specifying it wisely. Several the- to a means for calculating it. Flow
oretical concepts are involved, and a torque, or fluidynamic torque as it is
sound knowledge of them can lead to called, can best be explained by likening
important savings in applying the it to the "lift" experienced by an air-
butterfly valve to a water-handling plane wing exposed to an airstream.
772

This content downloaded from 137.132.123.69 on Fri, 02 Dec 2022 02:08:35 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 Jun. 1957 BUTTERFLY VALVES 773

result of is
The lift on the wing the hydraulic
due gradient from un-
to an
equal pressure distribution top to bottom of a on
full pipeline,
theproduc-
wing
surfaces caused by uneven ing an off-center action on patterns
flow the valve
around the airfoil section. On an air- disc, with resultant unbalanced torque.
plane wing and on a valve disc, the linesThis unbalance, while easily deter-
of flow tend to take the easiest pathmined, is a special case and need not
around the obstruction, giving rise to be considered in this discussion.
the unbalance in force. On a butterfly- The torques just discussed do not
occur haphazardly in the operating
valve disc, the center of this unbalance
occurs at some fixed distance from the cycle, but have certain fixed relation-
ships with disc position and pressure
shaft centerline. This force, multiplied
by its distance from the centerline, differential across the valve. Flui-
equals the fluidynamic torque. The dynamic torque, for example, varies
magnitude of this force and, hence, thewith the angle of the valve disc and
magnitude of the torque, is dependent with pressure drop across the valve.
on a mathematical relationship between Bearing friction torque varies with the
the valve diameter, flow velocity, anglepressure differential. Seating torque is
of the valve disc, and pressure distribu-a fixed value for any given valve size
and occurs only in the closed position.
tion across the valve. Its peak usually
occurs between disc angles of 30 deg In approaching any given valve prob-
and 80 deg. Equations developed from lem, a detailed knowledge of actual
experimental flow data enable the pre-operating conditions must first be ac-
quired. The values of the dynamic,
diction of this torque quite accurately.
The other special forces bearingbearing friction, and seating torques are
consideration in rubber-seated butterflythen calculated. It is easy to see that
valve design are seating torque, bearing the dynamic torque occurs only when
friction torque, and hydrostatic unbal-the valve is off its seat, opening or
ance torque. closing, or at a control point, and that
there is bearing friction to be overcome
Seating torque, as its name indicates,
is the torque required to rotate the at this time because of upstream pres-
valve disc into the rubber seat. Its sure against the valve disc. Similarly,
magnitude depends only on valve it di-is evident that as the valve is being
ameter and the seat material, and seated,
is a the line pressure against an
almost closed disc (which presents the
constant for any particular valve design.
Bearing friction torque is the fric- full disc area for the pressure to work
tional resistance to rotation imposed on)
on will produce a maximum value of
bearing friction torque which is added
the valve shaft by the bearings and shaft
seal. It is a function of the pressure to the seating torque.
differential across the valve, multiplied After the dynamic torque is calcu-
by a constant for any particular valve.lated the bearing friction torque is com-
puted at the angle at which dynamic
This constant, in turn, depends on valve
diameter, shaft diameter, and the fric-maximum is occurring. Addition of
these
tional coefficient between the valve shaft values gives the first torque
and bearings. maximum, which can be designated Ta.
Hydrostatic unbalance torque exists Adding the seating torque and the
only when a large valve in water service bearing friction torque at closing gives
is mounted in a horizontal pipeline with a second torque maximum, Tb. The
its shaft horizontal. This torque is the larger of the two (Ta or Tb) is then

This content downloaded from 137.132.123.69 on Fri, 02 Dec 2022 02:08:35 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 774 HENRY С. SCHWENK Jour. AW WA

the value which is used to establish an means, for example, that a 25-8-class
operator size. Most leading manufac- valve is designed for shutoff at 25 psi
turers have made this torque-computing and operation at 25 psi with pipeline
job easier for their sales personnel andvalve is designed for shutoff at 25 psi
customers by putting it in tabular form,level. This does not mean that 8 fps
by using a special slide rule, or by stand-is a maximum velocity but, rather, that
ardizing it by furnishing only "safe" the pressure and velocity are together
operator sizes. The latter course is the a parameter in this given design. If,
one adopted in the AWWA specifica- therefore, the maximum pressure level
tion {1, 2) with its use of the minimum is 15 psi, the velocity handled can be
torque values as outlined in the torquein the vicinity of 10 or 12 fps. This
tables of those specifications. point is often confusing to the prospec-
This brief outline of the effect of line tive valve user, and it has been the au-
conditions on butterfly design and op-thor's experience that many believe that
erator selection should help make an AWWA butterfly valve should not
clearer the reasons why each butterfly be used in velocities greater than 16 fps.
valve application should be analyzed At the present time there are rubber-
completely before a recommendation seated butterfly valve installations oper-
can be made. Each such recommenda- ating at velocities up to 40 fps. These
tion involves experimentally validatedvalves, essentially AWWA types, are
technical experience and a thorough being used without exceeding conven-
knowledge of the application. Thetional machine design safety factors. It
valve manufacturer can supply the ex- is recommended, however, that, because
perience, but complete information of the possibility of cavitation such an
about the application can come only application, the installation under con-
from the engineer or purchaser. sideration be discussed with reputable
Those who have dealt with or inves- manufacturers in the industry.
tigated the use of rubber-seated butter-
fly valves, know that the AWWA hasConclusion
set up three pressure categories for the The rubber-seated butterfly valve has "
valves and, within each category, twobeen in use in water service in the
velocity limitations. The six resulting power field since 1926. It is the au-
valve classes are labeled 25-8, 25-16, thor's expectation that it will yet as-
50-8, 50-16, 125-8, and 125-16. sume a position where it can assist the
The first number in the designationgate valve, sluice gate, plug, ball, and
is the pressure rating in pounds percone valve in doing a good jcfö for the ,
square inch, and the second, the velocity water works industry.
rating in feet per seond. These classes
were arbitrarily set up with the thoughtReferences
that they would cover the majority of
1. Tentative Standard Specifications for
water works applications and, if used Rubber-seated Butterfly Valves-
properly, protect the user in insuring AWWA CS04-55T. Am. Wtr. Wks.
that he had the proper valve for the Assn., New York; Jour. AWWA,
job. The pressure-velocity method of 46:943 (Sep. 1954).
2. Tentative Standard Specifications for
rating uses the methods just discussed
Metal-seated Butterfly Valves- AWWA
- that is, it is a way of relating valve C505-55T. Am. Wtr. Wks. Assn., New
design to a set of maximum flow condi- York; Jour. AWWA, 48:201 (Feb.
tions for that class of equipment. This 1956).

This content downloaded from 137.132.123.69 on Fri, 02 Dec 2022 02:08:35 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms