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A ball valve primarily plays a core role in medium shut-off and on-off control in natural gas transmission pipelines. It also serves safety assurance and system regulation functions, making it a key control component in pipeline systems.
Its specific functions can be divided into the following three points:
1.Emergency shut-off and safety protection: When pipeline leakage, abnormal pressure, or downstream equipment failure occurs, the ball valve can close quickly to cut off natural gas transmission, prevent accident escalation, and act as the "first line of defense" for pipeline safety.
2.Daily on-off and process control: At nodes such as the start station, booster station, and distribution station of natural gas transmission, ball valves are used for daily start-stop operations and pipeline switching. They enable precise control of the natural gas transmission path and on-off status.
3.Adaptation to high-pressure and harsh working conditions: Long-distance natural gas pipelines are usually under high pressure. Some pipelines are buried underground or laid outdoors. With characteristics such as high-pressure resistance, stable sealing performance, and corrosion resistance, ball valves can adapt to such complex working conditions for a long time and reduce maintenance frequency.
To more intuitively demonstrate the advantages of ball valves in natural gas pipeline applications, the table below compares and analyzes their core characteristics with those of two other common valve types in pipeline systems:
| Valve Type |
Core Advantages |
Limitations in Natural Gas Pipelines |
| Ball Valve |
Fast on-off speed, good sealing performance, low flow resistance |
Low adjustment accuracy; not suitable for continuous fine flow adjustment |
| Gate Valve |
Minimal flow resistance when fully open, simple structure |
Slow on-off speed; valve sealing surfaces are prone to wear and leakage due to impurities |
| Globe Valve |
High adjustment accuracy, suitable for flow control |
High flow resistance; valve stem seals are prone to failure under long-term high-pressure conditions |
In addition to selection and function, the daily maintenance of ball valves used in natural gas pipelines directly affects their service life and safety. For example, regular inspection of sealing surface wear, lubrication of valve stems, and testing of emergency shut-off response speed are all key to ensuring their stable operation.
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