Knife Gate Valves

Knife gate valves are a specific type of isolation valve that are typically used for media that are not hazardous such as wastewater. Here’s a summary of their importance, function, and applications:

Importance of Knife Gate Valves:

Isolation of Thick Fluids: Knife gate valves are primarily designed to isolate thick fluids, wastewater, and slurries. They are especially beneficial for handling slurry, viscous, corrosive, and abrasive media.

Cutting Through Impediments: The knife gate has a sharp edge that is designed to cut through the fluid or material being isolated. This design also minimizes the chances of clogging, making these valves ideal for applications involving suspended solids.

Low Pressure Drop: When in a fully open position, there is a low drop in pressure, it is lightweight, simple to use, and highly cost-effective.

Function of Knife Gate Valves:

Flow Control: A knife gate valve works by lifting a plate with a planar or “knife” edge from the path of flow that can literally cut through various impediments during closing thereby creating complete closure against a soft sealing surface.

Types of Knife Gate Valves: There are regulating knife gate valves that act as a flow control valve and non-regulating knife gate valves that act as an On-Off valves.

Applications of Knife Gate Valves:

Knife gate valves are used in a wide variety of applications, like sewage pipelines of smaller diameters, food-processing industry for used water treatment, and even energy plants for technical water pipelines and cooling water pipelines.

In summary, knife gate valves are integral to the functionality of fluid power systems. They help regulate flow, increase efficiency, reduce waste, and are versatile enough to be used in a wide range of applications.