Pipes Fittings, Valves and Pumps (Schmidt) Page 2 of 53
Pipes Fittings, Valves and Pumps (Schmidt) Page 2 of 53
Pipes Fittings, Valves and Pumps (Schmidt) Page 2 of 53
A good way to distinguish 300 series steels from 400 series is that the 300 series steels do not
have magnetic properties.
It is difficult to get a tight seal by threading stainless steel pipe, so it is usually welded or
screwed and welded.
Elbows (ells) are usually 90° or 45°. The street elbow has a female fitting on one end (top in
diagram) and a male fitting on the other end. Thus a street elbow threads into another fitting at
its male end and a pipe threads into the street elbow at its female end. A tee-branch fitting
connects three sections of pipe at right angles, while a Y-branch fitting joins three pipes in a
Y-shape. A cross fitting joins 4 sections of pipe.
Couplings are open (female) at both ends. They simply join two sections of threaded pipe. A
straight coupling joins two sections of the same diameter pipe, while a reducing coupling joins
two sections of pipe with different diameters. A union also joins two sections of pipe, with the
difference that a section of pipe joined with unions can be removed from the middle of a long run
of pipe without dismantling other sections. In order to replace a middle section of pipe joined by
couplings, one must start at the end of the run and remove each section in sequence until the
desired section is reached. A union is made of three pieces; the central piece is a threaded nut
that holds the two ends together. Bushings are similar to couplings except that one end is female
and the other is male, whereas with couplings, both ends are female. Bushings (like distillation
glassware adapters) join hardware of different sizes.
This cut away of a union shows its 3 parts. The central nut
that joins the two threaded ends.
union
Various fittings can be purchased with flanged ends as show below. For practice, name the
fittings shown below.
2 = flanged cross,
1 = flanged tee,
3 = flanged 90°
4 = flanged 45°
Answers:
elbow,
elbow
Iron/Steel Fittings
Screwed fittings (such as elbows, tees, etc.) are available for steel
pipe in cast iron; 25 lb (‘light’), 125 lb (‘standard’) and 250 lb
(‘heavy’) size. Fittings for welding are available for both butt
welding and socket welding, and come in light, standard, and
double extra strong weights.
These standard fittings are commonly used with schedule 40 pipe;
the extra heavy correspond to schedule 80 pipe. Iron pipe up to 2
inches diameter is usually joined by screwing to threaded fittings.
From two inches up to 12 inches in diameter it may be screwed or
welded, but over 12 inches it is generally welded and/or flanged
(bolted together with flanges).
Stainless Steel Fittings
Stainless steel is very hard and is difficult to thread it and obtain a
tight connection. It is generally screwed and back-welded or
simply welded.
As it is difficult to thread both ends of a short length of pipe,
factory-made short lengths called nipples are purchased in length
up to 6 inches in length.
Copper Fittings
Soft copper tubing used to connect instruments is generally joined by compression or flared
fittings. A flaring tool must be used to shape the tubing end in order to used flared fittings.
These fittings are available in ¼, 3/8, ½, and 1-inch sizes but ¼ inch is most common.
Glass Fittings
Glass fittings can be purchased in the shapes desired, such as tees, reducers, ells, etc. and are
fastened using gaskets of Teflon and metal flanges.
VALVES
Gate Valves gate valve
Gate valves are only used for on-off control; either fully open
or fully closed. Gate valves have a gate, disc, or wedge that
can be raised or lowered. The direction of flow through an
open gate valve is straight through (no change of direction) and
so the pressure drop is minimal. This is an excellent valve for
stopping flow but not for throttling it. A partially open gate
valve would have a high velocity of flow at right angles to the
gate. This would cause vibration and erosion of the machined
faces of the disc and prevent the disc from seating properly to
stop the flow completely.
Gate valves may be installed with flanged, screwed, or welded
connections.
Globe Valves
In the globe valve, the direction of flow is changed so that it
runs essentially parallel to the seating surfaces. This reduces globe valve hand wheel
erosion of the seating surfaces, but by changing direction of stem
flow several times the pressure drop through the valve is
gland nut
considerable. The globe valve is designed so that if four turns
gland
of the stem are required for full opening to closing of the valve
it will permit about one-quarter of the flow to pass for each packing
turn of the stem. Gate valves are larger and heavier than bonnet
others. disc
Both seat and disc of the globe valve are designed for relatively seat
easy replacement. The disc can be made of a plug of metal
making contact with a metal seat or the disc may be made of
some composite material such as impregnated rubber.
Globe valves are not suited to handling slurries. Solid
depositions may interfere or prevent valve operation.
needle valve
Needle Valves
The needle valve is another variation of the globe valve except that
the end of the stem is tapered to a point instead of ending in a flat
disc. This furnishes precise control and is excellent where a small
stream is desired and a large drop in pressure is acceptable. One
common application of this valve is in sampling, especially where
the sample is being taken from a line under high pressure. They are
also used for fine flow control in rotameters and pressure taps.
Ball Valves
The conventional ball valve, as the name implies, has a
spherical plug that controls fluid flow. A hole is machined
through the centre of the ball and a mere quarter of a turn of the
handle changes flow from full open to full closed.
As with gate valves, there is very little pressure drop through
ball valves when they are fully open. Their handle is usually ¼ -turn
just a short straight section of steel. ball valve
There is no place where solids can collect to hinder opening
and as a result ball valves are suitable for handling slurries.
Ball valves generally obtain tight seals and can be used as on-off valves.
If the opening in the ball is asymmetric like the one shown on the right,
the ball valve performs well for throttling service.
The plug valve (like a stop cock in a buret) is unique. It can have several ports (holes). Turning
the valve partial turns can direct flow in any of several directions. This is called ‘multi-port
construction’. Some buret stop cocks operate this way; ¼ turn fills the buret and another ¼ turn
empties the buret. One multi-port plug valve can replace 2, 3 or even 4 straight-through valves.
Butterfly Valves
For large pipes, the butterfly valve is frequently most economical. It is lightweight and compact.
In this type of valve the opening gate rotates (pivots), rather than moving up and down.
Butterfly valves handle
butterfly valve A butterfly valve slurries well (without
mounted between plugging). Their straight-
pipe flanges through design minimizes
sediment build up and gives
low pressure drop.
They are most often used
for handling large flows of
liquids or gases at low
pressure. Simple butterfly
valves are used in air ducts
of domestic forced air
furnaces.
Diaphragm Valves
Diaphragm valves are opened and closed by a valve
handle that lifts or depresses a flexible (elastomeric)
membrane (diaphragm). The diaphragm protects the cut away of swing
bonnet (main section, housing the stem of the screw check valve
and packing) from the liquid being controlled. Thus
diaphragm valves are especially suited to pumping of
corrosive fluids. In the Saunders diaphragm, the
bonnet is completely isolated by a continuous
diaphragm valve
elastomeric diaphragm. The change of direction of
flow is minimal and so the pressure drop in these
valves is also small. They handle slurries well.
Steam Traps
The steam trap is a type of valve. It holds the steam back and lets condensate pass. They are
commonly used in industrial evaporators.
2. State the four factors that determine the selection of the type of pipe to be used.
3. Of the types stated in 1, which is most commonly used and state two other names for this
type of pipe.
4. The wall thickness of pipe is identified by a ‘schedule’ number. State the schedule
numbers that are available.
6. In older terms, the wall thickness was given as ‘standard’, ‘extra strong’, and ‘double extra
strong’.
Standard pipe corresponds to schedule …………… ,
10. Some industries make extensive use of Cu tubing, while others will use relatively little.
However, there is on use of copper which is common to many processes. State this use.
11. Glass pipe is very resistant to corrosion and has the advantage of visible flow. State two
disadvantages of this pipe.
12. State four different linings that are available in lined-steel pipe.
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14. What are three weights of fittings that are available for iron pipe?
15. State three ways of joining iron and stainless steel pipe.
c) Explain why this valve should be used either fully open or fully closed.
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a) What is the difference between the application of a butterfly valve and a globe valve?
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b) Can butterfly valves handle slurries without jamming? ……………………
c) What is the unique advantage of the diaphragm valve compared to other valves?
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b) What are two major types of safety valves?
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c) What are the advantages of one type over the other?
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