A flow control valve regulates the pressure of gases and liquids and their flow rate via a pipeline. This type of valve is requisite for optimizing the hydraulic system’s performance that relies on the flow passage with a variable port.
Why are control valves necessary?
A flow control valve regulates the flow rate of a hydraulic circuit in a specific portion. The control valve is responsible for controlling the flow rate to cylinders and motors in hydraulic systems, thus helping to regulate the velocity of those parts. It also controls the energy transfer rate at a specific pressure. The energy transfer and the work done by the actuator should always be equal.
How does a hydraulic flow control valve work?
Different suppliers sell different types of flow control valves. The ones from Blackhawk Supply, though, have excellent accuracy as they come with specific application lists. That means you cannot use any control valve on any hydraulic system. You need to match the functions before installing them. Some of the most common flow control valves are the diaphragm, plug, needle, butterfly, and ball.
A basic flow control valve has an aperture that opened or closed to rise or decrease the flow. Ball valves are the simplest control valves among the other five control valves. It consists of a ball connected to its handle. A hole runs through the middle of the ball that aligns itself with the valve beginnings when you turn the handle. The handle can turn the hole perpendicularly to align it to the valve beginnings to obstruct the flow.
Several valves also have the same objective: to either block or permit the flow of fluids. For example, a butterfly valve consists of an interior metal plate to a turning unit. The plate closes or opens, depending on whether you turn the unit on or off. On the other hand, needle valves come with more precise control options. It consists of a valve stem and an adjustable needle that restricts the flow of fluid in the hydraulic system. The needle valve can also free flow of fluid or partial flow of fluid, depending on the varying requirements of flow degrees.
Hydraulic circuits usually can work on a range of controlling flow units. From simple to sophisticated designs, the hydraulic system uses control valves along with various options, such as deceleration valves, orifices, flow dividers, proportional flow-control valves, pressure-compensated proportional flow-control valves, temperature- and pressure-compensated, demand-compensated flow controls, variable flow valves, and bypass flow regulators. It doesn’t matter how sophisticated the system is, as long as the control valves match with the hydraulic system, the entire unit will work smoothly.
