Valve sizing and selection (water), Cavitation limitations on valve pressure drop – Powers 597 Series Flowrite II Heavy Duty Balanced Control Valves User Manual

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TI597SI

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VALVE SIZING AND SELECTION (WATER)

The sizing of a valve is very important if it is to render good service. If it
is "undersized", it will not have sufficient capacity. If it is “oversized”, the
controlled variable may cycle, the trim can be exposed to excessive wear or
wire drawing, and you could expect reduced valve life. To help select the
right valve, it is important to understand your application and its variables
(controlled fluid, temperatures, pressures, min/max load, etc.). When
your system variables are known and you have calculated actual demand, it
is possible to select the right Powers valve for your application. The
following technical data should help you in selecting a valve for your water
control applications. For fluid applications other than water, contact
Powers’ application engineering.

On/Off Control:
These types of applications are normally line sized to reduce pressure drop
and pump size. In these applications it is important to verify valve seat
leakage will not result in system overheat or damage. If this is a concern, it
is necessary to take precautions to alleviate this potential problem.

Proportional Control:
In applications where the close-off pressure at the valve is below 20psig,
use a pressure drop of 5psi.

In applications where the close-off pressure at the valve is above 20psig, it
is generally recommended to take 25-50% of the system pressure drop at
the control valve to maintain good valve/system performance. Certain
applications can successfully utilize lower pressure drops across the valve
(5-25%) if system fluctuations are kept to a minimum. If not, the valve is
considered oversized it will not effectively throttle until it is nearly closed
thereby resulting in poor control.

Refer to the following table for flow….

Table - 1

Water Capacity in Gallons Per Minute

Valve Cv
Size

Rating

Differential Pressure (

Δ

P in psi)

5

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

125

2.5

56

125

177

250

307

354

396

434

469

501

531

560

626

3

85

190

269

380

466

538

601

658

711

760

806

850

950

4

145

324

459

648

794

917

1025

1123

1213

1297

1376

1450

1621

5

240

537

759

1073

1315

1518

1697

1859

2008

2147

2277

2400

2683

6

370

827

1170

1655

2027

2340

2616

2866

3096

3309

3510

3700

4137

CAVITATION LIMITATIONS ON VALVE PRESSURE DROP

A concern in high temperature water systems is the potential for cavitation/flashing, which is caused by the downstream pressure being lower than that of the
vapor pressure of the fluid. This basically causes the water to "boil" and can result in reduced flow/capacity, excessive noise, vibration, wear and should be
avoided if possible. Use the following equation to estimate the maximum allowable pressure drop across the valve:

Pmax = 0.5 (P1 – Pv)
Where:
Pmax = Maximum allowable pressure drop
P1 = Absolute inlet pressure (psia)
Pv = Absolute vapor pressure (refer to psia - Table 2)
Absolute pressure = gauge pressure + 14.7

Table-2

Vapor Pressure of Water Table

Water Vapor

Water Vapor

Temp.

Pressure

Temp.

Pressure

(°F)

(psia)

(°F)

(psia)

40

0.12

140

2.89

50

0.18

150

3.72

60

0.26

160

4.74

70

0.36

170

5.99

80

0.51

180

7.51

90

0.70

190

9.34

100

0.95

200

11.53

110

1.28

210

14.12

120

1.69

220

17.19

130

2.22

230

20.78

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