Durable for high-frequency and high-speed opening and closing use.
Traditionally, ball valves and butterfly valves have been widely used as compressed air-operated automatic valves that can open and close quickly with low fluid flow resistance. However, they have had drawbacks in terms of "durability and high-speed operation." While these issues are rarely problematic under normal usage conditions, they can become significant in the switching valves for cooling water in the hot rolling lines of steel mills, where high frequency and high-speed opening and closing are required. Because the valve seat is equipped with a dynamic seal or metal seat, the repeated operations lead to wear and damage of the valve seat, making it difficult to maintain good sealing performance over a long period. The limit for the number of open and close cycles was around 100,000 to 200,000 times (or 10,000 to 20,000 times if the internal fluid is gas). Additionally, in cases of short opening and closing times (high-speed operation), the rapid stopping can cause a sudden pressure rise upstream of the valve due to water hammer phenomena, which adversely affects the seat packing and the valve body support bearings. This can lead to damage to the seat packing and support bearings, resulting in valve operation failure. To address these issues, we began the development of a cylinder valve as an automatic operating valve. As a result, we were able to not only solve the aforementioned problems but also complete the valve with various additional features.