Comparative analysis of regulating characteristics between air-ring flow regulating valve and center butterfly valve

In this study, a novel air-ring flow regulating valve was proposed to reduce the flow resistance caused by valve structural pressure drop in fluid transportation pipeline system. The regulating characteristics at different valve openings were analyzed by numerical method and the results were compared with the center butterfly valve which is most widely applied in fluid transportation pipeline system. Besides, an experimental system was designed to validate the numerical model in the present study. The results indicated that the simulation results agree well with experimental data. The resistance coefficient of the air-ring flow regulating valve is smaller than that of the center butterfly valve when the valve opening is greater than 67%, and the resistance coefficient is reduced by up to 100% as the valve is fully opened. Both valves maintain approximately equal percentage flow characteristics, the deviation in relative flow coefficient is small. In addition, the wall shear stress of the air-ring flow regulating valve is much smaller than that of the center butterfly valve at the same valve opening, and the maximum velocity in the pipeline system is always smaller than that of the center butterfly valve, which significantly reduces valve surface abrasive erosion and thus prolongs its service life.