What is the most reliable type of check valve?

Dec. 16, 2024

Pros and Cons of 2 Check Valves Types - Crane Engineering

One of the most essential valves in water and wastewater pumping systems is the check valve. Its purpose is to automatically open while pumps are running, and return to the closed position to prevent reverse flow when the pumps are not in operation. These valves help minimize energy consumption and protect the pumping system from pressure surges and damage from reverse flow.

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Selecting check valves for a process is like selecting hardware for new cabinets. Once you decide on a knob or a handle, there's a multitude of styles, colors, and price points to consider beyond that. Same with check valves. It's pretty clear the process you're working on requires a check valve, but which one? Each style of check valve is designed to meet a certain need. Here's the pros and cons of two different styles of check valves, the lift check and swing check.

Lift Check Valves

Lift check valves are commonly used in high-rise buildings, industrial and power plant applications, and water and wastewater applications. They have no external moving parts and are known to be economical and reliable. Over time, these types of valves can have high energy costs because the disc remains in the flow stream during operation.

Silent Check Valve

Silent check valves are known for their quiet closure. Flow pushes the disc to allow forward flow. When the pump is stopped, a compression spring pushes the disc into the seat before flow reverses, hence the silent closure.

This type of check valve is most commonly used in clean water applications with high head.

Nozzle check valves are very similar to the silent check valve, are meant for high pressure, industrial and power applications.

Ball Check Valve

Ball check valves are commonly used in water and wastewater applications. They have very simple operation, and are compact and economical too. These valves feature a rubber coated ball that moves in and out of the seat as flow moves forward and reverse.

Because the ball has a long way to travel when the pump shuts off, these valves have a high tendency to slam in high head applications.

Swing Check Valves

Swing checks are certainly some of the most common check valves used in water and wastewater pumping systems. They're readily available and relatively low cost. They're also automatic, requiring no external power source, guided only by the direction of flow.

These valves can come in a few different configurations, operating in the same basic way.

Dual-Disc

This check valve features a wafer body design and two D-shaped discs that rotate out of the way as flow enters the valve. It has good non-slam characteristics, but is not recommended for wastewater applications. It is also susceptible to vibration and wear.

Traditional Swing Check

Everyone knows this one, right? It's definitely the most common check valve in water and wastewater applications. This type of valve usually has metal or resilient seats and a 60-90 degree swing. This valve has a tendency to slam, however, due to the long stroke, friction in the packing, and inertia of the disc.

Air cushions are sometimes employed to help alleviate the slamming. Though some believe that a lever and spring is a better accessory as they allow the valve to close faster.

Tilted Disc Check Valve

The difference between the tilted disc check valve and the traditional swing check valve is that flow is allowed to pass on both sides of the disc. Because of this, it allows for extremely low head loss.

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This valve is not recommended for wastewater applications because pins that extend into flow stream tend to collect debris. Clean water or treated effluent are best for this valve.

Do you have the right type of check valve for your application? Could there be a better one? Always discuss changes to your pumping system with an engineer who is well versed in all types of check valves. They may be able to help you find a valve that slams less or could even be more energy efficient.

Not sure if you should change up your check valves? Ask us about it! We gladly provide technical assistance to businesses and municipalities in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, and upper Michigan.

How to choose the right check valve?

Tilting disc, slanted seat check valves

The slanted seat check valve also offers enhanced resistance to water hammer. The valve has a double eccentric shaft position as well as an increased seating angle. This yields a shorter valve stroke, thus reducing the time taken for the door to close.

Hydraulic dampers are recommended, especially when the valves are installed on a pumping station where high frequency opening and closing of the valve is required. The valve disc closes quickly over the first 85% of its angular travel before meeting the hydraulic damper. The damper then dissipates the kinetic energy of the disc and forces it to open slightly. The disc closes until it contacts the damper again and this cushions the disc until it returns to its fully closed position, sealing the valve. This function greatly reduces the onset of water hammer due to the damped and controlled method of valve closure.

For more details, please see our slanted seat check valve product information.

Nozzle check valves

Nozzle check valves are designed with the valve disc connected to the stem which is guided on the central horizontal axis. A spring is positioned between the disc and the diffuser sleeve. When flow enters the valve, the hydraulic force exerted onto the front face reacts against the spring, causing the spring to compress and allow the valve to open. When the flow stops, the spring forces the disc to return to the closed position.

Due to the spring-assisted closure and the short linear valve stroke, the nozzle check valve is one of the quickest acting check valves available and is commonly used in pumped systems where water hammer is a potential concern. Because the disc is constantly in the direct line of flow, the head loss characteristics of this valve are higher compared to that of conventional swing check valves.

For more details, please see our nozzle check valve product information.

What to consider when choosing your check valves?

In order to choose the right check valve for your application, several selection criteria should be considered. First, however, there is not one type of check valves being the best choice for all applications, and the selection criteria may not be equally important for all cases. Some of the things you may need to consider are fluid compatibility, flow characteristics, head loss, non-slam characteristics and total cost of ownership.

Fluid

All check valves referred to in this article are designed for water and treated wastewater applications, but using the valves for raw wastewater/sewage applications may cause some issues. When selecting a valve for these fluids, you should consider how the presence of solids may potentially affect operation of the valve.

Flow characteristics

If a check valve closes very fast, it may prevent slamming against upstream equipment such as pumps. However, the rapid closure will not protect against the surges caused by pumps being started and shut down. If the valve opens (and closes) quickly, the flow will change rapidly and thus increase likeliness of surge occurrence.

Head loss

Head loss is, among other things, a function of fluid velocity. The head loss through a valve is determined by the internal design of the valve and the opening degree. When a valve is designed with a restricted (narrowed) opening compared to the pipeline, the velocity will increase through the valve, increasing the head loss as a result. Vice versa, if a valve is designed with less restriction and bore is equal size to the pipeline, the head loss will be smaller, and the valve will in practice not affect the overall head loss of the system. There are a number of values for head loss, amongst others zeta values, Kv and Kvs values.

Total cost of ownership

The costs for your check valve consist of more than just the purchase price. For some installations, the most important costs may be purchasing and installation, but in other cases, maintenance or energy costs may be equally or even more important. Also protecting more valuable equipment such as e.g. pumps has to be considered, and looking at the valve performance will be crucial. When considering costs as a selection criterion for your check valve, the total costs over the life of the valve should be considered. In general, the simpler the valve construction is, the lower are the maintenance requirements. The higher the Kv value, the lower the energy consumption. The higher the performance, the better the protection ability.

Non-slam characteristics

Check valve slam can affect pressure surges in a negative way. First step of the process is when the pump stops, starting the pressure surge. Second step is, when the flow is reversed, slamming against the fully closed check valve. If the check valve closes too fast, the kinetic energy is turned into high pressure, stressing the pipes, and causing high noise.

A slam sounds like if the disc or the ball from the check valve is hitting the seat and can make quite some noise. However, the sound is not caused by the physical closing but by a sound wave arising from a pressure spike stretching the pipe wall.

To prevent the occurrence of check valve slam, the valve should close in a controlled way and slower when near closed position. For a check valve to close slowly, it requires additional ancillary equipment, such as hydraulic dampers, which act as a cushion to the valve door, as it comes into its seated position. This slower closure allows the fluid to pass through the check valve until it closes, causing less kinetic energy turning into high pressure, and thus less energy to feed and maintain the surge. Consideration must be given to the upstream pump to ensure that it is suitable for reverse spin and flow.

As swing check valves have the disc in the flow stream, helping with rapid closure, they have better non-slam characteristics. However, today many pumps are frequency converted, enabling them to adjust the start-up and closure time to avoid water hammer.

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