Floating ball valves provide an air-tight seal when completely closed, so offer a variety of industries a key method for regulating flow of liquids such as oil, natural gas, steam and water. They have from one to three pieces welded, forged or otherwise joined together,One-piece floating ball valves have a single forged or cast steel body, which houses all the moving valve parts. These single-piece floating ball valves are the most compact and the least expensive, so are used in smaller applications.

As they can’t be opened for cleaning or repair, they’re used mainly in pipes carrying gasses, which normally require very little maintenance.Two-piece floating ball valves have two housing pieces cast together or forged, with one piece always larger than the other. The larger piece houses the moving parts, and unlike the single variety it can be opened to repair, maintain or clean it, though it must be disconnected from the pipeline in order to do so.Three-piece floating ball valves have three pieces of housing, and are the most expensive subtype.

Though they tend to be larger, there are smaller sized three-piece floating ball valves designed for use in compact situations. These sections are forged to each other, with one half of the body being larger and housing all the moving valve parts. It’s the easiest to maintain, repair or clean, as it need not be removed from the pipeline.All three types of floating ball valves allow bidirectional flow cut-off.

With a very compact design compared to other isolating valves, it’s ideal to use when space is an issue. There are a wide range of industries and environments in which floating ball valves are used, including the gas processing, petrochemical, chemical and natural gas industries as well as offshore and onshore oil and gas wells, transmission lines, storage facilities and in a multitude of other industries where gas or liquids are transported via piping systems.