초록 ▼

A ball valve is provided for cleaning out piping systems between steam boilers and turbine generators of electrical power generating plants prior to start up operations. The valve is designed to minimize impingement between foreign substances trapped in the pipelines and the internal valve passages,

A ball valve is provided for cleaning out piping systems between steam boilers and turbine generators of electrical power generating plants prior to start up operations. The valve is designed to minimize impingement between foreign substances trapped in the pipelines and the internal valve passages, and to reduce thermal shock to the piping systems when the valve is opened to atmosphere to rid the system of said foreign substances.

대표청구항 ▼

A method of purging a pipeline of unwanted materials therein, comprising the steps of: providing a valve within said pipeline, said valve including a valve body having inlet and outlet passageways, a valve ball having a bore therethrough and being journalled in said body to rotate said bore into and

A method of purging a pipeline of unwanted materials therein, comprising the steps of: providing a valve within said pipeline, said valve including a valve body having inlet and outlet passageways, a valve ball having a bore therethrough and being journalled in said body to rotate said bore into and out of alignment with said passageways, and a gap defined between said valve body and ball establishing permanent fluid communication between said inlet and outlet passageways, said gap being relatively small in comparison to said bore and capable of passing only a relatively small amount of fluid therethrough; positioning said valve ball in a closed position wherein fluid communication is established between said inlet and outlet passageways only by said gap; admitting pressurized steam into said valve, said steam passing through said gap until the temperature within the portion of said pipeline downstream from said valve normalizes; and quickly opening said valve such that said bore is aligned with said passageways, thereby creating a sudden pressure drop within said pipeline whereupon unwanted materials are expelled therefrom.