Product selection recommendations for control valves
How to select the right control valve
The following conditions should be taken into consideration in order to select the right solution for your application:
- Working conditions
- Maximum flow
- Minimum flow
- Continuous flow
- Maximum inlet pressure
- Minimum inlet pressure
- Wanted outlet pressure
- Pipe size
AVK offers an online guide to sizing regulating valves as well as a more detailed and comprehensive sizing service. Our online sizing tool offers guidance in sizing but does not take detailed pipeline information into account. For detailed and comprehensive sizing, we recommend that you contact your local AVK company. Go to our online sizing tool.
Go to variants and configurations to see our complete offering and go to the overview of control valves in our product finder to find details about our standard range.
Control valves are also used for pressure management. Read about all the advantages of pressure management in the supply network.
The importance of strainers and isolating valves
It is highly recommended to install a protection strainer on the inlet side of the control valve, to filter out impurities that could damage the control valve, or cause loss of control. Isolating valves on each side of the control valve facilitate commissioning and maintenance. Installation of by-pass for keeping up the supply, in case of main valve maintenance on the control valve is recommended.
AVK gate valves are available in a vast number of configurations. For isolating control valves, we recommend our standard flanged gate valve with short face-to-face length or the variant prepared for actuator. Find in-depth information about our gate valves at the gate valve section.
Use of air valves
In many cases it is recommendable to install an air valve at the inlet of the control valve in order to avoid trapped air pockets in the system, and air in the system in general will cause the valve to regulate with less accuracy. Air pockets may cause increased energy consumption and operation costs, pressure loss and increased risk of water hammer.
AVK air valves are available in many variants. For control valve installations, we recommend our combination air valves of ductile iron or reinforced polyamide.
Learn why you should use air valves in water and wastewater application
Battery-operated IoT sensors for measuring pressure and flow
Pressure and flow level measurements at control valve inlet and outlet provide data for control, maintenance and optimisation of the valve and ensures optimal performance.
AVK Smart Water pressure and flow sensors are battery-operated IoT sensors providing data directly from applications in the supply network to AVK Smart Waters dedicated platform VIDI Cloud or to any preferred IT system such as GIS or SCADA.
Learn more about battery-operated IoT sensors
Download PDF: Monitoring pressure at control valve inlet and outlet to optimise operation of the water distribution network
