Tungsten Carbide Valve Seat and Valve Ball

Made of tungsten carbide alloy, the hardness far exceeds that of ordinary materials, ensuring excellent sealing performance, wear resistance, and corrosion resistance. Tungsten carbide valve seats and balls are critical components in high-pressure, high-wear, and corrosive environments, providing stable and reliable operation for industrial valves.

Valve Seat and Valve Ball Types Kedel Provides for You

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What is a tungsten carbide Valve Seat and Valve Ball?

Tungsten carbide valve seats and balls are precision components with tungsten carbide as the core material, compatible with various ball valves. Featuring high hardness (HRA 85 or higher), outstanding wear/corrosion resistance, and high-pressure tolerance, they operate stably in harsh conditions like high-pressure fluids, abrasive media, or corrosive environments. Their main function is to control fluid on-off, ensure tight sealing, and resist erosion. As key parts of valve systems, they’re widely used in oil & gas, chemical processing, mining, and other extreme-service fields.

Common Valve Seat and Valve Ball Structures

The structural design of tungsten carbide valve seats and balls dictates a ball valve’s sealing performance and reliability in extreme conditions. Analyzing typical structural features helps select the optimal type for specific operating scenarios.

Floating Valve Seat

Structural Feature：The seat can axially float within a certain range. It relies on medium pressure or spring force to press against the valve ball, automatically compensating for sealing pair wear and pipeline installation deviations. Simple structure, with good adaptability to misalignment.
Functional Advantage：Enables reliable sealing under variable pressure conditions. Effective in compensating for ball/seat wear, maintaining long – term sealing performance. Low friction during movement, reducing valve operating torque.
Typical Applications：Common in general – purpose industrial valves (e.g., water, gas pipelines), oil/gas field production valves, and medium – pressure process control valves.

Fixed Valve Seat

Structural Feature：Rigidly fixed to the valve body (via threads, bolts, or interference fit). Position remains stable, forming a fixed sealing pair with the valve ball. High structural strength, suitable for high – pressure/high – impact scenarios.
Functional Advantage：Provides high – pressure resistance, withstanding extreme pressure differentials without deformation. Stable sealing, ideal for critical applications (e.g., high – pressure gas pipelines, cryogenic valves). Precisely controlled sealing clearance for low – leakage/high – purity systems.
Typical Applications：Used in high – pressure pipeline valves (e.g., natural gas transmission), cryogenic valves (LNG equipment), and nuclear industry safety valves.

What Products Are Commonly Used For?

Tungsten carbide seated ball valves offer unique advantages in extreme operating conditions where conventional sealing solutions tend to fail.

Oil Production Wellheads

Application: Valve systems in onshore/offshore oil wellheads, especially for high-pressure, sand-laden crude extraction.
Role: Seals high-pressure crude (with sand, corrosive gases like H₂S). Withstands cyclic pressure changes during wellhead operations; prevents leaks to ensure safety and production continuity.
Why Choose It: Resists abrasion from sand particles (hardness ≥90 HRA); cobalt/nickel-based grades resist sour corrosion. Maintains sealing integrity 4–6x longer than standard steel seats/balls, reducing maintenance in remote well sites.

Chemical Strong Acid Pipelines

Application: Valve units in sulfuric acid, hydrochloric acid transfer pipelines (chemical plants, fertilizer production).
Role: Seals aggressive acidic fluids (pH ≤2) under high flow rates. Prevents acid leakage to protect personnel and equipment; ensures stable chemical process control.
Why Choose It: Nickel-based tungsten carbide resists strong acid corrosion (e.g., 98% sulfuric acid). Outlasts stainless steel/PTFE seals by 5–8x in acidic media; maintains low friction for smooth valve operation.

Natural Gas Long-Distance Pipelines

Application: Mainline valves in high-pressure natural gas transmission networks (cross-regional, subsea pipelines).
Role: Seals high-pressure methane (up to 10MPa+); endures temperature variations (-40℃ to 80℃). Prevents gas leakage for environmental and safety compliance.
Why Choose It: Ultra-low friction (Ra ≤0.2μm) ensures tight sealing with minimal torque; high hardness resists wear from pipeline debris. Lowers maintenance downtime by 30% vs. metal seals in long-term, high-cycle systems.

Application Scenarios of Valve Seat and Valve Ball

Tungsten carbide valve seats and balls play a vital role in industrial valve systems, ensuring tight sealing and long-term reliability in harsh conditions.

Oil and gas industry

Chemical industry

Pipeline transportation industry

What You Need to Know About Common Nozzle Parameters

Understanding these parameters provides a key basis for the model selection, performance optimization, reliable operation, and full-life-cycle management of tungsten carbide seated ball valves.

Dimensional Parameters

Parameter	Core Feature	Description / Use Case
Nominal Diameter (DN)	Determines the valve’s flow capacity; larger diameters enable smoother fluid passage.	Range: DN6 (small) to DN900 (large). Examples: DN15, DN20, DN25 (common sizes).
Connection Dimensions	Defines interface standards (flange, thread, socket weld, etc.) to match pipelines.	For flange connections: Includes flange outer diameter, bolt hole center distance, hole count, and hole diameter. Requirement: Must align with pipeline specs.

Pressure Parameters

Parameter	Core Feature	Description / Specification
Nominal Pressure (PN)	Maximum allowable working pressure at a specified temperature, reflecting the valve’s pressure-bearing capacity.	Examples: PN1.0MPa, PN1.6MPa. Alternative ratings: ANSI CLASS 150–900, JIS10–20K.
Working Pressure	Actual pressure endured during operation; must not exceed the nominal pressure.	Varies with medium temperature, flow rate, etc.
Test Pressure	Verifies structural strength and sealing performance.	Shell test: Typically 1.5× nominal pressure. Sealing test: Usually 1.1× nominal pressure.

Material Parameters

Parameter	Core Feature	Description / Specification
Valve body material	Defines corrosion resistance, cost, and suitability for operating conditions.	Options: Cast iron (economical, conventional scenarios), cast steel, stainless steel (304, 316, etc., corrosion-resistant), alloy steel.
Valve seat (sealing) material	Ensures sealing, wear/corrosion resistance, and temperature tolerance.	Examples: PTFE (low friction, chemical stability); FKM (high temp/corrosion resistance); tungsten carbide (hard alloy for high-pressure, wear-intensive environments).
Ball core material	Guarantees strength, wear resistance, and sealing service life.	Often matches valve body material, or uses upgraded options (e.g., carbon steel, surface-hardened stainless steel, tungsten carbide).

Drive and control parameters

Parameter	Core Feature	Description / Specification
Leakage class	Reflects sealing performance.	Classified as Levels I–VI (e.g., per ANSI B16.104). Higher level = smaller leakage, better sealing.
Flow coefficient (Cv/Kvr)	Indicates the valve’s fluid passage capacity.	Larger Cv value means more fluid flows through under the same pressure difference.
Opening and closing time	Measures the duration for the valve to fully open/close.	Unit: seconds. Quick-cut valves typically complete in a few seconds.
Service life	Reflects reliable operation duration under normal working conditions.	Affected by material, operating conditions, and maintenance. Unit: cycles (times) or years.

Applicable Working Condition Parameters

Parameter	Core Feature	Description / Specification
Applicable temperature	Defines the valve’s temperature adaptation range and material/structure compatibility.	Wide range (e.g., -196℃ for low-temperature service to 540℃ for high-temperature service). Different materials and structures are adapted to specific temperature intervals.
Applicable medium	Determines material/structure selection based on medium properties (corrosiveness, viscosity, etc.).	Includes water, steam, oil products, nitric acid, acetic acid, natural gas, etc. Valve materials and structures are chosen according to the medium’s characteristics.

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