Study of the cavitation in control valves

In this study, a ۲-inch butterfly valve was used to investigate thepossibility of cavitation. In general, the butterfly valve is a suitable valvein terms of the characteristics of cavitation, but it is strongly influencedby the opening angle of the top. So, if the valve is fully open and underfull pressure, the cavitation phenomenon will not occur at all, but if theinlet pressure is changed and the valve is opened at the same time, thepossibility of cavitation will increase. In this research, Gambit softwarewas used for initial design, grid creation and boundary conditions, andFluent software was used to analyze results and report. The number ofgrids used was ۶۲۰ thousand and of rectangular type. Also, K-ε modelwas used to create disturbances related to the high pressure of the watersupply grid. According to the results, increasing the velocity in the areasnear the valve-shaped cylindrical top increases the probability ofcavitation.

Keywords:

Control valve , Cavitation , Fluent