Parallel Gate Valve and Conventional Parallel Gate Valve

Parallel Gate Valve
Parallel gate valves have a parallel faced gate like closing member. This closing member may consists of a single disc or twin discs with a spreading mechanism in between. The force that presses the disc against the seat is controlled by the fluid pressure acting on either a floating disc or a floating seat. Because the disc slides across the seat face, parallel gate valves are also capable of handling fluids, which carry solids in suspension.

Conventional Parallel Gate Valve
In a conventional parallel slide gate valve the closure member consists of two discs with springs in between. The duties of these springs are to keep the upstream and downstream seating’s in sliding contact and to improve the seating load at low fluid pressures. The discs are carried in a belt eye in a manner that prevents their unrestrained spreading as they move into the fully open valve position.

The advantages offered by this construction include not only economy of construction but also a reduced operating effort and lower maintenance cost. The only disadvantage is a slight increase in pressure loss across the valve.