To achieve the maximum economic effect and energy efficiency in the operation of the heating system, shut-off valves for heating must be installed in its circuit. It is of high quality and can be used in the arrangement of boiler houses of private houses, multi-apartment buildings and centralized heat supply organizations.
The purpose of the shut-off plumbing
In heat generation systems, the shut-off type fittings act as a regulator of the flow and movement of the coolant, and also allows you to open the heating circuit. In this case, the heating process becomes controllable, its rationality and efficiency increase.
The shut-off valve is most often mounted on the line interval where the battery is piped. This technique makes it possible to regulate the heating of the radiator and facilitates the task of carrying out maintenance and repairs of the heater without the need to turn off the entire heating circuit.
Types of shut-off elements
Standard heating on any boiler equipment, where water or antifreeze is used as a heat carrier, has locking plumbing in the structure, which is subject to the following classification:
- Shut-off elements - valves designed only to shut off the flow.
- Shut-off and control elements are specialized valves with thermal heads and mechanical design.
- Mixing and regulating elements - three-way valves and similar equipment.
All other components of the heating circuit - filters, air vents, safety valves and measuring instruments - are not shut-off and control valves for heating.
Ball valves
Ball valves made of brass are used in heating for easy connection of heat batteries to the pipeline. There are simple and complex designs of this kind. In the latter case, the structure of the device has an air vent mechanism and a threaded channel for installing a pressure gauge.
The main element of this type of valve is a full-bore ball, which is crimped with special polypropylene O-rings. The latter act as a damper between the working surface of the sphere and the body of the product.
Locking valves
In order to be able to connect or disconnect a separate radiator from the circuit (due to maintenance or replacement of the heater) and not to drain all the water, each battery is equipped with a shut-off valve. On the market you can find angular and straight products of this sample, made of brass with nickel sputtering on top.
Butterfly valves
The working part of the shut-off valves for heating radiators of this type has the form of a disk. If you look at the device in section, the damper inside the product can be located at a right or other angle to the channel of movement of the coolant and has the ability to turn around its axis.
Valves of this design are often used not only in heat supply, but also to regulate the flow of industrial or drinking water.
Reverse valve
A non-return valve in the heating system controls the movement of the coolant in a given direction. Therefore, such devices are installed in the heat supply line immediately after the circulation pump. To withstand aggressive media, the body of the product is made of brass, the inner stem with a shutter is made of plastic, and the spring is made of stainless steel.
It is permissible to use the device at a working environment temperature of up to 120 degrees Celsius.
Flanges
Connection elements, with the help of which it is possible to carry out a detachable rigid joining of steel water pipes and other equipment to them. The flanges are attached to the pipes using a weld. In shape, the products look like a ring or disk of different diameters and thicknesses, in which mounting holes are drilled in a circle. There are flanges with a collar or just flat. Most often, plumbing is made of stainless steel or corrosion-resistant steel.
Fitting
These are various elements that ensure the connection between the individual pipes and other components of the boiler plant. The fittings are:
- couplings of various diameters with internal and external threads;
- corners with a change in fluid flow by 90 or 45 degrees;
- tees with side flow branch at 90 or 45 degrees;
- crosses;
- plugs with internal or external threads to interrupt a pipe channel or branch off a fitting.
Elements can be made of steel, stainless steel, bronze and its alloys, plastic.
Gate valves
These are shut-off devices intended mainly for main pipelines. The design assumes the presence of a butterfly valve inside, controlled by a rotating lever. A distinctive feature of the gate valve is its low resistance to hydraulic flow.
Application of shut-off and control valves
Each type of product can effectively perform only the task for which it is designed in accordance with the category of use:
- It is advisable to install conventional taps in order to shut off the flow during repair work or disconnect the batteries.
- Valves with thermostats are applicable only to automatically reduce, increase the flow of the coolant in accordance with the set temperature;
- Three-way valves or taps are designed to redistribute the flow in the presence of indirect heating boilers and similar installations.
The use of locking plumbing for other purposes is fraught with emergencies and ineffective operation of heat-generating equipment.
In heating systems, ball valves are usually installed at the beginning of the supply and return of the heating circuit, on the batteries themselves at the top and bottom connections, a control valve with a thermal head is mounted at the top, and a shut-off device at the bottom. Check valves are usually installed in complex structures with two or more circuits immediately after circulation pumps in order to prevent reverse movement of the coolant.
Product marking
The marking of specialized fittings has a type code - XX XX X XX XX, where the following data are indicated (from left to right):
- Type of plumbing - indicated by a number.
- Body material - denoted by a letter.
- Type of manual control drive - indicated by a number (if there is no drive, the marking is omitted).
- Serial number.
- O-ring material.
The encoding can be deciphered using special tables.
Famous manufacturers
Among the global manufacturers that produce high-quality plumbing items, one can single out:
- Valpres - Italian ball valves made of stainless steel, cast iron and carbon steel.
- OVETROP - German control and locking plumbing.
- SANHA - brass and copper fittings from Germany.
- HOGFORS - Finnish valves.
The Armafit company has established itself among the domestic manufacturer.
