A two-piece valve shell (body and bolted-on top bonnet having external fins to dissipate heat) structure reduces possible leakage paths while also providing a top-side ball/stem installation/removal path (when the bonnet piece is not present) to facilitate initial valve assembly as well as subsequent inspection/removal of the ball/stem and other valve internals for conducting valve maintenance without requiring the valve body to be removed from its process connections. In some implementations, a second/bottom bonnet is also attached to the body such that it covers another opening to the ball cavity.

A housing has a housing main body and an outlet port. The housing main body includes a cylindrical housing inner wall that defines an internal space therein. The outlet port fluidly connects the internal space and an outside of the housing main body to each other. The valve has a valve body rotatable about an rotation axis along a rotation axis of the cylindrical housing inner wall. The valve is configured to selectively open and close the outlet port depending on a rotation position of the valve. The housing inner wall is formed such that a distance between the housing inner wall and the axis of the housing inner wall varies in a circumferential direction.

A ball valve system includes a body having an upstream end and a downstream end and a ball within the body between the upstream end and the downstream end, the ball being rotatable about a vertical axis to move between a closed position and an open position. The ball valve assembly includes a stem movable in an actuation direction substantially parallel to the vertical axis, the stem including a recess at a proximal portion of the stem, a guiding member extending within the recess of the stem, the guiding member being configured to prevent rotation of the stem or cause rotation of the stem, and a lubrication port in fluid communication with the recess.

Valves having seats and counterseats that can be moved by fluid within the valve. In one embodiment, a valve includes a flow control assembly inside a body. The flow control assembly includes a ball rotatable between an open position and a closed position to control flow, a seat installed on the ball, and a counterseat installed in the body. The seat and the counterseat can move radially with respect to the ball and have mating surfaces that engage and seal against one another when the ball is in the closed position. The flow control assembly allows pressurized fluid in the body to cause net forces on the seat and the counterseat that push the seat and the counterseat toward each other when the ball is in the closed position. Additional valve systems, devices, and methods are also disclosed.

The disclosure relates to valve assemblies having a valve body including a first port, a second port and a fluid passageway extending therebetween. A valve member, having a through port, is arranged in the fluid passageway and is moveable between an open and closed positions. A sealing arrangement is arranged between the first port and the valve member and includes a sealing member arranged to seal against the valve member such that fluid cannot flow around an outer surface of the valve member. The sealing arrangement includes a sleeve arranged in the fluid passageway between the first port and the valve member. A deformable, incompressible, medium is contained around the sleeve and arranged such that, in use, a fluid within the sleeve exerts an outward pressure on the sleeve causing the sleeve to deform and act on the medium to push the sealing member against the valve member.

An annular assembly for compressing a seat of a ball-valve, including: a valve body or insert, including an annular internal counter-bore that defines an inner counter-bore diameter; a sleeve inserted into the annular internal counter-bore, defining at least one outer diameter of the sleeve; the body or the insert defining with the sleeve an annular housing in which the assembly includes, in succession: a downstream stack of head rings, an annular head shim, a stack of mechanisms of compression, an annular base shim, and an upstream stack of base rings.

A top entry ball valve includes a housing with a central cavity communicating with two bores co-axial along a first axis. A ball valve element is rotatably mounted within the cavity for rotation about a second axis. The valve element includes a through bore; first and second seat assemblies, mounted within the co-axial bores, respectively; first and second gear assemblies engaged with the seat assemblies, respectively; and first and second rotatable drives engaged with the gear assemblies respectively. The gear assemblies are configured to move the seat assemblies along the first axis in a first direction away from the valve element when the drives are rotated in a first direction, and to move the seat assemblies along the first axis in a second direction, opposite to the first direction, when the drives are rotated in the opposite direction, to bring the seat assemblies into sealing contact with the valve element.

A top entry trunnion mounted rotary ball valve suitable for safe in-line maintenance, comprising a main valve body having an upstream and a downstream ball seat assembly, the ball seat assemblies further comprising a soft insert seal, a ball seat, a seat retainer and a plurality of compression springs in between the ball seat and the seat retainer. A guiding groove on the cylindrical surface of each of the ball seats, having a first end and a second end at an axial distance equal to or more than the measure of retraction required so as to get the mechanical clearance adequate to remove or assemble the ball member, the angular span between the first end and the second end of the guiding groove can be less than 180 degrees or more than 360 degrees, depending on the overall size of rotary ball valve, in order to be able to manually retract in the ball seats. Each ball seat is retracted in the recess, with the aid of a guide assembly, by using a straight rod, against a force Fc of the compression springs and the mechanical clearance is created between the ball member and the soft insert seal, to remove or assemble the ball member and or any or all components from or inside the valve body. An angle of grove a, which is an angle between the flange and the guide groove, is kept of relatively of low value for big sized valves whence an angular span of guiding groove becomes relatively higher so that the required axial distance, which is equal to or more than the measure of retraction required so as to get the mechanical clearance adequate to remove the ball member, is attainable between the first end of the groove and the second end of the groove, by a Force Ft apply-able by a person of normal physique, and vice versa for a small sized valve. The rotary ball valve cannot be put in operation inadvertently if the ball seats are in retractable or retracted position.

An installation assembly for installing and/or removing a ball into and/or from a valve body of a top entry ball valve includes a valve body having at least one blind bore disposed on an opposite side of the ball chamber from the entry opening and a ball installation tool adapted to interact with the blind bore so as to compress a spring disposed inside the ball chamber substantially axially. A top entry ball valve is arranged with such a valve body. The ball installation tool may be used to install and/or remove a ball from the valve body.

The disclosed embodiments include systems and methods for energizing a ball valve seat assembly. In particular, the disclosed embodiments are directed toward energizing devices that generate linear or substantially linear energizing forces. In other words, as a seat of the ball valve translates axially with respect to a ball of the ball valve, the resulting energizing force that biases the seat ring back toward the ball is substantially directly proportional to the amount of axial translation. In certain embodiments, the linear energizing device includes an annular cantilevered v-shaped spring having a generally constant cross-sectional profile, including a pair of legs extending from a curved end.