The Orifice Gate Advantage

 One fundamental difference when comparing the Vortex Quantum Series Orifice Slide Gate to other valves such as a butterfly valve or a bull nose knife gate is the Vortex Orifice Gate is designed specifically to handle dry material while the other valves are not. Butterfly valves and bull nose knife gates are designed for gas and liquid applications. They are effective valves in those environments, but suffer numerous problems when misused in a dry bulk handling application.

The butterfly valve’s design creates a handling problem for dry bulk solids, as the disc is located in the immediate flow stream of material creating significant flow restriction. Many engineers design the entire conveying system with larger than necessary piping to accommodate this bottleneck in the valve.

The soft seals in a butterfly valve can create another problem. The soft seals allow the disc or blade to produce a bubble-tight seal in the closed position. The very nature of dry solids does not allow these types of valves to create a tight seal because dry material cannot be displaced like a gas or liquid. Many issues can arise over time as the seals begin to erode and tear… MORE