Industrial pressure control valves for high flow applications
The BD Series is the largest of the Equilibar® product lines. Based on the same dome-loaded, diaphragm-sealed multi-orifice technology, but with some meaningful differences for adequate application in industrial processes:
- External elbows for optimally efficient use of the space in and around the application;
As you can see in the pictures and 2D/3D drawings on the left, the BD Series has a much larger diameter;
- 4 different, larger port sizes – starting at 1,5″ and going up to 4″ (DN40 to DN100) – to accommodate production scale processes and larger flows;
- Standard body materials include stainless steel, aluminum and PVC;
Enormous rangeability and excellent performance
Just as all back pressure regulators in any Equilibar product line, the BD-valves offer precision and rangeability that outperforms traditional control valves on many aspects. Where standard globe valves often offer a rangeability of 1:40, a single Equilibar dome loaded control valve in the BD Series offers a much better turndown ratio of 1:1.000 to 1:1.400 (the other product lines even provide exponentially higher rangeabilities). This explains how an Equilibar valve is capable of handling both liquids and gases with 1 single valve.
The control valves of the BD Series thus cover a broad portfolio of customer applications, for example in production processes using high viscous media and production processes with large flows.
Industrial process control | BD Series
The 4 available port sizes of the BD Series control valves vary from 1.5″ to 4″ in diameter, because these line sizes are very common in production and large-scale pilot plants. Its design features make the products in this series particularly suitable for use in higher flow applications and an industrial environment.
Construction
The BD-series have a diameter between 9.5” and 20” (DN40 to DN100). The design is different from other Equilibar series: The inlet and outlet are at the bottom of the unit. To save space in the process line, external pipe elbows are welded or glued to the bottom. The process connections are standard in NPT or BSPP female threaded, ranging from 1″ to 4″, to facilitate larger process flows. Various flanges are available on request and can be welded to the elbows.
Different pressure & temperature ratings
The robust design of the BD series back pressure regulators is available for low-pressure applications, controlling only a few cm water column up to 10 bar gauge. The BD Series also includes models for higer pressure ratings. Especially relevant is that a diaphragm, which seals a large number of orifices, is the only moving part. In the different models, the size and number of the orifices are varied. Standard units are suitable for process conditions up to 150°C, 200°C or even 300°C depending on selected (body, diaphragm and o-ring) materials!
Scaling & Alternative pressure regulator sizes
The BD Series is at the highest end of the Equilibar portfolio, in terms of sizing and scaling of this patented technology. If you require lower capacity valves, the regulators of the GS “General Service” Series are an interesting alternative: The Cv in the GS Series ranges from 1·E-03 to 8.50.
BD12 models
The “smallest” models in this product line of large Equilibar units, and therefore used in smaller industry or larger pilot plants. Although a “smaller” valve within this product line, it still has a very large capacity: The BD12 units have a diameter between 193 and 241 mm and a Cv value of 14,3. The rangeability of this unit is around 1:1.400 when using a polymeric diaphragm! The Equilibar® back pressure control valves operate successfully with viscosities up to 10.000 cP.
BD16 models
Control valves with a diameter of 280 mm and a Cv value of 30,2 and again a very large rangeability (> 1:1.000 when using polymeric diaphragms). The BD16 Series back pressure regulators are mostly applied by customers in Industry, for implementation in – for example – medium sized production plants or vacuum installations. See also our applications page for example P&ID schematics and application blogs.
BD24 models
The second largest model of pressure regulators in this product line has a diameter between 317 mm and 381 mm. The Cv ranges from 6E-02 up to 60, which results in a rangeability > 1:1.000 (with polymeric diaphragm). This makes the BD24 back pressure regulators commonly used and applied in production processes that require stable pressure control for a high flow.
BD32 models
This is the largest model in the BD-series (Note that it still has some overlap with Equilibar’s GS General Service Series, which indicates the very broad ranges these pressure regulators can cover). This unit has a diameter between 508 mm and a Cv value of 160 down to 1.5E-1. Customers use the BD32 series back pressure regulators often in large production scale applications where fast respons requirements are accompanied by large volume flows.
