Ball valves are valves which contain a ball which rotates when the valve is rotated. The ball has holes in it, and the fluid being controlled can pass through the holes and can be diverted into and away from other outlets on the valve. Their design makes them very useful in applications where flow must be either full or completely stopped. There are several varieties of ball valve, including the full port ball valve, the standard port ball valve, the reduced port ball valve, and the trunnion ball valve. They are sometimes known as "quarter-turn valves".
Ball valves generally have a handle or electrically or pneumatically-powered actuator to rotate them through their 90 degree range of motion. When a handle is mounted on the valve, it's trivial to tell whether the flow is impeded or not; the handle is mounted in the direction of flow. If the handle is aligned with the pipe, the fluid may flow through the valve.
Ball Valve Manufacturers
Apollo Valves - formerly known as Conbraco Valves, Apollo manufactures ball valves, butterfly valves and check valvesDynaquip Controls - ball valves, also available with ISO or DIN bolting direct actuator mount configurations
Marwin Valves - one piece, two piece, three piece, three way/four way, flanged ball valves and specialty-type ball valves including metal seated valves, cryogenic valves, control valves, and carbon-seated valves
Plast-O-Matic Valves - electrically, manually actuated two-way and three-way valves, vented valves for use with sodium hypochlorite
Velan Valves - cast and forged steel gate, globe, check, ball, butterfly, knife gate and engineered severe service valves
Worcester Controls - three piece, flanged ball valves
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