Butterfly valve features long life expectancy as it can keep excellent sealing performance that prevents the pipeline from leakage when it has been rotated more than 10,000 times.
Besides, compared to other types of valves, the butterfly valve requires minimal maintenance when put into use. Since it can regulate the flow flexibly by the movement of stem, the butterfly valve is free from getting blocked up with dirt.
Using the butterfly valve enables the operator to control the piping system easily as it offers complete closure or opening by rotating 1/4 turn (90 degrees).
The gate valve and the check valve differ due to their operating structure. The operator needs to rotate the set-up a lot to turn the valve from on to off.
The size of the butterfly valve occupies approximately 1/6 of the counterpart of the gate valve. For the entire piping system, increasing every cubic foot of the space means an increase of the cost.
For instance, a butterfly valve with a nominal diameter of 10 inches is approximately 21 inches high, while the counterpart of a gate valve is as high as 43 inches.
The cost of installing a light butterfly valve is much less than that of a cast-iron gate valve.
For example, a butterfly valve with a 10-inch nominal diameter weighs about 50 pounds, while a cast-iron gate valve with the same diameter weighs about 500 pounds. For the entire piping system, the decrease in installing costs of the butterfly valve is considerable.
Saving the weight of the valve can reduce the costs of the entire piping system. Because the heavier the piping system, the stronger the pipe support base is required, in which case an increase in costs of the whole system is needed.