#ELECTRIC SOLENOID VALVE FOR NONINERT GASS FULL#
Though pilot operated valves don’t require all that much power to operate, they do need to run on full power to remain in an open state. A typical example would be the release of large quantities of gasses, air, steam, or liquids. This is ideal in a scenario involving the use of hydraulics or steam-anything that has to do with dealing with much higher volume flow. This involves the solenoid activating a considerably smaller pilot valve which on its part opens up a larger valve capable of operating at a much higher pressure. The good thing about direct-acting valves is the fact that they require full power only when opening the valve, after which they can pretty much operate on low power. In this kind of solenoid valve, a coil will be able to magnetically open the valve by pulling up the shaft and set of the valve without relying on any outside pressure. These valves can be of the normally closed, normally open, or universal types. Half of the ports are deployed to provide supply pressure and the other half to provide exhaust pressure. Four-Way Valvesįour-way valves come with four or more ports and largely see use in dual-acting cylinders or actuators. Coffee machines and dishwashers are good examples of three-way solenoid valve deployment. These, as one would imagine come with three ports and find use in circumstances where one needs to use alternate and exhaustive pressure to operate something. It remains closed until the switching on of the power causes it to open. The normally closed solenoid valve is the more used one and operates in the opposite manner from the normally open one. On one’s switching off the electrical power, the valve reopens. The normally open valve remains open until an electric current is applied to close it. One can specifically go for the normally open or normally closed position. In the case of these valves, one alternatively uses either of their two ports to allow flow as well as close it. More advanced solenoid valves may have three or more ports, but common to all is the fact that they will either be designed to be a direct-acting one or a pilot operated one used in leak prevention. This type of valve typifies the operation of a solenoid valve.Īs mentioned earlier in the article the most in-use solenoid valve is a two-way valve, which as the name suggests has two ports. We can get a good idea of the components of a solenoid valve described a little earlier in this article, by looking at the illustration below that depicts a normally closed direct-acting valve. This kind of valve can be deployed for both pneumatic and hydraulic operations. These allow the diversion of fluid from one channel to another. Then there are the three-way two-position poppet valves which are also quite commonly found in use. The simplest solenoid valves are the two-way, two-position poppet valves that merely open and close to permit flow when their coil is provided with energy. As soon as power is sent through it, a magnetic field gets created which pushes and pulls the plunger in the process of moving the valve.
The coil of a solenoid valve can carry an electric current within the range of 12-48 V DC and 110-220 V AC. The plunger itself moves inside a core tube of non-ferrous metal that in turn is surrounded by a coil comprised comprising of electrical windings. It is mostly configured to a spool or a poppet that is in turn connected to a ferrous metal plunger that may be spring-centered or spring offset. The Role of Solenoid Valves in Pneumatic and Hydraulic Power Systems What is a Solenoid Valve?Ī solenoid valve is an electrically operated valve that is mainly used to regulate the flow of air or a liquid in pneumatic and hydraulic power systems.