Abstract
Recently, butterfly valves are used as control valves for industrial process. However, there are not so many reports on cryogenic butterfly valves in spite of broad application in LNG storage station and LNG carriers. Present study is focused on the investigation of the detailed hydrodynamic and aerodynamic characteristics of cryogenic butterfly valves to contribute to the operation during the handling on LNG transportation system, and to the practical utilization in design of butterfly valves and actuators. The results show that large recirculation vortices in the region downstream of the valve are founded and the cavitation flows are intensively generated on the surface of valve disc at the relatively small opening angle. The aerodynamic characteristics, lift, drag and torque, acting on the valve disc are calculated. The pressure distribution and the pressure loss coefficient of the cryogenic butterfly valve show almost similar pattern with those of the butterfly valve which is used on the normal temperature.
