An industrial valve is a mechanism designed to close or control the flow in an installation. Depending on the function, the valves can be divided into: shut-off valves (close the pipeline tight), control valves, distribution valves, check valves (protect against backflow), safety valves (protect installations against excessive pressure). No matter each industry it serves, the industrial valve is one of the critical elements of each installation.

Industrial valves consist of a body, a seat with a fluid passage and a moveable part that mates the seat – a valve head (it can be either a piston, ball, gate, slider, disk, needle) which is activated by the valve control mechanism. As the designs and applications of the industrial valves offered by Tubes International are numerous, they can be divided into the following:

• ball valves;
• gate valves;
• butterfly valves (throttle valves, flap valves);
• hygienic valves for the food industry;
• check valves and filters;
• solenoid valves (electromagnetic shut off valves);

Depending on their type, the industrial valves are used for water, air, all sorts of liquid and gaseous media. Certain types of valves are suitable for loose or semi-fluid substances. Working pressure of industrial valves reaches up to several tens of bar.
For various types of high pressure valves see HYDRAULICS AND HIGH PRESSURE section and INSTRUMENTATION section. For valves intended for industrial pneumatics and automation see PNEUMATICS section.