Knife Gate Valve FAQs

A knife gate valve is an isolation valve that allows or stops flow through a pipeline - they feature a sharp (knife) edge that cuts through suspended and fibrous solids or viscous fluids that would otherwise hinder the valve's sealing performance. 

Knife gate valves are designed to be installed between suitably pressure rated flanges, where they will offer many years of reliable isolation services.  To get the best from your knife gate valve it should complete at least one cycle annually and be visually inspected for media leaks.

Knife gate valves are available in different construction materials, sizes, pressure ratings, actuation methods and more.

To find the most effective knife gate valve model for your application, consider the characteristics of the media in the system, the pressure that will be generated by the flowing media and how often the knife gate valve will need to be opened and closed.

We offer manually and pneumatically actuated knife gate valves.

Our manual knife gate valves are opened and closed via turning a handwheel attached to a rising or non-rising stem, whereas our pneumatic knife gate valves have double-acting pneumatic cylinders that can be operated via a handwheel or remote control system. 

Knife gate valves are comprised of several main parts, the main components are:

• Body – The main outer structure that contains and supports the internal components.
• Plate – Also known as the gate or blade, the movable part of the valve that controls the flow of media.
• Seat (seal) – Where the gate makes contact to form a seal when the valve is closed, preventing the passage or leakage of any media.
• Stem – Connects the actuator (if present) to the plate, transmitting the force from the actuator to move the gate and open or closing the valve.
• Gland follower – A mechanism that compresses packing material around the stem, preventing leakage of fluid along the stem where it passes through the valve body.