Science Focus Topic 10 Notes: Pumps & Valves | Print |
Pumps
Visit: Glossary of Pumps ... it's fantastic as a resource for this Topic.

To obtain water from below the surface (the groundwater) and to move a fluid through a fluid system, you need to use something that will work against the pull of gravity, a pump.

Applications include:
... Pumps in a city to move water to an elevated resevoir (so the froce of gravity can allow the water to flow into all the homes - you see this in a small town as well - a water tower is usually the tallest structure in this town).
... Pumps are also use to move oil, natural gas and other fluids through pipelines.
... Pumps are located in automobiles to get the gasoline from the fuel tank to the engine.
... Pumps are also use to force air into tires.
... Your mouth is also a pump, that can be used to draw a fuid up a straw and into your mouth.

See if you can find more information about the operation of a sphygmomanometer

Valves
Valves are devices that regulate the flow of a fluid.

Today's valves can control not only the flow, but the rate, the volume, the pressure or the direction of liquids, gases, slurries or dry materials through a pipeline, chute or similar passageway.

Valves can:
... turn on and turn off, regulate, modulate or isolate.
... control flow of all types, from the thinnest gas to highly corrosive chemicals, superheated steam, abrasive slurries, toxic gases and radio active materials.
... handle temperatures from cryogenic region to molten metal, and pressures from high vacuum to thousands of pounds per square inch.
... range in size from a fraction of an inch to as large as 30 feet in diameter
... vary in complexity from a simple brass valve available at the local hardware store to a precision-designed, highly sophisticated coolant system control valve, made of an exotic metal alloy, in a nuclear reactor.

Practical Applications:
The valve is one of the most basic and indispensable components of our modern technological society. It is essential to virtually all manufacturing processes and every energy production and supply system. Yet it is one of the oldest products known to man, with a history of thousands of years. A Valve is a product rarely noticed by the average person, yet it plays an important role in the quality of our life. Each time you turn on a water faucet, use your dishwasher, turn on a gas range, or step on the accelerator of your car, you operate a valve. Without modern valve systems, there would be no fresh pure water or automatic heat in your home. There would be no public utilities, and beyond wood and coal, almost no energy of any kind. Plastics would be unheard of, as would many inexpensive consumer products.