I don't know whether this is a simple Q or not.Why use ball valves on Gas pipelines instead of gate & or globe valves, am I missing something?I am new to Gas pipelines having mostly worked in petrochem & powerstations where gate & globe valves are the standard for isolation because they are cheap & reliable.I have used small 150# ball valves in Pharmaceutical plants but these are 30" 2500# and must cost way more than gate valves. Ball valves do cost more than gate valves, and they're darn sure worth it.Gate valves take a lot of effort to cycle (an 8" gate valve requires up to 100 turns). I started in steam plants where they were common and my first Oil & Gas project I specified them--some of the operators are still cussing my name. Also, in natural gas service, gate valves are not advertised as bubble-tight, while ball valves (especially trunnion) are.Globe valves are a good choice in throttling service in most fluids. Any throttle valve will develop wear patterns on the seating surface fairly quickly and will not provide a postitive shut off. Also the changes in direction within the globe valve create a non-zero pressure drop. If you are using a globe valve in block-valve service then you're wasting compression (or pump) hp. It may be small, but over time it adds up to significant wasted energy.

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