Margie Moschetti, a Michigan native with a background in speech pathology and education, brings over two decades of experience from Armstrong International, specializing in industrial steam systems and energy solutions. In 1987, she co-founded Control Specialties and now leads its operations, sales, and strategic growth.
Every industrial process, from a refinery moving fuel to a plant making medicine, depends on one thing: controlling the flow. At the heart of that control is the valve.
For an engineer with years of experience, picking a valve isn't just about looking at a catalog. It’s a specialized skill. If you get it wrong, you face constant leaks, broken equipment, or expensive shutdowns. If you get it right, the system runs perfectly for years, and you never have to think about it.
Choosing the wrong solenoid valve doesn't just waste money; it causes leaks, pressure drop, and coil failures that show up weeks later as downtime. By then, the system is already down, and tracing the root cause back to a spec mismatch takes time most operations cannot afford.
The challenge is that solenoid valves look interchangeable on the surface. But two valves can share the same pipe size and pressure rating, yet behave differently depending on what flows through them or how the system is controlled.
Not all control valves work the same way. Using the wrong valve type increases energy use, instability, and maintenance long before the valve fails.
There are 8 primary types of industrial control valves, and knowing the difference separates well-specified systems from problematic ones.
Valve type is only part of the decision; seat design, actuator choice, and flow coefficient (Cv) sizing are equally critical and often where specification errors occur.
The same valve body can behave very differently depending on the actuator, pneumatic, electric, or self-operating, each suited to different conditions.
This guide gives plant engineers, maintenance teams, and procurement professionals a structured framework for selecting the right control valve the first time.
In compressed air systems, condensate accumulation is one of the most common and underestimated causes of equipment degradation. As compressed air leaves the compressor and cools through aftercoolers, dryers, and distribution piping, moisture condenses and collects at low points.
If this condensate is not removed efficiently, it can carry oil, particulates, and microbial contamination downstream. It also damages valves, actuators, instrumentation, and production equipment long before visible issues appear.
