Sanitary forged ball valves vs. cast ball valves: Key differences and industry applications.

The core difference between sanitary forged ball valves and cast ball valves stems from their forming process, which directly determines the valve body's material density, strength, cleanliness compatibility, and cost, thus affecting their applicability in sanitary applications. Cast valves excel in cost and large-diameter compatibility, while forged valves excel in high strength, high density, and high cleanliness, making them the mainstream choice for sanitary applications. The following details their differences:

I. Differences in core molding process and valve body characteristics

1. Forged Ball Valve

Process: Metal blanks (such as 304/316L stainless steel) are forged and hammered under high temperature to form the valve body, which is then precision machined. Simply put, it's "metal forging to remove loose pores." Key characteristics: The valve body has a dense metal structure free of pores, sand holes, and shrinkage, with good material uniformity. Its compressive and impact resistance is far superior to cast valves.

The machined valve body has a lower surface roughness, and the inner wall is easy to mirror polish (Ra≤0.8μm), eliminating sanitary dead corners and meeting hygiene-grade cleanliness requirements.

The high forming difficulty makes it suitable for small-diameter valves, and the cost for the same specifications is significantly higher than cast valves.

2. Cast ball valve

Process: Molten stainless steel is poured into a mold, cooled and solidified to form the valve body, which is then processed to obtain the valve body; simply put, it is "metal melting and casting, one-time casting." Key characteristics: The valve body metal structure contains micropores and sand holes (inherent defects of the process, which can be improved but not completely eliminated by precision casting), resulting in lower density and strength compared to forged valves; The inner wall is prone to retaining mold parting lines and shrinkage pits, and even after polishing, it easily traps dirt and grime, making it difficult to achieve high-level hygiene requirements; The forming difficulty is low, allowing for the production of large-diameter valve bodies, with costs significantly lower than forged valves of the same specifications, resulting in good mass production capabilities.

II. Key Performance Comparison (Core Focus for Sanitary Applications)

III. Industry / Application Scenarios (Precise Matching, Core Differentiation)

Forged sanitary ball valves (the mainstream choice for high-cleanliness and high-requirement sanitary conditions) are suitable for industries with extremely high requirements for cleanliness, sealing, and equipment safety, especially for media such as food, pharmaceuticals, and sterile fluids, where product deterioration/failure can easily occur due to valve body contamination. They are the preferred choice for sanitary conditions.

1. Food and Beverage Industry: Aseptic cold filling lines (juice, milk), dairy processing, winemaking (baijiu/red wine),

 and aseptic production lines for condiments (soy sauce/vinegar);

2. Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology Industry: Injection/powder preparation systems, aseptic API production, 

biopharmaceuticals (vaccines/antibodies), and water for injection (WFI) delivery;

3. Daily Chemical and Beauty Industry: Aseptic production processes for high-end skincare products, aseptic cosmetics, 

and medical personal care products;

4. Fine Chemicals/Food Additives: Clean production of edible flavorings, food-grade thickeners, and pharmaceutical excipients;

5. Others: Scenarios with strict requirements for fluid cleanliness, such as hospital central oxygen supply and 

aseptic water treatment (ultrapure water).

Cast Sanitary Ball Valves (Supplementary Option for Basic Cleanliness, Low Cost / Large Diameter Sanitary Applications) 

Suitable for sanitary applications with general cleanliness requirements, prioritizing low cost and large diameter. Avoids resource waste

caused by the high cost of forged valves; used only as a secondary option(requires precision casting + rigorous flaw detection to reduce defect rate).

1. Food and Beverage Industry: Non-aseptic conveying of ordinary beverages (carbonated drinks, bottled water); preliminary

 processing of food raw materials (such as vegetable washing water, ordinary ingredient conveying);

2. Light Industry and Daily Chemicals Industry: Production and conveying of non-aseptic daily chemical products such as ordinary

laundry detergent, dishwashing liquid, and shampoo;

3. Drinking Water / Municipal Waterworks: Large-diameter conveying in direct drinking water projects;

 clean pipelines for secondary water supply in residential areas (DN100 and above);

4. Dairy / Food Industry: Ordinary fresh milk storage; filling and conveying of non-aseptic foods (no strict aseptic requirements);

Others: Basic clean fluid conveying such as industrial pure water (non-injection water), and preliminary processing of fruit juice concentrate.

IV. Summary of Core Selection

1. Forged valves are preferred: For small diameters (below DN100), high cleanliness (3A/FDA certification), aseptic applications, 

pharmaceutical/high-end food and beverage, and high-pressure conditions, forging is the core selection direction for sanitary ball valves.

2. Casting is optional: For large diameters (above DN80), basic cleanliness, low pressure, general food and daily chemical/municipal water

 applications, and cost-sensitive scenarios (precision casting is required to avoid excessive defects in ordinary casting).

3. Contraindications: Ordinary cast ball valves are strictly prohibited in pharmaceutical aseptic production lines, water for injection,

 and high-end aseptic food production lines, as they can easily cause media contamination and product quality accidents.

In short: Forged valves are "high-end sanitary-grade dedicated models," while cast valves are "basic sanitary-grade cost-effective models.”

In sanitary-grade applications, they are "primary selection + supplementary," with no substitution attributes.