Can a Floating Ball Valve be installed in any direction, is there a perfered direction for flow? I am under the impression that a Floating Ball Valve is Bi-Directional. I was told that I must use a Trunnion Ball Valve for Bi-Directional service. There are no indicators on the valve body as to the direction of the flow. I have looked at many manufactures and NONE of them have a perfered direction. My valve is a 4" 150#, C/S, R/F F/P to the design standards of API-608. I am of the understanding that a Trunnion valve per API-6D is designed for Double Block & Bleed and it too can be installed in any direction. HELP me please with this question. Floating ball valves are bidirectional. The right-hand seat is identical to the left-hand seat so going to the left is just the same as going to the right. In very low dP applications I prefer vertical down to vertical up, but I have installed hundreds of small floating ball valves in vertical-up vent service with less than 3 psid that have worked very well with leaks being rare so this is probably more "fear and superstition" than a real data point.In my interpretation of the OSHA definition of double-block-and-bleed, a trunnion ball valve satisfies the requirements. I do work for several companies that adamantly disagree with my interpretation. At the end of the day, company policy determines whether a trunnion ball valve satisfies their risk tolerance for DBB.

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