Fast on/off isolation with very low pressure drop (full bore = near straight-through flow) and bubble-tight shut-off in many services.

Generally no—standard round-port balls can cavitate and chew up seats. If you must control flow, use a V-port/characterised ball or a dedicated control valve.

Floating balls seat by line pressure and suit small/medium sizes. Trunnion balls are supported on journals, giving lower torque, better sealing at high ΔP, and scalability to large diameters.

Full-bore preserves pipe ID for pigging and minimal pressure loss. Reduced-bore is more compact/cost-effective but introduces some ΔP.

Yes—with the right materials: low-permeability seats (e.g., PTFE variants/PCTFE), suitable stem sealing, and often an extended bonnet for cryo to keep packing warm and tight.

They can be—specify metal seats, hard-coated balls, cavity fillers to avoid entrapment, and consider purge/flush ports. Expect higher torque and wear than with clean fluids.

That’s cavity relief. Trapped fluid in the body cavity can expand; a relief hole to the upstream side protects the valve from over-pressurisation.

Yes. 3-way (L or T-port) and even 4-way designs can divert, blend, or loop flows—handy for CIP return loops, heat-exchanger bypasses, or test rigs.

With proper cleaning, anti-static paths, elastomer/PTFE selections, and for sanitary lines, crevice-free cavity-filled seats, tri-clamp ends, and polished wetted parts—yes.

Many trunnion designs provide DBB. For critical isolation, some offer DIB options (double isolation in one direction). Specify exactly what integrity you require and how you’ll bleed/monitor the cavity.

Fire-safe designs include a secondary metal-to-metal path that seals if soft seats burn. Anti-static devices maintain electrical continuity between ball, stem, and body to dissipate charge.

They can in liquid service. Mitigate with slow-close actuators, speed controls/snubbers, surge arrestors, or piping changes (accumulators, soft-start pumps).