Comparative Study on CFD‐Based Performance Optimization of Butterfly Valve Through Geometric Modifications for Pressure‐Drop Reduction

ABSTRACT This paper presents a comprehensive computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis of butterfly valve performance to reduce pressure drop and improve flow characteristics through geometric modifications. Three designs were considered: a Base‐Model and two modified configurations (Model‐1 and Model‐2) with streamlined disc profiles. ANSYS Fluent was used to simulate water flow at various disc angles. Results indicate that the optimized models exhibit significantly lower pressure‐drop and higher flow coefficients compared with the original design. Results derived from the idealized computations and CFD analysis show a very close agreement. Model‐1 (rectangular strip with chamfers) reduced pressure drop by up to 50% at small openings, while Model‐2 (aerodynamic front profile) further minimized wake size and improved flow uniformity. The study demonstrates that CFD can effectively guide geometric design in butterfly valve discs and can significantly enhancing flow efficiency, minimizing energy losses, and improving operating performance, making it suitable for industrial flow control applications.