Zeroman & David,
Dave has just about covered the "how they work issue" although there are some variants. Piggable double block and bleed valves, or DBB's, are available so are floating ball versions, I've acquired them for projects before. Try a google/yahoo search for "alco dbb valves". or try...
Dear aggieengineerrmb,
Recently found small bore floating ball style valve in UK for contractor in Stavanger Norway. Note, generally trunnion mounted ball vales perform better in serve or sub sea services. We had a number of 1/2", 1" & 2" float ball valves made by Alco Sub-Tek UK. See...