Category: Cabinet Cooler

Life’s Full of Hazards – Make Sure Your Electrical Panels Don’t Become One

Published on by Tyler DanielLeave a comment
Not my crutches… but let’s just say I have a few sets of these in the garage ready for the next one!

All of my life I’ve been known as injury-prone. From early on it was apparent that my life was going to be wrought with random hazards and injuries and into adulthood we’ve maintained that sentiment. Just in my time here at EXAIR , I’ve had the pleasure of breaking an ankle running to 1st base in a softball game, being concussed from another softball game (I’ve since retired from softball might I add), as well as tearing both my hamstrings while racing a colleague on the field at Paycor Stadium during a tour. In my childhood, I had to be transported to what has recently been named the #1 children’s hospital in the USA, Cincinnati Children’s, to remove a section of fence that impaled my ankle during a failed attempt at jumping said fence. This is not the full list, far from it actually, but I think you get the idea.

Life is always going to be full of hazards and safety is incredibly important. When it comes to Hazardous Locations in an industrial facility, we’re talking about some very serious repercussions to both people and property if strict guidelines aren’t adhered to. In an area where you have control panels operating near combustible vapors or particles, it’s critical that these panels are constructed in a manner consistent with the regulations put forth by UL. One critical component of these panels are EXAIR’s Hazardous Location Cabinet Coolers.

EXAIR HazLoc Cabinet Cooler Systems are rated for Class I Div 1 & 2, Class II Div 1 & 2, and Class III environments.

EXAIR’s Hazardous Location Cabinet Coolers are engineered for use with purged (not included) electrical enclosures. The HazLoc Cabinet Coolers are not purged and pressurized control systems and should not be relied upon nor used in place of a purged and pressurized controller. They are a cooling solution meant to be used in conjunction with a purged and pressurized control system. These systems have been approved and tested by UL for use in the following areas:

Class I Div 1&2 – Groups A, B, C, and D

  • Class I Areas refer to the presence of flammable gases or vapors in quantities sufficient to produce explosive or ignitable mixtures. Class I Div 1 will have ignitable concentrations of flammable gases present during the course of normal operations. This is level of approval is one that differentiates the EXAIR Hazardous Location Cabinet Coolers from much of the competition. Class 1 Div 2 areas will have flammable gasses or vapors present only in the event of an accident or during unusual operating conditions.

Class II Div 1&2 – Groups E, F, and G

  • Class II areas are locations in which combustible dust may exist. The end user shall avoid installation of the device in a Class II environment where dust may be readily disturbed from the exhausts of the Hazardous Location Cabinet Cooler. Any dust formed in the vicinity of the cooler must be cleaned regularly.

Class III

  • Class III areas are locations that will have ignitable fibers or flyings present. This is common within the textile industry.

The Cabinet Cooler also carries a temperature rating of T3C, meaning it cannot be installed near any materials that could auto-ignite at temperatures in excess of 320°F. For a comprehensive list and description of all the various Classified areas, check out the UL website.

The Hazardous Location Cabinet Cooler is available in (8) different cooling capacities ranging from 1,000 Btu/hr – 5,600 Btu/hr. The Cabinet Cooler is the best solution for protecting your sensitive electronics from heat, dirt, and moisture. With Nema 4/4X systems available, the Hazardous Location Cabinet Coolers will keep the cabinet cool without compromising the integrity of the enclosure.

If you’ve got an electrical cabinet installed within a hazardous location, fill out the Cabinet Cooler Sizing Guide and allow an EXAIR Application Engineer to determine the most suitable model for you.

Tyler Daniel, CCASS

Application Engineer

E-mail: TylerDaniel@exair.com

Twitter: @EXAIR_TD

Crutches photo courtesy of Anthony Crider via Flickr Creative Commons License

Vortex Based Cabinet Coolers vs. Air to Air Heat Exchangers

Published on by Jordan T ShouseLeave a comment

An air-to-air heat exchanger uses the temperature differential between the ambient air surrounding an enclosure and the hot air inside an enclosure to create a cooling effect.  A closed loop system exchanges the heat inside the enclosure with the outside air in an effort to maintain a set internal temperature.  The heat exchange of most air-to-air unit relies on a heat pipe, a heat-transfer device which converts an internal refrigerant liquid into vapor by placing one end of the pipe in contact with the hot environment.  The heated vapor travels to the other end of the pipe which is in contact with a cooler environment.  The vapor condenses back into a liquid (releasing latent heat) and returning to the hot end of the pipe and the cycle repeats.

But, this type of solution does give some cause for concern, especially when considering their use in an industrial environment.  Here are the key points to keep in mind when comparing an air-to-air cooler to an EXAIR Cabinet Cooler.

Cabinet Cooler Family
EXAIR Cabinet Coolers

Required temperature differential based on ambient air temp

An air-to-air heat exchange relies on the ΔT between the ambient air temperature and the internal enclosure air temperature to produce cooling.  If this ΔT is low, or the ambient temperature rises, cooling is diminished.  This means that as the temperatures in your facility begin to rise, air-to-air heat exchangers become less and less effective.  Larger air-to-air heat exchangers can be used, but these may be even larger than the enclosure itself.

EXAIR Cabinet Coolers rely on the ΔT between the cold air temperature from the Cabinet Cooler (normally ~20°F) and the desired internal enclosure temperature (normally 95°F).  The cold air temperature from the Cabinet Cooler is unaffected by increases in ambient temperatures.  The large ΔT and high volume cold air flow produced by a Cabinet Cooler results in more cooling capacity.  And, we can increase cooling capacity from a Cabinet Cooler without increasing its physical footprint, which is already much, much smaller than an air-to-air type of unit.

Cooling in high temperature environments

Due to their nature of operation, an air-to-air heat exchanger must have an ambient temperature which is lower than the desired internal temperature of the enclosure.  If the ambient air has a higher temperature, air-to-air units provide zero cooling.

Cabinet Coolers, on the other hand, can be used in hot, high temperature environments up to 200°F (93°C).

EXAIR's High Temp Cabinet Cooler Systems
High temperature Cabinet Coolers

Cooling in dirty environments

Dirt in the ambient environment will impact cooling performance with an air-to-air heat exchanger.  In order for the air-to-air unit to effectively remove heat, the heat pipe must have access to ambient air.  With any exposure to the ambient environment comes the possibility for the ambient end of the heat pipe to become covered in ambient contaminants such as dust.  This dust will create an insulation barrier between the heat pipe and the ambient air, decreasing the ability for the heat pipe to condense the vapors within.  Because of this, most air-to-air devices use filters to separate the heat pipe from the ambient environment.  But, when these filters become clogged, access to ambient temperatures are reduced, and cooling capacity of the air-to-air unit reduces as well.

Cabinet Coolers have no problem operating in dirty environments.  In fact, it is one of their strengths.  Without any moving parts to wear out or any need to contact ambient air for cooling purposes, a dirty environment poses no problems.  In fact, check out this blog post (and this one) about EXAIR Cabinet Coolers operating maintenance free for years in dirty environments.

exair-cabinet-cooler-03-2002-2008
NEMA 12 Cabinet Cooler in a Dirty Environment

Size and time required to install

Air-to-air heat exchangers vary in size, but even the smallest units can have large dimensions.  Many applications have limited space on the enclosure, and a large, bulky solution can be prohibitive.  Couple this with the time and modification required to the enclosure to install a large air-to-air unit, and the “solution” may end up bringing additional problems.

Another key aspect of the Cabinet Cooler is its size.  Small, compact, and easy to mount on the top or side of an enclosure, Cabinet Coolers install in minutes to remove overheating problems.

Heat within an electrical cabinet can be a major issue for manufacturing companies. The costs associated with downtime and repairs on sensitive electronics that fail due to heat or environmental contaminants, are an unnecessary burden. If you have any questions about how an EXAIR Cabinet Cooler can solve problems in your facility, contact an EXAIR Application Engineer.

Jordan Shouse
Application Engineer

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Explanation of Hazardous Locations – Class 1 Div 1, Groups A, B, C, and D

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

My first job out of the Navy was in industrial & chemical pump repair. Oftentimes, the customer would remove the pump from its installation and send it in for us to fix. Other times, we’d go out to their facility if it was an exceptionally large pump and/or if seeing what it was doing (or not doing) while it was running was beneficial. Sometimes the pump was located in an area that was designated as explosion proof, or classified. There were different precautions we’d need to take, depending on what the particular hazard (or potential for a hazard) was. More often than not, that meant that we had to observe some VERY basic safety rules…no open flame was a biggie…but occasionally, we’d have to take apart a pump in an area that required us to use non-sparking tools. One time, I actually had to attach a grounding strap to my wrist, because even a spark from a static charge could have been bad news.

Electrical products that are operated in such areas have to meet certain requirements, or classifications.  In the United States, the National Electrical Code (NEC) defines these areas in a system of Classes, Divisions, and Groups, depending on the nature of the material that presents the hazard (Class), whether it normally exists or if it’s just possible in abnormal situations (Division), and the specific type of the subject material (Group). Today’s blog is all about what would classify an area as Class I, Division 1, and which Group the specific hazardous material falls under.

A Class I location means that the hazard is a flammable gas or vapor which is present in the area, in a high enough concentration to be considered ignitable. These were the locations that we were required to use non-sparking tools in, and for good reason. Some examples of Class I locations are:

  • Petroleum refineries
  • Gasoline storage or dispensing areas
  • Aircraft hangars and fueling stations
  • Spray finishing rooms or booths

Division 1 means that the flammable gas or vapor that makes the area a Class I location is present in the atmosphere during normal operating conditions and/or when the gas or vapor is released to the atmosphere during maintenance or repair work. These gases & vapors aren’t present in ALL areas of the above listed Class I examples during normal operation, so only the areas where they ARE present during normal operations would be defined as Division 1. For example:

  • Areas where a gasoline tank (in a refinery or gasoline storage/dispensing station, for example) is vented to the atmosphere are Class I Division 1, because the vapor coming out of the vent is doing so by design…you can’t pump a liquid into a non-vented tank.
  • Only the parts of an aircraft hangar where fuel is actually being handled are Division 1. That wouldn’t necessarily apply to a stock or communications room in the hangar, though.
  • The interior of a paint booth is Division 1 because the spray is volatile, as is the immediate vicinity adjacent to an open spray booth.

Class I designation is further divided into four Groups, based on two specific characteristics of the gas or vapor that basically express how easy it is to cause (or how hard it is to prevent) an explosive hazard:

  • Maximum Experimental Safe Gap (MESG) – The gas is put in the interior chamber of a vessel with an adjustable gap that leads to the outer chamber. MESG is the largest gap between the chambers that will prevent ignition of the gas.
  • Minimum Igniting Current (MIC) ratio. This is the ratio of the minimum current from an inductive spark required to ignite the gas, divided by the minimum current from an inductive spark that will ignite methane under the same conditions.
  • Group A: Acetylene
    • MESG = 0.25 mm
    • MIC ratio = 0.017
  • Group B: Hydrogen, butadiene, ethylene oxide, propylene oxide, and acrolein
    • MESG <0.45mm (except acetylene)
    • MIC ratio <0.4 (except acetylene)
  • Group C: Ethylene, cyclopropane and ethyl ether
    • MESG = 0.45mm to 0.75mm
    • MIC ratio = 0.4 – 0.8
  • Group D: Acetone, ammonia, benzene, butane, ethanol, gasoline, hexane, methane, methanol, methane, naphtha, natural gas, propane and toluene
    • MESG >0.75mm
    • MIC ratio >0.8

EXAIR HazLoc Cabinet Cooler Systems are engineered and approved for use on electrical enclosures in these areas, as well as Class II and Class III. Our ATEX Cabinet Cooler Systems are compliant with the European Union’s ATEX Directive (Zones 2 and 22).

Both the HazLoc (left) and ATEX (right) Cabinet Cooler Systems are available from stock in NEMA 4 and NEMA 4X ratings.

Wherever the panel you need cooling for is located, we’ve very likely got a reliable and safe solution. If you’d like to find out more, give me a call.

Russ Bowman, CCASS

Application Engineer
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Elly De La Cruz HRs, Bark in the Park, and Cabinet Coolers: It’s Summer Time!

Published on by Tyler DanielLeave a comment
My wife with the good boy, Rocky
Maci, the 450lb Chihuahua (or at least that’s what she thinks)

Last week the Cincinnati Reds held one of their “Bark in the Park” evenings where fans are encouraged to bring their four-legged friends along for a day at the ballpark. There were plenty of good boys and girls seated along the 1st-baseline, excited for the evening’s game. My wife and I have what is often referred to as a kennel back at home (3 dogs of our own and one rotating foster pup) and thought it was about time we took them down to a game.

Coinciding with this particular game was also the arrival of the “Red”-hot Elly De La Cruz making just his second start in the Majors. To anyone paying attention to baseball this summer, I’m sure you’ve seen highlights of the blazing fast, hard-hitting, hard-throwing, phenom from the Dominican Republic that the Reds finally called up from AAA. In his first at bat, he about knocked the ball clear out of the park (only to be held up by one fan and a silly chain-link fence). All-in-all it was a beautiful (hopefully one day historic) late-spring, early-summer evening. What better way to spend it than alongside a couple of our doggos.

When it’s baseball season, it’s getting warm here in the Northern Hemisphere. As temperatures increase, maintenance managers across the world shudder as they know their electrical panels aren’t ready for it. Fortunately, EXAIR has a line of Cabinet Coolers available to ship same-day from stock that’ll keep your cabinets cool and purged with clean, dry air.

Utilizing Vortex Tube technology, the EXAIR’s Cabinet Cooler produces cold air from an ordinary supply of compressed air. This cold air keeps the enclosure free of debris and moisture and is easily installed in minutes through a standard electrical knockout. Here is a short video that shows just how simple it really is. The Cabinet Cooler Systems are available with Nema 12 (IP54) ratings and are also available in Aluminum, 303 Stainless Steel, and 316 Stainless Steel construction for Nema 4/4X (IP66) rated enclosures. For systems that are not able to be mounted on top of the cabinet, we also have Side Mount Kits available in Aluminum, 303 Stainless, and 316 Stainless. This year, EXAIR has expanded from our line of Hazardous Location Cabinet Coolers and has also added ATEX Cabinet Coolers to our offering for customers that require ATEX compliance.  

These systems are available with cooling capacities of anywhere from 275-5,600 Btu/hr. To make things much easier for you, we offer a Cabinet Cooler Sizing Guide that will allow us to recommend the most suitable model for your cabinet. With a few quick measurements, we’ll be able to determine the exact heat load that we’ll need to dissipate and offer you a quick and easy solution. If you experienced heat related issues on electrical panels last year, contact an Application Engineer today, and we’ll see to it that this summer your cabinets remain cool!

Tyler Daniel, CCASS

Application Engineer

E-mail: TylerDaniel@EXAIR.com

Twitter: @EXAIR_TD