In a blog I wrote a few weeks back I worked with a distributor to find a solution for cooling a motor used to drive a robot. We determined the required airflow and correct Super Air Amplifier model number for the application and all was well.
A bit more recently I’ve been working with another EXAIR distributor, using a completely different approach to provide the cooling needed in another application. This new application featured three 250W LED lights with heat sinks that were not large enough to remove the heat from the bulbs.
The solution our distributor found was to use a series of Cabinet Coolers to provide extremely cold air into the heat sinks. The cold air was fed into a distribution block and then to three heat sinks as shown in the image above, and it worked to provide the needed cooling in this application.
Ultimately, the “secret” to this application solution rests with our Vortex Tube technology which transforms a compressed air flow into two outlet streams – one hot and one cold. The cold air stream is used to remove heat from a designated area, and the hot air is vented to ambient conditions.
If you have an application suffering from overheating problems, contact an EXAIR Application Engineer, we’ll be glad to help cool things down.
We have just found out that four of our new problem solving products have been nominated for Plant Engineering’s Product of the Year (Please Vote for us HERE). The first candidate I would like to showcase is in the Automation & Controls category. The Electronic Temperature Control for Dual Cabinet Cooler Systems effectively turn the compressed air supply to the Cabinet Coolers on and off as needed to maintain a constant temperature inside of a hot enclosure. Using the air intermittently to maintain a specific temperature is the most efficient way to operate.
Please Vote!
The ETC Dual Cabinet Cooler Systems work in conjunction with EXAIR’s UL listed Cabinet Cooler Systems which provide cooling for your electrical enclosures without the use of refrigerant based coolants or fans. The Cabinet Cooler Systems utilize a compressed air driven Vortex Tube which uses compressed air. This cold compressed air is exhausted into the enclosure which results in a cool working environment for your electronics. Warm air from inside the enclosure is vented safely back out of the cabinet through built in exhausts and the compressed air is only utilized when the internal air temperature reaches the digitally set temperature on the ETC.
How the EXAIR Cabinet Cooler System Works
Another added benefit of the ETC on the Cabinet Cooler system is the real time readout of the internal air temperature of your enclosures. This is on top of the push button set point which will give you a +/-2°F ambient temperature inside of your enclosure.
EXAIR ETC Dual Cabinet Cooler System
The ETC Dual Cabinet Cooler Systems are designed for larger heat loads ranging from 3,400 BTU/hr. to 5,600 BTU/hr. The units are available in NEMA 12, NEMA 4, and NEMA 4X ratings. This means whether you are in a fairly clean environment or a dirty, hot, muggy environment, EXAIR has you covered.
If you would like to discuss either the ETC or the Cabinet Cooler Systems, please contact an Application Engineer. If you would like to vote for our products, please check out the Plant Engineering Product of the Year page here.
Not too long ago, I was contacted by one of our customers regarding the Cabinet Cooler Systems and the quality of the compressed air used to power them.
The specific questions were:
What happens if the compressed air gets dirty with oil or other particles if sufficient filtration is not available at the facility where Cabinet Cooler is being used?
Where does the oil particle go, into the cabinet or out through the hot exhaust or both?
If it goes into the Cabinet Cooler, should one expect a spray or will it simply form small droplets?
Is there a way to filter the cold air outlet?
Dirty, oil laden air would exhaust throughout the Cabinet cooler (both hot and cold flows) as well as into the inside of the attached cabinet if the air were contaminated and there was not any filter located up-stream of the Cabinet Cooler System. This is precisely why we always recommend the use of filter/separator and oil coalescing filters to clean up the compressed air before it goes into the Cabinet Cooler. In fact, we include a five micron, auto-drain, filter/separator with all our stock systems. If oil is a known contaminant in a customer’s system, we will also recommend use of an oil coalescing type filter which we can provide as well. Without a coalescing filter, you can expect any oil in the compressed air supply to be atomized into a vapor which then has possibility of settling on components inside the cabinet.
Filtering the compressed air while it is still in its compressed state and before it goes into the Cabinet Cooler is the only way to make sure that the air is properly cleaned before processing through the Cabinet Cooler System. Filtering the air after it has gone through the Cabinet Cooler System is not possible. Many filtration systems rely on the high velocity of the compressed air for their filtering capability. If it is no longer in its compressed state (a condition that exists at the cold outlet of the Cabinet Cooler), then the right conditions for proper treatment do not exist. Also, by the time the air exits the Cabinet Cooler, your primary need for it is going to be for cooling anyway. Attempting to add filtration to the cold air output will interfere with the cooling function, which negates the purpose for having the Cabinet Cooler.
As compressed air and the systems that produce it become more widely understood, filtering, drying and removing oil from the compressed air stream are tasks that are done on the production side of things.
The best way to proceed is to have the necessary filtration on the compressed air supply, at the point of use, even if the facility has filtered, clean, dry air. It would still be good to employ it just in case any up-stream equipment that is normally used to clean up the air, went down for some reason. I call it the belt and suspenders method. The redundancy is worth the investment.
