Large steel slabs are cast, sized and cut to length in order to ready them for various types of secondary processing such as rolling, forging, machining, etc. The measurement and cutting functions of the steel slab process are controlled by various lasers focused on different features of the slab to provide for non-contact measurement due to the extreme high temperature conditions that are present.
The electronics that are used as part of the laser measuring equipment can withstand temperatures up to about 60°C (140°F). The areas in a steel slab casting line where the laser electronics are located will usually exceed this temperature quite easily.
One of our customers was utilizing a protective box for his equipment that had a Peltier type cooling system integrated within. The cooling system would work for only a short while as the cooler would become clogged with dust and debris from the operation. This condition would lead to overheating and failure of the measuring equipment.
The customer came to EXAIR for a solution. He wanted to keep his existing enclosure and simply add an EXAIR Cabinet Cooler System to the box to replace the function of the original cooling module. The Cabinet Cooler System would be able to deliver significant cooling power for the application and provide a positive pressure on the enclosure to keep dust and debris from getting inside. Best of all, the Cabinet Cooler System is not affected by debris accumulation on the outside of the cabinet.
After we made some calculations, we recommended that he use our High Temperature, NEMA 12 Cabinet Cooler Model HT4215 on the enclosure.
The end result is a cooling system that has high reliability and low maintenance concerns due to zero moving parts, low purchase price and which is not affected by dirt, dust and debris from the ambient environment. This is a common problem for both Peltier coolers and Freon based cooling systems as they rely on the principle of ambient airflow over a heat exchange surface which is exposed to the ambient environment. EXAIR Cabinet Cooler Systems are using filtered compressed air utility from the facility compressed air supply, which by comparison is many times cleaner and thus contributes to low maintenance aspect of our product.
If you are looking for a simple, low cost, ‘bolt on’ cooling solution for your high temperature application, give EXAIR a chance. We may very well have the solution you are looking for.
Neal Raker, Application Engineer
nealraker@exair.com