Every industrial market segment employs enclosures, extending from power and energy, oil and gas, and water and wastewater to manufacturing, communications, and transportation. Enclosures’ primary role is to protect vital components and devices from external environmental hazards and, in turn, protect imperative — and often expensive — connected equipment, such as automated manufacturing, robotic, pumping, safety, and control systems.
But given that electrical and electronic components generate heat, excess heat can diminish system performance and shorten operating lifetimes. Enclosures are used in a number of extreme environments, from solar energy systems in deserts to oil and gas extraction sites in Alaska and Canada, so it’s also essential to maintain favorable environmental conditions within enclosures.
RS offers hundreds of Hammond Manufacturing thermal management solutions engineered to maintain ideal enclosure climates in a variety of extreme operating environments. Image: RS
Enclosure climate control solutions, including fans, heat exchangers, blowers, exhaust holes, pressure compensation plugs, heaters, and air conditioners, help maintain rated operating temperatures and prevent condensation within an enclosure. These products are most prevalent in outdoor enclosures, and especially those exposed to extremely hot or cold temperatures or connected to equipment that’s not consistently in use; as the significant temperature shift between operating and ambient temperatures can create condensation and, depending on the environment, frost — both of which could damage enclosed components and connected equipment.
The three foundational elements of enclosure climate control are ventilation, cooling, and heating.
Ventilation: Passive ventilation, like an exhaust hole paired with an exhaust filter or rain hood, is the simplest and lowest-cost solution for preventing condensation in applications with low-heat loads and minimal temperature swings. But it’s often not feasible in outdoor environments due to water hazards. In these instances, pressure compensation plugs can be used to maintain equilibrium with the external air pressure and let moisture escape while still reliably preventing water ingress.
Cooling: Fans and blowers are used to remove hot air generated by component operation and bring in cooler air. These alone can be sufficient in smaller, lower-heat applications. Applications with more demanding cooling requirements typically employ air conditioners and/or heat exchangers as well. Air conditioners use a compressor to actively cool the air. Air-to-air heat exchangers transfer heat between two separate air streams without mixing them, and air-to-water heat exchangers cool enclosures by circulating coolant. Normally open thermostats also help with enclosure cooling by activating components like air conditioners and heat exchangers when a certain temperature is reached.
Heating: Radiant heaters and fan-powered heaters are the two most popular types. Radiant heaters use a heat sink to radiate heat from the heating element and are typically used in smaller enclosures that require less heating. Fan-powered heaters blow air over a heating element to circulate warm air throughout an enclosure and are typically used in larger enclosures and enclosures in extremely cold environments, and especially those connected to equipment that doesn’t run consistently. Additionally, although many heaters come with integrated thermostats, discrete normally closed thermostats are often used to ensure that enclosure heaters shut off once the desired temperature has been reached.
RS currently offers more than 12,600 Hammond Manufacturing enclosure products that can be delivered within 10 days, including hundreds of thermal management solutions essential to maintaining an ideal climate within electrical and electronic enclosures.
- Enclosure ventilation solutions include PF Series exhaust filters with NEMA 3R and NEMA 12 environmental ratings, RH Series NEMA 3R rain hoods, SDV Series NEMA 3R rainproof ventilators, SDA Series IP54/55 breather kits, and BDN Series pressure compensation plugs.
- Enclosure cooling solutions include the DNFF Series 32- to 550-CFM hardwired filter fans, exceptionally quiet XF Series 105- to 550-CFM filtered fan boxes, PF Series IP54/43 15- to 506-CFM filter fans, DNFK Series heavy-duty, high-CFM cooling fan kits, and HB Series rack-mounted intake blowers.
- Enclosure heating solutions include FLH Series 125–1,300W fan heaters with integrated thermostats, SHG Series 15–150W heaters, and SHGL Series 250–400W heaters for applications that require greater heating capacity or internal forced air circulation.
RS Group
rsgroup.com
Hammond Manufacturing
hammfg.com
Filed Under: Cabinets • enclosures • control panels • DIN rail
