Cabinet coolers

April 2008 Enclosures, Cabling & Connectors

EXAIR cabinet coolers offer a low cost, reliable way to cool and purge electronic control panels. The coolers incorporate a stainless steel vortex tube to produce cold air from compressed air with no moving parts. The compact devices can be installed in minutes through a standard electrical knockout. NEMA 4, 4X and 12 cabinet coolers that match the NEMA rating of the enclosure are available in many cooling capacities for large and small control panels.

How vortex coolers work

Compressed air enters the vortex tube (Figure 1) and is converted into two streams, one hot and one cold. Hot air from the tube is exhausted through the discharge port, while the cold air is directed into the cabinet. The displaced warm air in the cabinet rises and exits to atmosphere through the cabinet air exhaust at a slight positive pressure. Thus, the control cabinet is both cooled and purged with cool, clean air.

According to EXAIR heat exchangers, heat pipes and refrigerant coolers all have filters that can clog. Left unattended, mechanical failure of the cooler is likely resulting in overheating inside the enclosure and possible equipment failure. Vortex coolers have no moving parts to wear out and do not require constant monitoring. All models are UL listed and available in a large number of styles and capacities.

Thermostat control limits compressed air use by operating the cooler only when the enclosure reaches predetermined levels. Most plants have their compressor running continuously, by using a vortex cooler energy savings are achieved through utilising a machine that is already consuming electricity instead of using products which would require additional power.

Typical applications are found in the food and pharmaceutical industries with capacities ranging from 160 to 700 kilo calories per hour.

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