About Enclosure Air Conditioners

nVent, Hoffman, Pentair, and Mclean Cooling Technology Enclosure Air Conditioners

Units that treat air and control its temperature, quality, humidity and distribution in an enclosure are known as enclosure air conditioners. They are also known as cabinet air conditioners. By employing refrigeration cycles in enclosure air conditioners, heat developed by electronic devices from the inside of cabinets or enclosures is removed completely.

Filtered, compressed air flows into the enclosure air conditioner through a small vortex tube component. The air is separated into two streams, one is hot and the is a cold stream. Expulsion of muffled hot air at the top of the air conditioner will take place. The cold air stream is fed into the enclosure through the cold air distribution hose. Hot air inside the enclosure moves upward and mixes with the atmosphere with little positive pressure through the air exhaust. Both purging and cooling of the enclosure is done with clean air. The outside air is not permitted to enter the enclosure.

In most of the factory outlets and in industries, a major problem is posed by thermal variations and dust. Moisture, hazardous materials and corrosive elements can pose a major threat to the normal functioning of industrial electronic systems. Opening the cabinet door to prevent the build-up of heat can actually worsen the situation.

• Loads tripping below rated values
• Loss in production
• Violation in OSHA regulations and build-up of dirt when cabinets are left open
• Clogged air filters have to be cleaned or changed frequently
• Damage to electronic components
• Erroneous functioning of electronic weighing, counting, and recording instruments
• Freon control air conditioners fail quickly due to high temperatures and harsh factory conditions

All these problems can be overcome by employing enclosure cooling. An enclosure air conditioner will enhance the air circulation in the equipments. Most of these enclosures do not have ventilation except a louver for heat release. Some other enclosures have tiny fans fitted with low cost panel-type filters to keep away dust. Less-powered fans may not have the ability to extract enough heat, particularly when the filter is dirty.

The absence of panel filters causes problems pertaining to air circulation. The panel-type filters which are made of fiberglass, synthetic and metal mesh are not very efficient compared to other filters in filtering out microscopic dust particles which are in the order of microns. The filter area is quite small and tends to clog quickly in dusty environments. The common industrial dusts that can be effectively controlled by enclosure air conditioners are particles of asbestos, cement, ceramic, carbon black, fly ash, flour, plant floor dusts, graphite, insecticides, lime, metal, mineral fibers and oil mists. Pleated paper filter is another type of filter, which has a better efficiency of filtering out microscopic particles.

Both of these filters are quite inexpensive to replace and may also be reused by vacuuming or soaking in warm soapy water and rinsing. Based on field usage, the average life of a filter has been estimated to be 6-12 months. However, this will vary depending on the quantity of dust in the area.

Enclosure air conditioners can be classified based on the mounting used. It is primarily used to support or fit the air conditioner in the enclosure. The different types of enclosure air conditioners are:

• Side Mount air conditioners
• Top Mount air conditioners
• Bottom Mount air conditioners
• Door Mount air conditioners
• Rack Mount air conditioners

Capacity
The capacity is defined as the output or producing ability of a piece of cooling or heating equipment. Cooling and heating capacities are referred to in BTUs.

Operating Voltage
The nominal voltage at which the air conditioner usually operates is called operating voltage.

Phase
Phase is defined as a time based relationship between a periodic function and a reference. In electricity, it is expressed in angular degrees to describe the voltage or current relationship of two alternating waveforms. An enclosure air conditioner can either work on a single-phase or three-phase power supply.

• Can be used in the most demanding environments
• Cost Effective
• Variable cooling capacity
• Compact, suitable for limited space applications
• Low maintenance requirements
• No threat of explosion
• Free from radio frequency and electromagnetic interference
• Free from vibrations which affect CCTV cameras
• Thermostatically controlled units are also available
• Quiet operation

Applications of Mclean Cooling Technology Enclosure Air Conditioners

• NC/CNC cabinets
• Industrial PCs
• PLCs
• Recording devices and measuring instruments
• Closed-circuit camera systems
• Motor controls and relays
• Telecommunications and Information Technology equipment
• Frequency drives.

McleanParts.net has a Mclean Cooling Technology enclosure air conditioner available for most any applications. If you are unsure of which unit is suitable for your application, please contact us, we will help you make the correct selection.