These days, thermal management can mean a wide range of things for companies in various industries. However, the most common and frequent thermal management need is the need to keep electrical enclosures, such as control panels, properly cooled and protected from outside contaminants. In this area, heat exchangers have long been a preferred thermal management solution. Their ability to rapidly and continuously transfer waste heat, often within a closed-loop system, and to operate with minimal amounts of energy have made modern heat exchangers a much more energy efficient way to cool electrical control panels in most industries.
Benefiting from efficient thermal management
The point of cooling an electrical control panel is to prevent the waste generated by the circuitry inside of them from remaining long enough to damage those same sensitive components. Traditional solutions for doing so include air conditioning and air compressing units, which are effective but are based on HVAC principles of circulating chilled air through the enclosures. By eliminating the need for such solutions and implementing more streamlined thermal management, companies have benefited from advantages such as more reliable and consistent operations, lower energy and maintenance costs, and more.
Considerations beside cooling
In addition to effectively cooling an electrical enclosure, modern thermal management solutions also have several other considerations to account for. These include maintaining a high level of ingress protection according to the specific environment in which they’re in use. For example, most operations require protection against dust, debris, and moisture, while some may include more strict regulatory requirements for more extreme conditions and/or hazardous environments. Because heat exchangers involve more streamlined methods of heat transfer, they can more easily be adapted to meet a growing variety of modern thermal needs.
Custom solutions for control panels of all sizes
Even within typical operating conditions, electrical control panels can still come in all sizes and be utilized for a wide variety of applications. This means utilizing thermal management solutions that can be easily adapted to an application’s unique needs are even more beneficial for companies that utilize different forms of technology. For example, heat exchangers can be designed as heat pipes that bend, lay flat, and fit as necessary into tight spaces. Cold plate heat exchangers might be recommended for larger-scale control panels, or for applications that require high-performance cooling.
For more information about energy efficient heat exchangers for cooling electrical control panels, call Noren Thermal Solutions in Taylor, TX, at 866-936-6736.