cooling inside an enclosure?? 1

[engsatapex]

I have an enclosure that has about 5 servo and inverter drives that total to about 1500W of heat loss. I need to keep the temperature inside cabinet at less than 40deg C. The enclosure is in an open space (not against the wall), ambient 22deg factory. I want to use a ventilation fan. Does anyone know how I can size the fan, what draught I need to generate, where do I mount the fan and vent? Does anyone have any info on this topic.

Can anybody help. Many tanks in advance.

 

[ScottyUK]

Rittal have a fan sizing note on their website. Obviously designed for their products, but everyone else's products are the same size.

http://www.rittal-corp.com/company/news/press_release.cfm?nid=134

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If we learn from our mistakes I'm getting a great education!

 

[itsmoked]

130 SCFM is the amount of air that will be heated from 22C to 40C with 1500W.

So I would perhaps double or triple that to prevent hot spots.

Be aware that filters greatly reduce air flow and will eventually clog up. If you use filters I would add a temp alarm into the enclosure. Put the sensor for it in the warmest area.

Keith Cress
kcress -

http://www.flaminsystems.com

 

[eng1ne]

On a quick calc I made it around 240 m^3/h without factoring safety in which is not far different from what itsmoked has advised. But as he suggests, an overtemp alarm or two would be imperative.

And a star for Scotty for that link! Well worth having in my file!

Cheers

 

[IRstuff]

That, as Keith points out, is only half the problem. The other half of the problem is to ensure that your components get sufficient airflow internally. That may require extra fins or an internal recirculation fan, to ensure adequate heat transfer.

One might want to run a CFD analysis or a smoke test to determine whether sufficient airflow is reaching everything you need to cool internally.

TTFN

FAQ731-376

 

[engsatapex]

Thanks Guys for your answers. The rittal link was very handy. Owe you guys one!!!!