HCL gas in a warehouse

[Racecardriver16]

I have an interesting situation where I need to install an electronics box roughly 70ft above some HCL baths. I have no further information on the environment other than they have to replace their light fixtures often (less than 2 years) because of corrosion. The advantage is my box will operate cooler than the lights, but still "warm". 100C+.

I have uncoated aluminum (heat sink), Galvanized steel (box) and some zinc plated fasteners. I have little/no experience with HCL gas like this.

Any input (if possible) would be appreciated. We are trying to determine if our box can be expected to survive any length of time.

Thanks!

 

[Compositepro]

It will not last long. Simply painting or coating the box will take care of most problems. It is also very important to tightly seal the box in order to protect the contents. You must prevent breathing of the box due to temperature changes.

 

[TVP]

The Zn plated fasteners will RAPIDLY corrode. They are not suitable for this environment. Is there a reason you cannot use stainless steel fasteners? Can you use an organic coating/paint for the box, like Compositepro suggested?

 

[EdStainless]

How about a non-metalic box and no exposed metallic fasteners.
Your heatsink will be an issue, it will get eaten alive unless you coat it.
That will reduce heat transfer, but maybe go with a larger one?

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Plymouth Tube

 

[Rich2001]

As previously mention use a plastic/polymer or composite electrical enclosure.
Completely cover the electronics with a conforma coating, an example is

http://www.farnell.com/datasheets/1673864.pdf

.

Note the coating will reduce the heat transfer of the heat sink, a couple of ideas:
- increase the heat sink size,
- add forced cooling.(Pipe nitrogen of compressed into the box and vent, keeping a positive pressure in the enclosure)
- possible nothing at all - monitor the temperature of the heat sink in operation if it stays below ____ (need to research). Pay attention to the signal to noise ratio, the signal level decreases with rising temperature.



Richard

 

[Racecardriver16]

Thanks guys, your responses were what I had anticipated. The present design is simply unsuitable, we will need to make a special box for this application. The customer didnt mention the environment, we only found out with an "oh by the way" after the box was fabricated and delivered!

Silly customers

 

[Compositepro]

How is the building's structure holding up to this exposure?