WHITE PAPER: Thermal Management Solutions

Thermal Management Solutions

Thermal Management Solutions

Air Conditioners

What is Air Conditioning?

Air conditioning by definition is a means to cool and remove humidity from an

environment, such as an enclosure, through use of a refrigerant cooling cycle. Air
conditioners currently are the only practical stand-alone device in the market that can
cool an environment below ambient temperatures. There are other devices in the
marketplace that can cool below ambient (e.g. air to water heat exchangers), but these
devices require a secondary coolant source supply to the unit, such as a chiller.

The impact of increasing temperatures

As technology in electronic packaging has advanced, so has the impact of thermal

loading and temperature rise to these electronics. Smaller electronic components and
increasingly dense packaging in enclosures have made these systems much more
sensitive to external influences such as temperature, dust, oil and humidity.
This can be problematic because the failure of just one electronic component may lead
to the complete shutdown of an entire production line. Resulting costs add up quickly.

Heat is the number one enemy of electrical and

electronic equipment!

Looking at Figure 1, you will see that 57% of all

component failures are heat related, followed by
vibration, humidity and dust respectively. The use
of air conditioners can help you eliminate three of
these potential system failures. (Temperature,
Humidity, and Dust) As a rule of thumb it is said
that the average life span of semi-conductors is
reduced by 50% every time the operating
temperature rises 20ºF (10ºC) over its maximum
operating temperature. (See Figure 2) Yet, high
temperatures in enclosures can hardly be avoided
because electronic equipment such as
transformers, power distribution components, drives, PLC’s and PC’s all generate heat ~
known as heat loss.

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Sizing the Air Conditioning unit for your application

Sizing the Air Conditioning unit for your application

To properly determine the specifications for climate control components, a few simple
calculations have to be made, but first, let’s review the required terminology:

• Qv[Watts or BTU]: total power loss (heat loss) of all the electrical and electronic components
installed in the enclosure.
• Qs[Watts or BTU]: heat dissipation absorbed or radiated, through the outside surfaces of the
enclosures. When the temperature inside the enclosures is higher than the ambient outside,
(Ti>Tu), heat will be radiated to the outside environment (Qs>0). When the temperature inside
the enclosure is lower than ambient, (Ti<Tu), the enclosure absorbs heat from the environment
(Qs<0).
• QE[Watts or BTU]: required cooling capacity of the air conditioner. This is the amount of heat
the air conditioner must remove from the enclosure.
• Required Cooling Capacity: QE = Qv - Qs = Qv - k * A * ΔT
• Ti[°C or °F]: maximum allowable temperature inside the enclosure per the components
manufacturers’ specifications. This value should be rated to the components with the lowest
allowable steady state operating temperature inside the enclosure. Depending on the
component, this range can run anywhere from 35-45ºC (95-113ºF), Typically 40ºC (104ºF).

• Tu[ºC or ºF]: maximum ambient temperature that can occur in the environment in which the
enclosure is installed.

• Temperature Differential: ΔT = Ti - Tu[ºC (ºF)]

• A[m2 or ft2]: exposed enclosure surface. In other words, any flat side of the enclosure that is
not up against another surface, such as a wall. If a surface is against a wall, then heat transfer to
the environment through that surface will be negligible.

• k[W/m_K]: heat transfer coefficient of an enclosure

— Stainless Steel 6.5(W/m2ºC) [1.2 BTU/hr ft2ºF]
— Sheet Steel 5.5(W/m2ºC) [1.0 BTU/hr ft2ºF]
— Plastic 3.5(W/m2ºC) [0.65 BTU/hr ft2ºF]

Helpful Conversions
1 Watt = 3.413 BTU/hr
1m2 = 10.76 ft2
ºF = 1.8 * (ºC) + 32ºF

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Terms
Heat Conduction: Heat is transported by matter, without the
matter itself being moved.
The energy is passed from particle to particle.

Convection: Energy flows with the matter. The transport medium,

e.g. a liquid or gas, takes up energy in the form of heat and
dissipates energy as heat.

Radiation: Heat is passed from one body to another in the form of

radiation energy, without a
medium material.

Conduction and convection play an important role in enclosures.

An important criteria for heat removal from an enclosure is
whether the enclosure is an “open” (air can freely move through
the enclosure) or a “closed” (air tight) system. While heat naturally
dissipates from the inside of an “open” enclosure, heat from a
“closed” enclosure can only be dissipated through the surfaces
(walls, doors, roof).

Calculation of exposed enclosure surface: (Per VDE 0660 part

500)
Special attention should be paid to the total exposed enclosure
surface area (A), because heat loss dissipated from the enclosure
depends not only on its actual value, but also the enclosure
location. An enclosure located in the middle of a room naturally
dissipates more heat than an enclosure located against a wall or
in the corner. This is due to the fact that all surfaces are exposed.

For that reason, careful attention should be given to the location

of your enclosure for the heat dissipation calculations.
(See Figure 6)

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Heat Loss
When the heat loss within an enclosure is unknown, but the actual ambient temperature, Tu, and the
temperature inside the enclosure, Ti, can be determined, the heat loss can be calculated using the
following formula. (This is very useful on equipment already in service):
Qv (measured) = A * k * ∆Tmax (Watts)
This measurement must be taken with all components operating, excluding fans, heat exchangers,
or A/C’s and the enclosure must be sealed.

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How to read a Performance Chart – and what does it mean

Fundamentally, an air conditioner performance char t is the functional cooling capacity of a

particular unit. Much as you would desire when purchasing a high performance car, you would
want to know the performance characteristics such as horsepower, torque, rpm, etc. The same
philosophy holds true with air conditioners. All Rittal Air Conditioners are tested to the
international standard — DIN 3168.This testing assures that the resultant data is determined
from a standardized series of tests. This is the best basis upon which air conditioner
performance can be tested under the same conditions. This criteria is DIN 3168. Ultimately,
know the basis upon which you are comparing manufacturers.

For Example: Rittal TopTherm 3328110.

DIN 3168 testing is performed at L35/L35, or in other words, L35 located before the backslash is
the internal temperature of the enclosure (35ºC) and the second L35 is the ambient. If you look
at the performance char t below, the horizontal axis is the outside temperature and the vertical
being the cooling capacity. The diagonal lines are the internal temperature intersects. To read
the char t, select your outside temperature, draw a line up to the desired internal temperature
and draw a line horizontally to the Y-axis. You will see that the cooling capacity of this particular
unit at L35/L35 is 2350Watts (8000 BTU/hr).

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The importance of DIN 3168

Buyer Beware!

When stating the cooling capacity, many manufacturers will rate their unit at L50/L50.This
information is often noted as a footnote rather than up front. L50/50 is not nearly as difficult to
achieve cooling effectiveness inside an enclosure and will provide the user a misleadingly higher
number when comparing A/C’s. In other words, an 8000BTU unit from one manufacturer might
not be as good as an 8000BTU unit from another manufacturer. Let’s go back to the car
analogy, if you were comparing 2 cars only on horsepower, and they both were 200HP each,
you still better know the basis of the specification. One car could be rated at 200HP at the output
of the engine, and the other 200HP at the rear wheels. The second car would have more overall
power as the engine must be larger to take into account transmission and shaft losses.

Always know the basis upon which you are evaluating A/C’s. This is why DIN 3168 is so
important: it defines the common criteria upon which units may be evaluated.

The impact of humidity

An unavoidable side-effect of using air conditioners is the

dehumidification of the enclosure’s interior air. As it cools
down, part of the humidity contained in the air condenses on
the evaporator coil. This condensate must be discharged
reliably from the enclosure. The amount of condensate
occurring depends on relative humidity, the air temperature in
the enclosure and on the evaporator coil, and the air volume
present in the enclosure. The Mollier h-x diagram shows the
water content of air depending on its temperature and relative
air humidity.

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Introducing TopTherm
As with any Rittal innovation, or product improvement, the design team sets for th
top-level design criteria that must be achieved to meet the desired results in the
marketplace. The same held true for TopTherm, the latest in enclosure air
conditioner solutions. Since 1985, Rittal has been the market leader in thermal
management solutions for the enclosure industry and again is setting forth with the
latest of designs. Combining the available technology advancements and customer
feedback, Rittal has set 4 performance criteria:

1. Optimize and minimize the number of mechanical form factors

2. Modular design to reduce the number of required spare parts with cross platform
spares
3. Develop an easy to ser vice and assemble products manufactured in a new
state-of-the-art facility
4. Develop the latest in contemporary sleek designed units
And TopTherm is the result!

Features and Benefits

Roofmounted Units
• Only 3 standard form factors with a cooling capacity of 1740 BTU - 14,300 BTU
resulting in only three cutout variations across the entire cooling range

• All three-phase units are dual voltage 400/460V, 50/60Hz thereby eliminating the
need for costly transformers and wiring

• The electronics are located in an environmentally protected internal cool air cycle
free from oil, dirt and conductive dust

• Ingenious intake and exhaust air routing system with intake through the front,
exhaust through the sides, rear and optionally through the top., resulting in easy
installation with no restrictions when mounting units next to one another

• Patented air routing for internal air circuit with a central air intake and corner
outlets, allowing for air flow options suited for any installation along with ducting
options for directed cooling

• Variable positioning Positive Pressure Condensate discharge system eliminates

need for check valve and increases your installation options
• Simple to install via a singular rectangular cutout

Wallmounted Units
• Only 5 basic form factors with a cooling capacity of
1090 BTU-15,000 BTU resulting in only five cutout
variations across the entire cooling range

• All three-phase units are dual voltage 400/460V,

50/60Hz thereby eliminating the need for costly
transformers and wiring.

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• Versatile mounting options, allowing the ultimate in installation flexibility if external space is at a
premium, all with the same unit!

• The electronics are located in an environmentally protected internal cool air cycle free from oil,
dirt and conductive dust.

• Optimized air routing in the enclosure due to generous separation of air intake and exhaust
thereby eliminating the need for costly air diver ting baffles

• Simplified fan replacement, for quick exchange and only 4 filter sizes for all types of units

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The New Control Concept

• Two types of control

— Comfor t Controller
— Basic Controller
• Highest possible quality standards through use of surface mount devices
compliant with
EMC safety and high performance relays/contactors with MTBF of 10 years

The Basic Controller

• Integrated door limit switch and delayed star t up function
• Red and Green fault and status LED’s
• Integrated icing sensor temporarily shuts down compressor and external fan if
icing risk exists
• Two floating fault contacts for over-temperature indication and other alarms
• Motor Monitoring
• Phase loss detection on all 3 phase units
• Setpoint adjustable from outside via potentiometer

The Comfort Controller

• Master-Slave control for up to 10 units
• Two programmable floating fault signal contacts
• Data logging and upload/download capability with RiDiag II software
• Over-Temperature alarms
• Icing alarm and cooling loss signal
• Condensate warning with roof mounted units
• Integrated door limit switch
• Motor monitoring
• Phase loss detection on all 3 phase units
• Digital temperature display
• Fault code display
• Programming via keypad or RiDiag II software

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Applications and Applicable Markets

As with all Rittal Industrial products, TopTherm has been designed to endure the rugged
environment presented by the most challenging industrial applications. Anywhere dust, dirt, air
borne cutting fluids, or similar exist, a Rittal TopTherm air conditioner can be installed.
Rittal services many industries, including:
• Machine Tool • Converting • Transportation
• Automotive • Food and Beverage • Printing
• Process Control • Packaging and Handling • And many more.....

TopTherm units meet all international certifications and requirements including:

• UL
• cUL
• CE

Thereby providing international compatibility and acceptance. No other supplier can offer
international acceptance and the most advanced product in the marketplace along with a host of
services and technical support anywhere in the world.

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