August 15, 2019 --- Intertec Instrumentation is launching a range of field enclosures for housing remote I/O and other control and instrumentation electronics, featuring passive. The enclosures are intended to help EPCs and processing plant engineers to eliminate the need for plant buildings such as satellite instrument houses or remote instrument enclosures - which often need to be air conditioned and blast- and fire-resistant.
Fabricated from GRP (glassfiber reinforced polyester) materials, the enclosures provide dust- and water-proof environments to protect remote control equipment located deep inside processing areas. Developed at the request of clients, the enclosure concept works to simplify the roll-out of more versatile distributed control architectures containing field equipment such as software-configured I/O, IIoT networking and PLCs. The advance can allow field control equipment enclosures to be assembled and sealed in the factory avoiding the need for opening and exposure to dangerous local conditions at the site during installation and operation.
Because of the electronic devices used, some form of cooling may also be required. If power is available at site, this can be in the form of conventional fan cooling. However, the temperature stability of insulated GRP boxes also makes it possible to efficiently exploit passive cooling techniques which require no electricity and have no moving parts - also making them suitable for deployment in hazardous areas. A tank of water plus a heat exchanger utilize the coolness of the night to moderate interior temperature during the day.
Intertec has designed passive cooling systems for smaller-sized cabinets and enclosures. These include a passive cooling system with a heat exchanger that doubles as a sunshade. The performance of the passive cooler can also be boosted by a small active element – such as a water cooler. Intertec can fabricate passively cooled field protection systems like this in enclosure and box sizes down to around 40 liters in volume.
