Power Efficiency in a Marine Environment

Control Cabinet Cooling:

An engineer, tasked with upgrading a dozen control cabinets on sea-faring vessels, contacted TECA for advice. Although the cooling need was not large, there were many other challenges to the project. TECA’s customer needed a truly robust cooler; something that could be exposed to vibrations, high ambient temperatures of 60degC, and salt spray from the ocean. Furthermore, power efficiency was a must. TECA’s thermoelectric coolers have the highest power efficiency ratings in the industry. TECA Model AHP-590XMHC was able to meet every single requirement.

Control Cabinet Cooling TECA Model AHP-590XMHCLike all TECA “XM” units, the AHP-590XMHC has military-grade fans on both the internal and external sides. Providing protection against salt spray (Mil-Std 810 Corrosion), TECA’s “XM” units also have full protection from exposure to shock and vibration. TECA’s unique ECO-Mode temperature controller feature limits the amount of time the cooler needs to be actively cooling. Utilizing passive cooling in lower demand times draws 95% less current. During high demand times, the active cooling function of the AHP-590XMHC draws 32% less current than its closest competitor on the market.

TECA Model AHP-590XMHC

Contact TECA today for friendly & knowledgeable guidance. We look forward to helping your project succeed! Ph: 773-342-4900 E: teca@thermoelectric.com

sea-faring vessels  marine environment 

Thermoelectric Cooling for TACAN (Tactical Air Navigation) System

TACAN (Tactical Air Navigation) System uses Thermoelectric Cooling:

Thermoelectric Cooling for TACAN (Tactical Air Navigation) System     thermoelectric panel coolers

TACAN is a radio system which can provide aircrew with navigation and bearing information. A market leader in military solutions uses TECA Model AHP-1800XHC as a standard component to provide cooling to their mobile TACAN system. AHP-1800XHC is well designed for this type of application. For reliable performance under harsh conditions, we use military-grade sealed fans and components on the hot side (external to enclosure). The AHP-1800XHC heats and cools as needed without maintenance or repair down time. This has been crucial for our customer, who markets their mobile TACAN system as self-sufficient.

TECA has been designing and manufacturing for harsh military environments for decades. Contact us to discuss your our solutions for NEMA-4X/Harsh Environment and Shock & Vibration.

teca@thermoelectric.com
https://www.thermoelectric.com/air-conditioners/250-500-watts/ahp-1800-series/

COMMUNICATIONS

Communications, Cooling Battery Bank:

communications communications

 

Maintain the temperature of a battery bank in a Class 1 Division 2 explosion proof environment to power portable communications equipment. A special purpose vehicle manufacturer needed to maintain the temperature of a bank of batteries to maintain maximum performance.

With our recommendation, the customer selected the TECA Model AHP-1800XP, because it is the only NEMA4X air conditioner available off-the-shelf, which is also certified for C1D2 use. The power source was able to meet the requirement of operation in a Class 1 Division 2 explosion proof environment, to support portable communications systems at car racing venues.

MILITARY

Military Application:

military

The 2.4 Meter Mobile SATCOM Tactical Terminal (MSTT) is a lightweight, stand alone, trailer-mounted tri-band SATCOM terminal available to support worldwide, quick deployment satellite communications through military and commercial satellites.

It also uses a customized version of the solid state air conditioner AHP-1801X. It was designed and qualified for worldwide operation in tactical military environments.

Cooling Variable Frequency Drives

Steel Mill Enclosure Cooling:

A major steel company has multiple equipment enclosures, housing 4 variable frequency drives (VFD) each, to control their industrial cranes. The high temperature in the steel mill was causing excessive shutdowns. Compressor-based air conditioners could not survive the electrical enclosures’ harsh ambient environment on the overhead cranes. The only input power available was a widely varying 250 VDC, which complicated things. TECA successfully and affordably customized a flush-mounted (external to enclosure) thermoelectric air conditioner to meet the customer’s needs.

Cooling Variable Frequency Drives   Steel Mill Enclosure Cooling

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PORTABLE SECURITY EQUIPMENT

Portable Security Equipment:

portable security equipment portable security equipment

 

Site monitor and security equipment for oil fields and transfer stations needed more security. A portable enclosure housing cameras, WI-FI access, antennas and a Mac Mini computer inside leveraging the Mac platform to provide virtually instant access, hi speed, via “Wild Blue”. The system will be like a watchdog that they can strap on wherever they need the monitoring.

With a slight modification an AHP-1200XE thermoelectric cooler provided the best solution while keeping the NEMA-4 rating of the enclosure.

RUGGEDIZED MILITARY APPLICATION

Ruggedized Military Application:

ruggedized military application

Sometimes it just takes a long time to get to the heart of a problem. AHP-1200X “quick quote” for two thermoelectric air conditioners came into our sales team. It was responded to and followed up. The application was reviewed, a quote was made and an order placed.

Only after did we learn that the hard requirements they were looking for were:

  1. Dual adjustable temperature control (heat and cool)
  2.  28 VDC operation and
  3. Military environment.

Fortunately the selections within TECA’s enclosure air conditioner family are large. The military Contractor borrowed a unit from TECA’s loaner stock and based on that success, placed an order. It was then that we found a problem.

It seems that the application was to cool some sensitive electronics out on a 200 meter DC input which caused droop in the input which in turn caused a ringing in the circuits. The new digital monitors being used were susceptible while the older tube monitors had no issue.

Working with the customer it was determined that by changing the controller to a ruggedized PWM controller all problems were solved.

MILITARY COMMUNICATIONS

Military Communications:

military communications

A branch of the US military had a need for cooling a small enclosure containing a critical voice communication system. The shipboard system had to be resistant to salt water corrosion as well as pass stringent shock and vibration testing.

Modifications to TECAs AHP-300X solid air conditioner allowed the unit to meet specializing and air flow requirements and pass these tests. The challenge was to overcome the small available space both inside and outside the enclosure. The heat sinks were turned so that the heat rejection air flow and internal cold side air flow moved in different directions.

This unit is a prime example of how flexible Team TECA is when customer needs require customization of standard products.

NUCLEAR PLANT

Nuclear Plant:

nuclear plant

To cool equipment used for quality control inspection of pipes in nuclear energy plants. Evaluating the condition of pipes in nuclear power plants can be time consuming and costly. Automated and remote guided methods are available. Much of the electronics for the job must be rugged and durable, capable of handling many environmental conditions.

TECA designed, tested and built a system around standard portable cases. The unit shown is the prototype of the production unit, built into the top of a transportation case. Doing the design and prototype work of this nature often leads to happy customers and production jobs for TECA, as it did in this case!

AVIONICS MAINTENANCE

Avionics Maintenance:

avionics maintenance

 

The task was to create a portable cooling system for diagnostic equipment to allow troubleshooting of avionics systems while still installed. Troubleshooting and diagnosing avionics problems is hard enough on the bench.

To save valuable time, technicians would rather get it done while the electronics are still in the aircraft. Also, under harsh environments, it is difficult to keep cutting edge electronics functioning the way they should. When it came to the type of portable cooling for the diagnostic equipment required for these jobs; a navy contractor came to TECA for the solution.

We helped design and build the solution shown in its prototype form around the portable enclosure. TECA completed the project on a tight schedule, which called for teamwork and attention to detail.

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