With the rapid changes to technology and critical equipment, having effective cooling solutions is a higher priority than ever for businesses. To rise to these challenges, we have a range of cooling solutions for many different applications and industries.
We provide various climate control options, from fan-and-filter units to sophisticated liquid cooling systems. These solutions are designed to seamlessly integrate with the Rittal enclosure ranges. Whether you need a large enclosure with powerful climate control or a smaller solution for a wall-mounted enclosure in a food and beverage production line, we will guide you to the right solution for your environment that guarantees optimal temperature control.
Although climate control systems consume energy, don’t let that fool you into thinking they will impact you negatively. The benefits provided outweigh the running cost and can be considered to pay for themselves across their lifetime. Without correct climate control maintaining a comfortable operating temperature for your electrical equipment, it will be exposed to increased temperatures which will negatively impact the lifespan, performance and reliability of your installation and the wider application within your business.
The costs of an unexpected breakdown can quickly spiral out of control and take time to rectify, causing damage not only to your installed equipment, but your reputation with your customers and the wider manufacturing process. Most or all of this risk can be mitigated by choosing the correct climate control solution.
Additionally, Rittal is the market leader and thus our technology focuses on improving energy efficiency whilst maintaining performance. As companies are targeting an annual reduction of their energy emissions, implementing the newest climate control technology can support businesses to achieve this goal.
There are three main categories of our climate control solutions: air cooling, active cooling and liquid cooling.
Air cooling is perhaps the option that immediately springs to mind as a basic version of climate control. Fan-and-filter units are ideal measures for dissipating smaller heat loads in a cost-effective way. While the ambient air must be relatively clean with stable temperatures to consider this solution, these units are a great versatile option for those with more controlled environments.
As with any cooling solution, the most important factor is choosing the right sized product for your application.Calculating your thermal load is a great way to inform your decision. Your thermal load is the amount of heat being generated by equipment inside your enclosure which needs to be removed to maintain a comfortable environment. Rittal has a free online calculator called RiTherm which will do this work for you by inputting some simple details.
Additionally, with the evolution to Industry 4.0, air cooling has seen great developments in filter fan technology that have improved monitoring capabilities and efficiency. Their benefits should not be underestimated.
Also included in our air cooling category is the roof-mounted range. The new generation of our roof-mounted fans features air routing with minimal pressure losses, maintaining a high level of efficiency. The innovative clamping attachment supports a high protection category of IP54, so you can rest assured that everything is running smoothly.
Other more niche options like our rack-mounted fans and air-air heat exchangers are listed within our Air Cooling Catalogue.
Active cooling is a solution which covers the family of products known as cooling units. These are products which include a refrigerant circuit. This circuit allows the internal temperature inside the enclosure to remain comfortable for the electrical equipment, even though the ambient temperature of the factory may be elevated, such as during hot processes or from the higher temperatures throughout summer. Consequently, this means the amount of heat load we can manage with active cooling is higher than that of an air cooling solution.
Cooling units also have an advantage over filter fans since they do not allow a constant stream of new and possibly dirty air to enter the enclosure. Once the cooling unit is installed and the enclosure door is shut, the unit continuously recycles the pocket of air within the enclosure. This measure greatly reduces the amount of contamination within the enclosure which can be harmful to your equipment.
Our headline product is the Blue e+ range. These are our market leading and most technologically advanced units, designed to reduce energy consumption while maintaining performance and protection of your valuable and sensitive electrical components. The internal array of sensors is constantly monitoring the environment and modifying the cooling output to ensure a stable environment is maintained whilst remaining balanced with reduced energy consumption.
There are many active cooling options available.‘Wall-mounted’ can be installed on the side wall or door of your enclosure, and ‘roof-mounted’ can be placed on the roof plate. Roof-mounted units are especially useful if your enclosure door is obstructed due to safety interlocks or screens for monitoring. This style of unit is very versatile as it is available in a range of output sizes which allows you to choose the right solution to suit your specific install location and application.
Liquid cooling is a solution that can be used in situations where a high cooling load is required or there is a high level of contamination within the environment. This might be within industries like steel foundries or quarries.
For those tougher environments, the air-water heat exchangers are the perfect solution. These wall-mounted units offer convenient mounting options with flexible water connection points.They are supplied with a constant flow of chilled water (delivered from a chiller) which allows the air within the enclosure to be cooled lower than that in the ambient and maintain a comfortable operating environment for the installed equipment.
Also within this range, we have the hygienic design variants which are better suited for hygiene-critical environments like food and beverage production zones. Their cleaning-friendly design reduces the risk of contamination and adheres to food safety standards.
For more specialised cooling solutions like Chillers and IT Specific products, explore the full Liquid Cooling Range here.
RiAssure is a service which appraises your existing cooling solutions and provides you with clear and honest advice. We will suggest the most appropriate actions to improve or maintain the cooling efficiency of your installation.
How does it work?
A member of our team will visit your site to perform the free cooling review. This short visit will allow us to evaluate your pre-existing cooling solutions, whether that’s a climate-controlled server cabinet or a fan-filter unit, and we will provide actionable feedback based on our findings.
If required, a more advanced chargeable deep dive inspection can be performed in which we may take temperature measurements and other details so we can accurately outline the next steps to improve your on-site environment and eradicate any overheating issues.
The feedback will be given in a report format covering:
If you would like to find out more about RiAssure and our advanced inspections, please visit our Cooling Solutions Appraisal Service webpage.
To continue building upon the question of ‘What Does Rittal Do’, we have explored the cooling side of our company. The beauty of having a business that features both enclosure and cooling solutions means that the solutions are designed to integrate seamlessly with each other. Whether you are interested in fan-filter units, cooling units, liquid cooling systems, or the maintenance of your cooling solutions, we have something for you.
Want to hear more about what we do here at Rittal? Stay in the loop with our recurring blog series, ‘What Does Rittal Do’, where we will continue to explore all facets of our company.