When the environment is more demanding or there is a cooling media such as liquid already available, the AC drive cooling can also be optimized further. VACON 20 Cold Plate shares the control and power topology with the standard VACON 20 drive, but offers completely new possibilities for creating unique and efficient cooling solutions. AC drives are extremely energy efficient products; they do however, still generate some heat. The heat loss can sometimes limit the density of the machine design, especially if mounted in a sealed enclosure simply because there is no air circulation. VACON 20 Cold Plate design is based around a flat surface of the drive onto which the majority of the heat losses are concentrated. By attaching this surface to a cooling element, i.e. to the “cold plate”, the cooling of the drive can work even under the most demanding circumstances.
As the cooling is done through a clear cooling interface, it is possible to use different cooling media depending on the situation. By attaching the drive to a heat sink with large cooling ribs, a fully passively cooled drive is created. As an alternative, the drive can be mounted on a plate, which is cooled by liquid in order to create a liquid cooled drive solution. Other possible cooling media include different types of refrigerants or metal constructions with a high heat energy conducting mass.
If the heat transport from the drive is not handled through air circulation, but through the heat being conducted out of the enclosure through a flat metal surface, the sealing of the enclosure is no longer a factor that significantly affects the cooling performance. It is thus possible to create and install the drive enclosure in environments with high amounts of dust and moisture. VACON 20 has a unique form that is designed to allow slim and flat enclosure solutions that can be highly integrated in the machine construction to be created.
VACON 20 is designed for efficient volume manufacturing where every second in installation and configuration time counts. Easy access terminals, built-in DIN rail mounting and the MCA parameter copying tool which can clone settings without main power in the drive are all examples of features that help reduce start-up time.
VACON 20 Cold Plate utilizes the advanced control concept of VACON® 20 product family, offering full control performance and functionality. It also supports the built-in PLC functionality that allows the creation of applicationspecific software and solutions.
