We stay cool

Drive controllers such as the COMBIVERT S6 or F6 from KEB can be found in control cabinets all over the world. They handle challenging drive tasks so that machines and systems can call up their maximum efficiency. The drive controllers keep a “cool head” at all times thanks to modern, technical solutions: With air, liquid or oil cooling, KEB offers three different cooling technologies that make the drives highly scalable and allow them to be used in different applications without any problems.

Behind the inverters with liquid cooling, which are already in their third generation at KEB, there are around 25 years of experience. Cooling by means of liquid is particularly efficient and increases the service life of the frequency inverter, as it can be operated cooler and more evenly. The stainless steel pipes through which the cooling liquid flows are corrosion-resistant and robust against corrosion from pitting - this ensures higher availability of the drive controllers and ultimately also that of the system or machine. The option of mounting braking resistors on the liquid cooling also reduces the wiring effort and creates a cooling solution that is both efficient and space-saving.

With air or oil cooling, there are further options for reliably ensuring the ideal temperature of the drive controller for operation. If oil is available on a machine, for example, it can be used for cooling through the specially designed heat sinks. Meanwhile, air cooling, which is established as the standard, is characterised by the fact that it is possible for the user to change the fans themselves if necessary.

Not only the cooling variants, but also the type of installation allow machine and system operators a high degree of flexibility when using KEB drive controllers. In addition to control cabinet installation, which corresponds to IP protection class 20, liquid, air and oil cooling can also be realised in a through-hole version.

The heat sink is inserted through the rear wall of the control cabinet and meets the requirements of IP protection class 54 on the outside. This results in various advantages: Around 80 percent of the power loss of the drive controller takes place outside the actual enclosure. This means that less waste heat remains in the control cabinet, which could have a negative impact on the components installed there, and the cabinet can be designed smaller from the outset. This creates space and noticeably reduces costs.

The range of different cooling options is rounded off by the coolant management system, which is available depending on the enclosure size. This allows the amount of cooling liquid can be controlled as needed. For example, short-circuits resulting from condensation, which pose a danger to the inverter, can be prevented at an early stage.