March 2008

ThermoSafe Brands Introduces a Greener Packaging Solution

ThermoSafe Brands, a company focused on temperature assurance product solutions, has introduced the next generation of vacuum insulated shipping containers with the launch of ThermoSafe Insulated Shipper-VIP featuring NanoTherm. These ecologically responsible containers offer temperature assurance protection while providing a robust alternative to standard petroleum-based insulated containers. These new shippers are available in eight stock sizes to fit the temperature assurance needs of pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical customers and may be validated in packing configurations through ISC Labs.

Thermosafe Insulated Shipper-VIP featuring NanoTherm addresses corporate environmental initiatives by offering a non-petroleum based alternative to expanded polystyrene (EPS) or polyurethane (PUR) containers. The rugged NanoTherm insulating panels are reusable, recyclable and non-toxic. They contain no CFC’s or HFC’s. The well suited insulating properties allow for a significantly thinner-walled container, which reduces the overall container size, minimizes the refrigerant required in each package and simplifies the pack out configurations. The packages have smaller shipping dimensions and weigh less, thus reducing the energy to transport and the overall out-of-the-door cost of the customers' product. The thermal performance of the containers also allows customers to extend shipping times (ground vs. overnight) while ensuring the efficacy of valuable products.

Moore Industries Introduces HTZ Smart HART Humidity and Temperature Transmitter

The HTZ Smart HART Humidity and Temperature Transmitter from Moore Industries simultaneously measures temperature and humidity in processes that require extremely close monitoring of humidity, temperature and dewpoint. This includes clean rooms, assembly areas and storage facilities in the pharmaceutical, semiconductor, food processing, biotechnology and similar industries. HART communications allows the unit to be programmed or queried from any point along one of the transmitter’s dual 4-20 mA loops.

The loop-powered (two-wire) HTZ provides exceptional measurement accuracy for humidity, temperature and dewpoint in a single instrument, which eliminates the cost of using multiple transmitters. Accuracy of the relative humidity measurements is up to ±0.75 percent RH, the temperature measurements is up to ±0.036°C, and the dewpoint calculation is within ±0.5°C.

The HTZ incorporates a sensor module that consists of two parallel probes, one containing a capacitance-based humidity sensor and the other containing a highly-accurate temperature sensor. The sensor module can be mounted on any surface or pipe, such as an HVAC duct or a clean room wall. Either probe can be removed for easy cleaning, calibration or replacement. The HTZ also incorporates a humidity and temperature display module that can be mounted up to 30 feet away from the sensor module. The display module provides power to the sensor probes and produces two 4-20 mA output signals. Each output can be programmed to represent relative humidity, temperature or dewpoint. The display can be programmed to show humidity, temperature, dewpoint, analog output No. 1, analog output No. 2 or scroll between the values.

New Military-Approved Controllers from DegreeC

Degree Controls, Inc. (DegreeC) has released a new line of military-approved thermal controllers for electronics applications. Ruggedized for high-reliability, mission-critical military applications, the new line of fully-configurable, standard controllers offers military contract manufacturers increased reliability and reduced time-to-market. 

With more than a decade of experience in designing custom heat sinks, controllers and fan tray assemblies for military and other mission-critical applications, DegreeC has leveraged the company’s expertise to provide military electronics manufacturers peace of mind in the thermal design of their next electronic product. DegreeC’s CAGE Code is 45R61, and the company is ITAR registered.

DegreeC’s standard military controller line is designed to meet both Mil-STD-461 (EMI/EMC) and Mil-STD 810F (Environmental/Physical) testing requirements. These intelligent and ruggedized fan controllers leverage the company’s proprietary software allowing for programmable alarm thresholds and fan curves. The on-board microcontroller controls or monitors fan speeds, communicates with host through serial interfaces, measures temperatures, detects filter blockages and reports alarms.   

In addition to their thermal control products offering, DegreeC offers a full line of airflow sensors, switches, and instrumentation devices appropriate for use in military products. The company also features robust test and analysis services for military electronics devices, including HASS, HALT, ESS, MTBF, MIL-STD-1629, MIL-HBK-217F, EMC/I, and safety testing.

“Improper thermal management in an electronics device can have dire consequences in military applications,” says DegreeC president and CEO Rajesh Nair. “DegreeC is pleased to be able to do our part to help our brave men and women in the armed services stay safe.”

Low Viscosity Silicone Potting Compound Assures Complete Fill-In

Master Bond has introduced an optically clear two-component silicone compound called Master Bond MasterSil 151. Its low viscosity assures complete fill-in around complicated contours. This Flexible and rigid silicone adhesive resists vibration, shock and thermal cycling. Service operating temperature has a range of -54°C to 205°C.

Selco’s New T60 Encapsulated Thermostat Offers OEM’s Reliable, Low Cost Solution for Damp Environments

Selco Products Company has introduced the new T60 Encapsulated Thermostat for manufacturers requiring a reliable thermostat in wet or damp environments. Featuring an all-plastic sealed housing that eliminates corrosion and prevents water damage, the T60 offers users a smaller package, lower cost and longer life than competitive models. Suitable applications for the T60 temperature controller include refrigeration defrost control, heat pumps and HVAC applications.

Selco’s T60 is an automatic reset thermostat featuring a factory calibrated fixed bi-metal disc mounted adjacent to the monitored surface. It provides a rapid response to temperature changes and is built to open or close on rise at the desired set point. The T60 quickly adapts to 5/16-inch or 3/8-inch tubing with or without clip. A clip can be provided to hold the sensing element firmly against the surface. Its compact size allows placement into applications with tight space restrictions. The combination of sealed construction and rugged contacts provide OEMs with reliable control and a long service life.

First Full-Day Workshop Scheduled for Thermal Management and Technology Symposium 2008

Air: The Ultimate Heat Sink, taught by Tony Kordyban, author, will be from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sept. 24 at theHyatt Regency Austin in Austin Texas. This workshop will teach attendees about how to design and implement efficient air cooling solutions for electronics systems. The course will cover the following topics:

• Air – the Ultimate Heat Sink
• Five minutes of Heat Transfer Theory
• What is air? The perfect insulator and ideal heat transfer fluid at the same time?
  Starting in the middle: Understanding your cooling requirements.
• Selecting the right air cooling scheme with hand calculations:
     - The sealed box
     - Natural convection
• Selecting the right air cooling scheme with hand calculations:
     - Forced convection (the secrets of fans)
     - Radiation – the other air cooling
     - Assisted cooling – heat exchangers and air conditioning
• No Doghouses! – integrating the cooling into the system
• Computational Fluid Dynamics – when you need to estimate your cooling to 12 significant digits
• What happens at higher altitude? Nobody seems to know for sure.
• Testing and My Favorite Test Lab Mistakes
• The limits of air cooling – when to give up and call in the plumbers
Tony Kordyban spent 25 years engineering cooling solutions in the power, telecom and military electronics industries, and has written about it in Hot Air Rises and Heat Sinks: Everything You Know About Cooling
Electronics Is Wrong.

Thermal Management and Technology Symposium 2008, is an inaugural annual event organized by THERMAL News Magazine. The two-day conference, on Sept. 25-26 at the Hyatt Regency Austin, will focus on the latest advancements in thermal technology for product design, system development and process management.

Workshops and boot camps will be held Sept. 24th. If you are involved in electronics, semiconductor, manufacturing, process industries, food, healthcare, R&D or temperature control industries, this is a must attend event!

Abstracts for presentations are due April 4. Please e-mail abstracts to Joanna Larez. Click here for more information about what to include in your abstract.

Contact Jeremy Fleming about sponsorship/exhibitor information.

BAE Systems Receives $130 Million U.S. Army Order for Thermal Weapon Sights

BAE Systems has been awarded a $130 million US Army order for production of thermal weapon sights. The order is the second award under a five-year indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract, and increases the total contract value to more than $313 million. It also increases BAE Systems’ monthly deliveries to 3,000 units per month starting in 2009.

The Army’s Program Executive Office Soldier at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, is the contracting authority.

BAE Systems has delivered more than 20,000 thermal weapon sights to date under a separate five-year, $295 million contract administered by the Army’s Communications-Electronics Command at Fort Monmouth, N.J. Final deliveries will be completed in 2008, more than 15 months ahead of the original contract schedule.
 
“These advanced thermal weapon sights give our soldiers a tactical advantage on today’s battlefield by significantly improving situational awareness, lethality and survivability,” said Bruce Zukauskas, director of thermal weapon sight programs for BAE Systems. “The individual soldier now has a 24/7 day-and-night capability to detect, identify and engage targets at increased ranges under adverse conditions.”

BAE Systems’ microbolometer thermal imaging technology allows soldiers to see deep into the battlefield during day and night, through smoke, fog and other obscurants. The sights are used on rifles, machine guns and mounted weapon systems to significantly improve surveillance and target acquisition capabilities.

Flame Seal Products, Inc. Signs Sales and Distribution Agreements with Specialty Products, Inc. for Flame Seal’s New Thermal Barrier Coating for Foam Materials

Flame Seal Products, Inc. has signed agreements with its new strategic partner in the Spray Applied Polyurethane Foam market, Specialty Products, Inc. (SPI). The agreement contains mutual covenants and guarantees for both parties whereby Flame Seal will immediately acquire full certification for its new product through Intertek Laboratories, Warnock-Hersey and International Code Council Evaluation Service (ICC-ES), and immediately upon completion of same, SPI will exclusively market, sell and distribute Flame Seal’s Intumescent Coating to its customers, as well as to the entire US market. The size of the basic US market that immediately applies to this application is estimated at $22 Million.

SPI and Flame Seal have been working together for two years on R&D for both companies, as well as SPI’s government and military projects. The relationship that has developed between these companies has made this a logical strategic step that will greatly benefit both organizations.

Future Lighting Solutions Offers the Industry's First Thermal Simulation Software for High-Power LEDs that Accelerates Development and Decreases Costs

Future Lighting Solutions and Qfinsoft have released QLED, the first thermal design software developed for the solid state lighting industry. QLED minimizes the number of design cycles, reduces development costs and decreases time to market by eliminating the traditional trial-and-error approach to thermal design. The software guides users through step-by-step design wizards to select, place and simulate power LEDs mounted on FR-4 boards or MCPCBs. Additionally, users can seamlessly integrate thermal vias, heat sinks and fans to generate the most accurate transient or steady state thermal simulations

“In addition to generating extremely precise thermal simulation results, QLED also calculates the expected luminous flux produced by the LED,” said Jan Visser, president of Qfinsoft Technology, Inc. “QLED can also be used to simulate slow and fast transients as well as automatically improve designs by using a highly efficient mathematical optimization algorithm.”

IceBank Ice Storage System Provides Alternative to Traditional Air Conditioning Systems

Traditional air conditioning systems are the single, largest consumers of electricity during summer, daytime hours. Customers faced with power shortages during those peak hours may succumb to brownouts or rolling blackouts and will purchase premium priced electricity. Commercial establishments that already need to cool large volumes of space invariably pay exorbitant utility fees not only because of the space they must cool, but also because of the large energy demands during working hours.

To encourage reduction of peak energy demand, utilities will charge their customers costlier “peak demand” rates for electricity consumed during these times. If these customers could somehow utilize the underused nighttime generated electricity to operate their building during the day, they would save significantly on their power costs.

Well they can. Storing nighttime energy to help operate buildings during peak day-time hours is the fundamental idea behind IceBank Ice Storage.

Ice Storage stores ice at night to cool facilities the following day. Electricity is conserved during periods of peak consumption by shifting some or all of the energy intensive cooling production to non-peak periods.
Traditional air conditioning systems must operate whenever the air conditioning system is on. Building owners thereby not only use a substantial amount of electricity, they incur expensive “peak demand” rates for that electricity.

On the other hand, IceBank Ice Storage is a much more efficient way to cool buildings. Like an “air-conditioning battery,” it charges at night: a glycol-water solution circulates through patented coil tubing to freeze water stored inside cylindrical insulated tanks. During the day, the ice discharges. The frozen water melts and circulates through the building’s ventilation pipes. Fans blow air past the cool water to cool occupants. Essentially, Ice Storage does for cooling what a domestic water heater does for hot water. Both are forms of Thermal Energy Storage, giving quick, convenient access to abundant stored energy when it’s needed.
Underwriters Laboratories of the Chicago metropolitan area had a new ice storage system installed in March of 2000. The system allowed Underwriters Laboratories to save on electrical rates especially on hot, humid days.
“The goals were reliability, flexibility, redundancy and energy savings,” said Tom Buchanan, facilities manager III. “So far, the system has met our expectations in all areas.”

“We are very happy with CALMAC and with the product they have delivered, it’s nearly maintenance free, all we have to do is check glycol levels,” Buchanan said.

CALMAC provided the thermal storage tanks, which are performing well. The new ice storage system replaced a first generation thermal storage cooling system that had been in use since 1985.

Energy Storage, whether cool or some other form, is integral to virtually every natural and man-made energy system. It’s how we make efficient use of our resources. For example, when you’re thirsty, you don’t have to wait for rain, but you rely on water that’s already stored in a reservoir. Similarly, there is food stored in your cupboard and fat stored on your body. Imagine how inefficient it would be if we still had to hunt or scavenge for food each time we become hungry. Yet this is the system we currently use to meet our nation’s air conditioning needs.

Lastly, Ice Storage helps building owners be more environmentally friendly. According to the Source Energy and Environmental Impact of Thermal Energy Storage report, energy that is generated at night is produced 8 to 34 percent more efficiently than energy produced during the day.

That means that significantly less source energy (coal, oil or nuclear fuel) is consumed in producing electricity at night. And, when electricity is produced more efficiently, it not only reduces our consumption of fuel, it also reduces greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere.

It stands to reason, therefore, that if more of our production of electricity were to be shifted to nighttime, it would lessen the impact of power generation on global warming.

In short, Ice Storage is the natural solution to the high-priced energy market, where demand for energy is skyrocketing. Ice Storage not only dramatically reduces the use of peak-period, high-cost energy, it can also reduce total energy usage by as much as 10 percent. These systems also reduce the size of the building’s required air- conditioning equipment including chillers, cooling towers, pumps and electrical service. For instance, with Ice Storage, a 100 ton chiller is able to do the job of a 200 ton chiller in a conventional system, adding up to significant capital and operating savings.

Register for the 2008 Magnetics Conference by April 4th and Save $200!
This two-day conference is a leading global event within the magnetics market, bringing together worldwide magnetics experts. This is a once-a-year opportunity for professionals in the magnetics market to assemble and discuss the latest magnetics developments.
The 2008 Magnetics Conference will focus on the latest advancements in magnetic applications, technology and materials. Serving OEM developers of products that utilize magnets and magnet systems, design engineers, OEM developers involved in EMC technology and magnetic effects, magnetics manufacturers and integrators, and material suppliers in the magnetics industry.
• Register by April 4, 2008 - $795   • Register after April 4, 2008 - $995
Attend the 2008 Magnetics Conference to see industry-leading companies such as:
Advanced Magnet Lab, Alliance LLC, AR, Big Horn Valve, Inc., CMS Magnetics, Crane Aerospace & Electronics, Daido Electronics Co., Ltd., Dexter Magnetic Technologies, Electron Energy Corp., GMW Associates, Hitachi Metals, Ltd., Infolytica Corp., Magnequench International, Inc., Magnetic Power, Inc., MAGSYS magnet systems, Metrolab Technology, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Ozenbaugh Engineering, PolarisREM, LLC, Quadrant Technology, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, SuperPower, Inc., TarnoTek, Vector Fields Ltd., Walter T. Benecki LLC, WebMagnetics, Inc., West Coast Magnetics
Register Now!

Webcom Presents Multiple Industries Patent Workshop
~ at the 2008 Magnetics Conference in Denver, Colo., May 14, 2008 ~

Intellectual Property Issues for New Product Development
May 14, 2008 (1 p.m. to 5 p.m.) - Beverages and Course Materials Provided

The workshop will start with an overview of the various types of intellectual property, including patents, trademark, copyrights, trade secrets, non-competes and publishing. It will feature a detailed discussion of patents, including type of patents, what is patentable, patent laws and rules, the patenting process and patent strategy. Also covered will be the integration of the patenting process with the new product development process and discussion of critical patent strategy issues. It will conclude with a practical training session for writing technical disclosures for patenting purposes.

For more details about what attendees can expect to learn from this workshop or for more information on the instructor click here.

• Register before April 4, 2008 - $395
• Register after April 4, 2008 - $495

Register Now!

March

16-19 International Institute of Ammonia Refrigeration 2008 Ammonia Refrigeration Conference & Exhibition, Colorado Springs, Colo.
16-20 Semi-Therm, San Jose, Calif.
17-20 International Microelectronics and Packaging Society (IMAPS) 4th International Conference and Exhibition on Device Packaging, Scottsdale/Fountain Hills, Ariz.
19-20 Globalcon 2008, Austin, Texas
19-20 Design & Manufacturing South, Charlotte, N.C.,
26-28 Interphex 2008, Philadelphia, Pa.

Meeting of The Electrochemical Society (ECS)
May 18-23
Phoenix, Ariz.

Register now for the 213th Meeting of The Electrochemical Society (ECS) to take place at the Phoenix Convention Center May 18th- 23rd. The program for the Phoenix meeting contains a full range of technical symposia, and is expected to attract over 1,500 scientists and engineers, from a broad range of private and public sector institutions. Technical symposia will include electrochemical and solid-state research ranging from batteries and fuel cells to semiconductors and everything in between. The advanced registration deadline is April 18, so don't delay.

http://www.electrochem.org/sponsorship/exhibits/213/exhibit_213.htm

For more information on advertising in the Thermal News E-Report,
contact Jeremy Fleming at 800-803-9488 x 121.

Submit editorial content to Joanna Larez at
800-803-9488 x 126.

To be removed from this distribution list please click here
To change the status of any contact information, call 720-528-3770.