NISE Fanless Industrial Computer Systems are Panel Beaters

Within its Holywell based production facility, Kingspan Insulated Panels Ltd, utilize lines of cutting saw machinery to form its innovative wall cladding systems. The manufacture of these enormous panels’ inevitably generates dust particles which are emitted into the factory environment. The problem for Kingspan was that the dust from the production process would ingress into their factory based PC’s causing the systems to become unreliable and ultimately fail.

Since Kingspan’s production process is controlled via PC and PLC technology, PC downtime had a detrimental impact on the overall efficiency and productivity; it therefore became apparent that the company needed to source a new range of high-performance PC’s which could operate in harsh, dust filled environments. It is at this point that Kingspan spoke to leading Industrial PC manufacturer, Nexcom.

Application Requirements:
Computer systems which are equipped with CPU cooling fans, often fail in dusty environments. The reason for this is that the CPU Fan will become blocked with dust, causing the CPU to overheat and the system to break down. To solve this problem, Kingspan needed a high-performance Dual Core PC which could operate without a CPU cooling fan. In addition, Kingspan also wanted a PC which was designed specifically for use in Industrial environments, and therefore offered improved reliability in comparison with commercial PC systems. Finally, Kingspan wanted a system with a multitude of I/O options and PCI interfaces for increased flexibility.


Nexcom Product Solutions:
In response to these application requirements Nexcom provided a smart solution in the form of the NISE 3110P2 Fanless Industrial Computer System with Core Duo (T2500) CPU. Housed in sealed aluminum chassis which acts as a giant heat sink, NISE 3110P2 is totally fanless and is therefore suitable for operation in even dusty environments.
Unlike a commercial Grade PC, NISE 3110P2 is constructed from only the finest industrial grade components giving it superb reliability and long term product support.

The platform’s powerful Intel based Core Duo CPU gave Kingspan the computing power they required to perform various operations and run SCADA software. In addition, the Ethernet LAN ports enabled the NISE 3110P2 to communicate with a PLC.

Initially the NISE 3110P2 Systems were installed on production lines in Kingspan’s Holywell (North Wales, UK) based manufacturing facility, but have subsequently been installed in various other sites in North Yorkshire (UK), Dublin (Ireland) and Australia

Key features of the Nexcom Solution:
 High performance computing system with Core Duo CPU.
 A fanless aluminum chassis which is ideal for operation in dusty environments.
 Industrial grade system increases reliability and maintenance costs.
 Dual PCI expansion

Pete Burns from Kingspan said “Nexcom offered a proven fanless solution which met all of Kingspan’s exact requirements. In addition, we were impressed by the levels of service provided by Nexcom’s UK based sales and technical support team”.