A Buyer's Guide to Designing and Specifying a Walk-In Chamber.

The choice between modular and welded construction for your walk-in environmental chambers depends on your specific performance needs and long-term plans. Modular construction uses prefabricated insulated panels that are mechanically locked together. This is the most common and versatile method, offering a good balance of performance and cost. Its key advantage is flexibility; a modular chamber can be expanded, downsized, or even relocated in the future. Welded construction features a continuously welded, vapor-proof stainless steel interior liner. This method provides the highest level of performance and durability, and it is the required choice for extreme conditions such as very high humidity, rapid temperature cycling, or altitude simulation where a perfect seal is critical to prevent moisture intrusion or air leaks. WBE's experts can help you analyze this trade-off to select the right construction for your walk-in environmental chambers.

Testing large, high-voltage electric vehicle (EV) battery packs in a walk-in environmental chambers requires a specialized focus on safety. A catastrophic battery failure could lead to thermal runaway, fire, and the release of hazardous gases. WBE designs our battery testing chambers with a multi-tiered safety protocol to mitigate these risks. This can include an inert gas fire suppression system (using N2 or CO2), rapid ventilation and purging systems, and gas detectors to monitor for electrolytes or hydrogen. The chamber construction can be reinforced to withstand potential energetic events. We also integrate with the battery management system (BMS) and the facility's safety interlocks, allowing for an automatic shutdown of the test and the chamber in an emergency. These specialized safety features are essential for the safe and effective validation of EV battery technology in a walk-in environmental chambers.

The installation of a walk-in environmental chambers is a major undertaking that requires significant facility planning well in advance. You must first ensure you have a suitable location with a strong, level concrete floor capable of supporting the chamber and product weight, which can be many tons. The chamber's powerful conditioning systems require a high-capacity, three-phase electrical service, often several hundred amps. A process water loop or cooling tower connection is typically needed for the refrigeration system's heat rejection. The ceiling height of your building must be sufficient to accommodate the chamber and any top-mounted equipment. Finally, you need to plan a clear path from your building's receiving dock to the final installation site that is wide and tall enough for the chamber components to pass through. WBE provides detailed site preparation drawings and works with your facilities team to ensure a smooth installation of your walk-in environmental chambers.

Performing environmental tests on a full, operational vehicle in a walk-in environmental chambers presents unique challenges. The first is the massive thermal load. A running vehicle generates a significant amount of its own heat, and the chamber's conditioning system must be powerful enough to overcome this and maintain the desired setpoint. The second challenge is managing exhaust fumes. A specialized exhaust extraction system must be integrated with the chamber to safely vent the vehicle's emissions to the outside. Third, the chamber floor must be heavily reinforced to handle the vehicle's point loads from the tires and be equipped with a dynamometer for certain tests. WBE addresses these challenges by engineering our drive-in chambers with oversized cooling systems, integrated exhaust ventilation, and dynamometer-ready floor structures, providing a complete and safe solution for full-vehicle testing in a walk-in environmental chambers.