Large & Mobile Climate Chamber

Why this test matters 

For over 15 years, Sirris has helped companies validate how complete systems, machines, and installations perform under the world's most demanding climate conditions, from Arctic cold to desert heat. This is not accelerated ageing or material-level testing: it is full-scale, real-time validation of complete systems, exactly as they will operate in the field. Manufacturers of off-highway vehicles, wind turbines, energy and power transmission equipment, and aerospace and defence systems trust Sirris to de-risk deployment before committing to production or field rollout, with independent validation from an ISO 9001-certified organisation.

How the test works 

Sirris operates two large-scale climate testing facilities, each suited to a different deployment need.
 

1. Large climate chamber (unique in Europe) 

Located in the Port of Antwerp, this is the largest climatic test chamber in Europe. Complete industrial systems, heavy machinery, and full-scale assemblies are placed inside and exposed to precisely controlled combinations of temperature, humidity, solar load, and icing. Advanced sensors, data acquisition systems, and infrared thermal imaging continuously monitor the test object, revealing thermal, functional, and mechanical behaviour under conditions that are difficult to reproduce anywhere else.

Size: 

• 10.5 m length x 7 m width x 8 m height;
• optional extension to 16.5 m total length
• Load capacity: more than 150 tons;
• main entrance door 7 m x 7 m

Temperature:

• Temperature range: -60 °C to +60 °C, 
• precision ±1 K; 
• fast cool-down from +60 °C to -40 °C in 1 hour
• Cooling power: compensates 250 kW heat load at -20°C
• Cooling power: compensates 30 kW heat load at -60°C 

Humidity and additional test features

• Humidity: ±2% RH up to >95% RH
• Solar infrared heat simulation: up to 1120 W/m²
• Icing simulation via a 25-nozzle ice spray array, adjustable in angle and covering 22 to 30 m² per nozzle, producing rime, glazed, and mixed ice types; 
• suited to validating anti-icing and de-icing solutions, heat trace and heating strategies, functional coatings, and ice monitoring and detection technologies

2. Mobile climate chamber 

For large-scale or high-value systems that are fixed in place or difficult to transport, Sirris brings the test facility to you. The mobile chamber is a modular system, transported in five shipping containers and installed on site in about a week, enabling realistic large-scale climatic testing in the actual operational environment of the system.

• Chamber size: up to 20 m length x 7 m width x 9 m height
• Temperature range: -40 °C to +60 °C
• Suitable for cold-start behaviour and hot-climate validation, in the field

Typical applications for both facilities include off-highway vehicles (mining, construction, forestry, agricultural, defence), wind energy applications, energy and power transmission equipment, aerospace and radar applications, defence, and general industry.

What you learn from this test 

Large-scale and mobile climate chamber testing reveals how complete systems genuinely behave under extreme heat, cold, humidity, solar load, and icing, not simulated or scaled down, but at full size and under real operating conditions. Results expose seal failures, electrical malfunctions, mechanical weaknesses, and cold-start or overheating issues that only surface at system level. Companies use this data to validate designs, support certification, and demonstrate compliance before products are deployed in the field, whether that's an offshore wind farm, a mining site, or a defence operation.