An article about the application of our Quiet Fan technology (QFt) to reduce the noise from large fans feeding stacks in the power industry has been published in Power Engineering International. The journalist suggests that the widespread adoption of the technology in this industry could reduce both capital and running costs very substantially compared with conventional fan silencing techniques – i.e. traditional attenuators, acoustic lagging and enclosures.
He uses the example of the 50MW Schiller biomass power station in the USA (the largest station of its kind) where the massive 2 storey ID fan feeding the stack (shown below) was modified in only 12 hours (that’s not a misprint – just 12 hours from noisy to quiet) to reduce the fan noise by 10dB at fraction of the cost and with a much lower power consumption compared with the conventional fan noise attenuator previously fitted.
Doesn’t the term “Acoustic Shock” sound nasty? If you renamed it “unexpected somewhat louder headset noise than usual that is still at only a tiny fraction of the noise level that is deemed to cause hearing damage in industry”, it wouldn’t sound so bad.
We are presenting case studies at the joint HSE / IOA conference at Nottingham on 5th March that illustrate the cost savings and competitive advantages of both specifying and developing quiet plant and equipment.
If you play white noise to a group of people and tell them that the song “White Christmas” is hidden in the sound, about 30% of them will be convinced that they can hear it. The human mind is always looking for patterns – even when they aren’t there.
Have you noticed that the PPE manufacturers are rushing out new devices – “now with added less protection” – for lower levels of noise exposure and for the entertainment industry?
Noise is stressful and can damage your health – particularly if you show up at 3am to an all-night party asking them to turn the noise down… New evidence collected by the World Health Organisation indicates that c 3% of deaths from heart disease is attributable to long term exposure to environmental noise – mainly nighttime noise exposure, with 2% of the population suffering from severe sleep disturbance, 15% from serious annoyance and with additional significant effects on the learning abilities of children. As noise complaints in the UK have increased by a factor of 5 over 20 years, this indicates that the problem of LOUD NOISE is rapidly getting worse.
… as long as the “noise” is music. Thus spake Richard Littlejohn of the Daily Mail earlier this year – he’s a journalist, for some value of “journalist”. “Blessed is the man who, being ignorant, abstains from giving us worthy evidence of the fact” (with apologies to George Eliot). This journalistic licence is addictive, I feel better already…
Problem: an extract system fan drone creating a potential environmental noise problem.
Solution: aerodynamic engineering instead of silencers – in keeping with the Red Bull Technology ethos.
Reduce costs by rationalising and combining noise and HAV risk management.
Effective assessment and risk management of both Hand-Arm Vibration and noise soaks-up scarce resources, particularly in industries such as construction where plant is mobile and ever changing.
We have invested in the latest in-ear microphone technology to simplify noise assessments on personnel who wear helmets or other protective equipment that makes conventional noise assessment difficult. It can also be used to assess noise levels inside PPE to evaluate operator exposure against the Exposure Limit Value (ELV) of 87dB(A).
A good candidate for the most successful fan noise control project in history…
We have recently celebrated a hugely successful project for the Tata (Corus) steelmaker that has gained us the Rushlight Noise Abatement Award and saved Corus 7 figure sums.
The Rushlight Awards are a celebration and promotion of the leading organizations throughout UK and Ireland which have furthered environmental technology and innovation.
Potentially profitable noise control, avoid wasting resources on assessment and controlling the supply side…
These 3 articles published in the Health and Safety at Work magazine over the summer of 2009 provide pragmatic advice on making the risk management process as efficient and effective as possible. They will make you think – and you’ll probably change some of the things you do… You can download them below – let us know what you think.
Providing easy access to noise reduction Best Practice via the company intranet
We have been contracted to make our very extensive noise control database available on the intranet of a major international company with c 80 sites world-wide.
