Limiting noise emissions is a key factor for the successful integration of an industrial site into its environment, especially when it comes to gas and chemical industry facilties.
In a production unit for industrial gases such as oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen or carbon monoxide for the manufacture of chemicals, pressurized fluids are transported by pipelines and sometimes stored in on-site units.
In some contexts, the processes involved require the release to the atmosphere, in a short or extended time, of quantities of gas that are sometimes large, e.g. downstream of control valves, which are devices for controlling the gas flow in a network.
As a result, noise emission (linked to turbulence and shock phenomenon) is produced downstream, which is likely to cause auditory trauma for workers acting in the vicinity and a discomfort in the neighborhood even if the property limits are at a great distance from the discharge point located within the limits of the industrial site.
Indeed, the emitted sound power level often exceeds 140 dB(A), which is considerable.
In order to comply with imposed noise levels within the production unit, at its limits and beyond (outside), it is necessary to provide special industrial soundproofing devices, which must be dimensioned taking account not only of acoustic considerations but also of the discharge parameters of the considered network.
ITS participated in a project (for a chemical plant in Central Asia) in connection with the supply of industrial silencers for the depressurization of gases: on the one hand of air and nitrogen (for one of the silencers), and on the other hand of oxygen (for another silencer), which requires special precautions when selecting the filling material of the soundproofing devices, with respect to the risks of combustion and therefore of fire, in high-risk zones.
Careful design and flawless manufacturing were therefore required on the occasion of such a noise emission limitation project, as often in such cases.
The contribution of ITS to this project included the determination of the aerodynamic noise emitted by several control valves and the dimensioning (in terms of acoustics and aerodynamics) of soundproofing devices capable of allowing the passage of fluids while opposing the noise transmission.
Equipped with industrial silencers being efficient and built to last, the depressurization vents concerned will have a controlled acoustic impact on their environment, as it should be in and around any production site.