Sound attenuation of an industrial site is a necessity that stems from the fact that industrial processes (whether production or transformation) are, most of the time, noisy and that populations must be protected ; it thus meets several objectives which often add up:
- on the one hand, it is a question of preserving the hearing of workers: the production operators and the maintenance technicians of the site hosting the noisy industrial processes must be protected from too high noise exposure levels which would be of a nature to damage, sometimes irreversibly, their hearing; regulatory limits exist in terms of noise levels - in France as in the rest of Europe: set by Directive 2003/10/EC -
- on the other hand, it is a question of maintaining the tranquility of the neighbors, close or more distant from the industrial site (a fortiori if they are at a higher altitude due to the relief or/and due to the height of their dwelling): the noise impact must be limited for them; regulatory limits exist in terms of noise levels - in France: in relation to the Public Health Code, in particular based on the concept of emergence i.e. on the difference between the equivalent A-weighted continuous pressure levels of ambient noise (industrial site in operation) and residual noise (in the absence of noise generated by the industrial site, but measured over the period of operation of the industrial site) -
This is why the sound attenuation of an industrial site requires the design and installation of industrial soundproofing means which must be adapted to the context of each project:
- in terms of acoustics: spatial distribution, sound power level and directivity of the different noise sources (e.g. machines, building envelope elements, ventilation openings, suction or discharge orifices and walls of pipe networks) depending on frequency, sound propagation conditions, locations at which maximum sound levels are specified, residual noise levels
- with respect to other technical constraints of all kinds (e.g. space available for the implementation of soundproofing equipment and acceptability of drawbacks possibly resulting from their implementation, resistance to weathering and to other natural risks )
- according to the ambition prevailing when setting the objectives
- taking into account budgetary considerations
ITS participated in the sound attenuation of an industrial site in East Asia.
It was a question of limiting the noise impact of a combustion turbine (with a power close to 400 MW and intended for the production of electrical energy), by means of soundproofed buildings, sheltering the main noise source that constituted the turbine and various associated auxiliary equipment, the limitation of the propagation of the noise of some other equipment whose noise emissions were significant having moreover required anti-noise walls.
Realized in record time, this project aiming at the sound attenuation of an industrial site was an opportunity for ITS and its commercial partners to face technological, regulatory and administrative problems of all kinds which increased, a little more, the amount of knowledge inherent in the conduct of projects of this nature in the energy sector since several decades.