Industrial Noise & Vibration
Industrial plants can contain hundreds of noise sources. Bringing them into compliance takes careful measurement, ranking of sources and a practical, staged program of controls.
Reviewing, measuring and assessing noise from industrial premises calls for a different set of skills and assessment concepts from noise control for commercial buildings and homes. Evaluating plants with hundreds of noise sources relies primarily on sound power measurements of individual sources and, in some cases, external spatial averaging around the plant perimeter in accordance with international standards.
Industrial noise assessment means identifying the sources, determining their contribution at residences and assessment points, and then designing effective controls to meet regulatory requirements for external noise emission, occupational exposure, or both.
Major noise reduction programs
The firm has been involved in some of the largest noise reduction programs in Australia. The program developed for the ICI petrochemical complex at Botany delivered progressive reductions over 20 years, including removal of entire plants and their replacement with new, quieter plants — in some cases among the quietest plants of their type in the world. Similar approaches addressed noise emission from the APM paper mill and the WD & HO Wills manufacturing plant nearby.
The ICI noise reduction program developed by our principal became the basis of chapter 10 of the NSW Industrial Noise Policy, which addresses existing plants and proposed upgrades.
Comparable noise-source identification and compliance programs have been implemented for the Manildra flour mill at Manildra and the Shoalhaven Starches plant at Bomaderry, NSW.
Capabilities
- Sound power level determination and source ranking
- Compliance testing against licence and consent conditions
- Noise control design for plant, buildings and silencers
- Machinery condition and occupational vibration assessment
- Construction noise and vibration impact assessment
- Infrasound and low-frequency noise from industrial facilities
These techniques draw on the full range of the firm’s instrumentation and the expertise developed over decades of industrial assessment and noise control.
Need an independent acoustic assessment or expert opinion?
Talk to Steven Cooper about your project, dispute or compliance question.