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PETROLEUM SOCIETY OF CIM PAPER NO. CIM 92-84

THIS IS A PREPRINT - SUBJECT TO CORRECTION

Gas Plant
Environmental Noise
By
N.C. Hircock
Amoco Cana.da Pstrolewn ComP91Y Urnlted

RIGHTS RESERVED
THIS PAPER IS TO BE PRESENTED AT THE CIM 1992 ANNUAL TECHNICAL CONFERENCE IN CALGARY, JUNE 7-10,
1992. DISCUSSION OF THIS PAPER IS INVITED. SUCH DISCUSSION MAY BE PRESENTED AT THE TECHNICAL MEETING
" AND WILL BE CONSIDERED FOR PUBLICATION IN CIM JOURNALS IF FILED IN WRITING WITH THE TECHNICAL
" , PROGRAM CHAIRMAN PRIOR TO THE CONCLUSION OF THE MEETING.

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84-1
 List of Contents Example. if asked to reduce your plant noise from 50dB
to 47dB you are being asked to half It (not reduce by
6%!).
I. Noise and NOlse Propagation
2. The Noise Producers The next measurement to understand is the 'A' weighted
- Engines or dBA scale. This is commonly used in aural or
- Compressors nuisance environmental acoustics and consists of a
- Expanders & Turblnes table or graph of corrections to the dB scale to
- Aerial Coolers account for the human earls insensitivity to very low
- Piping and very high frequencies. Figure 3 illustrates the
- Flares corrections. [n effect. for example, if the human ear
3. Tonal Characteristics hears 73dB in the 125HZ frequency It is percetved just
4. Attenuation Techniques as Iloud l as 60dB in the 2000 HZ frequency because of
- Silencers the higher sensitivity of the human ear to 2000 Hl.
- Berms and Dykes
- Source Treatment 1.2 Acoustic Fields - Dissipation, Absorption and
- Variable Speed Drives (VSD) Oiffraction
- The Stack Induced Draft Air Cooler (SIOAC)
5. Recommendations - Designing for a Quiet Plant There are four acoustic field types which should be
understood: Free Field; Semi-Free Field; Reverberant
and Anechoic. Figure 4 illustrates. The Semi-Free
Gas Plant Environmental Noise Field 1s the one of interest to environmental
acoustics 1n relation to a plantls impact on nearby
Summary residents. Pure Free-Field is of interest only to
aircraft propagated no1se~ The noise inside a plant
In September 1988 the Energy Resources Conservation building is a combination of Reverberant and anechole
Board (ERCB) which regulates the Alberta Oil and Gas chamber noise - not dealt with In this paper.
Industry tightened 1ts environmental noise guidelines
by a factor XIO. Hew nighttime maximum permissible Figure 5 illustrates how noise dissipates as distance
noise levels as lO~1 as 40dBA are now enforceable 1n squared 1n a semi-free field. In essence every
rural areas. The directive 15 retroactively dOUbling of distance will reduce the perceived noise
applicable upon residential complaints and generated by a plant by 6dB. In the fight agaInst
necessitated the use of radical innovations for plant/residential noise. distance is our best friend
industry to comply. and certainly lends enchantment to the residents'
view!
Aerial coolers contribute SUbstantially to plant notse
and this paper discusses abatement in general and two Next. air (in particular dry air) absorbs sound with
novel approaches taken by Amoco in particular. The distance, although this absorption is only of any
use of variable spe:d fan drives and stack induced slgnlficance in the higher (1000 Hl+) frequencies.
draft coolers are examlned 1" detail. Figure 6 illustrates and also demonstrates an analogy
as to WHY low frequencies are not absorbed like hIgh
I. Noise and Noise Propagation ones.
1.1 The Parameters Diffraction, or the ability of sound to slide around
walls. berms, buildings. trees etc is illustrated In
Noise 1s measured on the decibel scale (dB). There Flgure 7. Again the low frequencies have a much
are two distinct common reference scales, the Sound better ability to diffract than the high frequencles.
Power Level. which 1s base referenced to 10- 12 The ability of low frequencies to diffract around
Watts and Sound Pressure Level. which is base obstacles and penetrate great distances without
referenced to 2 x 10- 5 N/m 2 . Decibels absorption will be seen as a dominant problem when
themselves are in effect only a logarithmic ratio with dealing with attenuation solutions. This phenomenon
no absolute meaning without these references bases. is not strange to us. Distance thunder always soundS
Every 10dB lncrease represents a XIO fold increase. like a rumble. The high frequency lightnIng crackle
Therefore. 20dB represents a xlOO fold and 30dB a is only heard Dverhead~ distance attenuates these high
x1000 fold increase etc. frequencies quickly. Likewise at a distance from a
plant, only the low frequency noises from recip
To distinguish between Sound Power and Sound Pressure compressors and cooler fans are dominant. Hlgh
Levels. consider that a given piece of equipment frequency piping noise. valve noise and high speed
(e.g., compressor) in the steady state generates a machinery noise quickly fade with distance.
fixed Sound Power Level but that the microphone and
human ear respond to Sound Pressure Level which Refraction is the last propagatIon mechanIsm which
decreases (as roughly the square of distance) as the needs to be understood and is a particular nuisance
receptor moves away from the noise source. during air temperature inversions. Sound travels
faster in warm air. With a normal air temperature
Figure 1 lists a whole range of commonly heard noises gradient this causes the sound waves trying to
and their apprOXimate sound pressure levels. Figure 2 propagate parallel to the ground to bend upwards and
shows the logarithmic nature of decibels. Hate that a~ay from a ground-stationed recipient. However,
only 3dB represents a doubling/halving of sound during an inversion (e.g. on warm, clear evenings).
level regardless of the absolute decibel level. when there is a positive upward air temperature
gradient. rad1ated sound waves are bent back down to
the ground which will intensify a receptor's notion of

8~2
 '- .~-~~ - -~. ~'- --

distant plant no1se. Figure B illustrates. This Flares

ability of sound to refract over long distance under
certain atmospherics negates the value, when dealing Flaring is generally so intermittent as not to be a
with attenuation techniques, of plant berms or dykes. major problem when noise is averaged on an 'leq' basis
over time.
2. The Noise Producers
3. Tonal Character1stics
Each noise producer tends to have its own special
signature, i.e . dominant peak frequencies. The only When a Ipure-tone spike l dominates the plant overall
sure way to ascertain Which plant equipment dominates spectrum, the effect to a recipient is psyc~ologically
at a glven distant residence is to isolate by negative and disproportionate 1n relat10n to absolute
sequential machinery shut downs. As this is not overall noise level. In other words~ the human ear is
always possible or desirable, the dominant frequencies less 'annoyed' by 'white' or 'broad band' noise. ,.
may give a clue as to the major noise producers. This
is the obvious first step in cost-effective remedial In recognition of this, the ERCB have:-
procedure. It will be assumed that all major rotating
equipment is housed except air coolers and cooling (i) Defined a pure-tone spike as a 1f3 octave band
towers. The major likely noise sources to examine peak which exceeds either adjacent If3 octave
then are:- band SPL by a margin of IOdB or more,
- engine and turbine exhausts (ii) given an allowance of +5dB to the plant's
- air coolers and cooling towers 'Permissible Sound Level' if this tonal peak can
.,'
- purge blowers for electric motors be shown NOT to ex1st .
- piping and valves
- flares Figure g 111ustrates the ERCB's definition of a 'pure .,:
tone The obvious question arises. IICan we design to
I

Reciprocating Engines avoid a pure tone"? The simple guaranteed answer.

especially on small plants is Inol. However, we can
These produce low frequency noise which is a problem improve the odds of not getting any pure tones 1n the
as mufflers tend not to extract low frequencies well plant's spectrum 1f we ensure that there is not a
and this spectrum propagates well over distance and mu1tip1ic1ty of similar equipment rotating at similar
diffracts easily around berms and obstructions. A 12 speeds. E.G. a battery of several six throw, e1ght
,., cylinder, gOO rpm, 4 stroke engine w111 generate a cylinder, 4 stroke, gOO rpm compressors 1s more likely
dom1nant exhaust pulse at: to show a pure tone than a mix of compreSSors with
either different throws, cylinders or speeds.
12 x 2 x gOO = gO Hz Likew1se, cooler fans should be selected with a range
q 60 of (either or both) different speeds and blade counts.
Many harmonics and subharmonics will exist but the This may seem an expensive nuisance. However in
spectrum Signal should be centered around gO Hz. observing that Amoco spent S300M at one large plant
reducing the no1se level only 2dB, it might seem -.
Compressors expedient to attempt designing out the chance of pure
tones in order to get the extra 5dB allowance.
Again the low speed reciprocat1ng machines w111 show
dominant frequencies 1n the low hundreds dependant 4. Attenuat10n TeChniques
upon numbers of cyl1nders and speeds, whereas the high
speed centrifugals will likely show higher dominant 4.1 S11encers
frequencies. I-4kHz, particularly if gear driven.
These are commonly available for all kinds of ducted
Expanders & Turbines. flow - engine exhausts. purge air blowers and vents
etc, and fall Into two d1stinct categories, absorpt1ve
These machines will dominate the mid-end higher (1 kHz and reactive.
+) frequencies.
The absorptive silencer 1s a straight through device
Aerial Coolers & Cool1nq Towers with acoustic lining on the duct walls. Oesign
pressure drops are low (typically fractions of an 1nch
These mach1nes will dominate the lowest frequency w.g.) but acoustic effic1ency is not great
range and present the biggest attenuation problem as part1cularly In the low frequency (250Hz) range.
they cannot be effectively bermed or closed in, nor 1s Figure 10 Illustrates.
acoust1c muff11ng an easy propos1tion. Blade passing
frequency (BPF) may be a dominant frequency and equals The reactive silencer consists of baffles, chambers
the number of blades t1mes revs per second. For and flow reversals. It 1s typically about 10dB more
example, a six blade fan at 300 rpm will have a BPF of effective than absorptive silencing but creates as :.' ..-
30 Hz. much as xlO the back pressure (up to the order of 3-4"
wg). In the case of engine eXhausts, this back
pressure is of minimal slgnificance and may cost (in
the reactive case) a percent or two of efficiency.
P1ping tends to rad1ate broad 'white' noise depending
unit's size. stiffness and internal transmission
fluid. Valve noise tends to be higher in frequency
and unsteady. ," ..
-,....'
,,_., ,
,-
84-3
However. silencing air coolers is a totally different
proposition. Figure 11 shows some silencing
arrangements on intake and discharge. It is obvious
this is nat a cheap capital addition. Also the fan
power operating costs may more than double. This is
because effective acoustic louvers cause air pressure
losses of 0.5 to 111 w.9 which typically doubles the
required air pressure rise across each fan.
4.2 Berms and Dykes
These dre commonly used to protect residents from
excess traffic noise around urban freeways and are
quite effective at reducing close range high frequency
no1se_ However they do not have much place around
large plants where the object is to attenuate noise
sensed by residents 1/2 to 2 miles away. Figure 12
illustrates the problem with sound diffraction around
a barrier (particularly low frequencies) and Figure 13
illustrates the effect of optimum barrier location in
respect to plant and resident. The other problem with
use of barriers to reduce the noise level for a
distant recipient is that atmospheric refraction
during temperature inversions will render all but the
highe,t barrier' ineffectual.
Some plants have claimed beneficial effects after
dyking inasmuch as complaints reduce. Though one
cannot deny the 'effectiveness ' of reduced complaints,
it is author IS opi ni on that I dyk i ng I has more
psychological than real effect_ One might call it
proof of the adage that lout of sight is out of mind ' .
An example was Amocols Wembley Plant. This plant
built in 1984 easily met the noise standards then in
force. However. the retroactivity of the 1988
directive rendered the plant 1n contravention by some
2dB. I,olatlon analy,e, 'howed B of the 3D large
cooler fans to be the dominant problem. On an
individual fan basis. noise is proportional to speed
to power 5 (approxima.tely). In other words. fan noise
will reduce ,ome 16dB at half ,peed!
Variable Speed Drive, (V50) were in'talled in the MCC
at a co,t of about $11,000 (in,talled) per 3D hp fan
motor. The coolers were designed for the Alberta max
ambient temperature of 90F. However the Alberta
annual average is only 40F. It was therefore
established that most of the cooler fans could run
well below max speed. The fans were set an amb1ent
air control to reduce speed with reducing air
temperature. Figure 15 illustrates the effect per
individual fan, not only of noise reduction but also
power saved at reduced speed. The example is shown
for 50F ambient. Enter a vertical line and the
fans would run at 55% speed, at 14% of maximum power
and at a noise reduction of about 14dB_
So much for theory. but what happened in practice?
After Amoco had retrofitted B of Wembley's 30 nosiest
fans, detai1ed acoustic measurements were taken under
the coolers. at the plant fence and 1000 yards away at
the nearest residence. Electric power readings were
also taken on fan motors to verify the power savings
at reduced speed.

4.3 Source Treatment The results showed that:

This is generally the most cost effective solution (i) Under the cooler, the nol'e reduction with
wherever possible. Examples in this category are: ,peed followed theory clo,ely.

1) Acou,tic lagging Of radiating pipe,. (iil The electric power savings followed theory very
2) Acoustic housing/lagging of small rotating closely.
equipment.
3) Hou'ing of large rotating equipment in (1ii) However the noise reduction at plant fence was
acou,tically lined buildIng,. on ly 2dB enough to correct the problem but
4) Reduction of ,peed of machinery. rather less than we had hoped for.

A good cautionary note to #2 (direct housing of
machinery) is that such housing must be sectionalized
for easy removal, otherwise maintenance crews tend to
take it off and leave it off!
No.3 is quite inexpensive if initiated in the design
stage and virtually impossible as a retrofit.
Double-walled steel bUildings are typically used in
plants to house compressors. Specifying the inner
wall to be acoustically perforated turns the sandwich
insulation into an effective acoustic absorber at
around 10 cents a sqjft. This also significantly However two aspects of the fan VSD retrofit which
affect' noise level, for operator, in, ide the building worked admirably were:
as well as total noise beyond the plant fence. Figure
14 Illu,trate'.
4.4 Variable Speed Drives
Noise is a highly sensitive function of machinery
SPEED. If a mechani,m can be incorporated which
reduces machinery speed when full speed is not
required then we have an excellent method for
'reduction at source I
The reason why the plant fence noise reduction was
less than expected even though the local noise per fan
was on target, lies in the complexity and size of the
plant. Wembley ha, lBOOO hp of hou,ed compre"lon, 3D
cooler fans, and expander, several air blowers, two
furnaces and several acres of piperack all radiating
noise. Even though one can identify and treat the top
noise generators. as soon as that is done, then noise
generators 12. 3, 4 etc become dominant at the plant
fence.
(a) The varying of speeds of some of the fans reduced
the dominant plant pure tone at 31 Hz to a
flatter. white noise spectrum. This allowed
Amoco to claim an extra 5dB allowable noise due
to "lack of presence of tonals".

84-4
 ~" ",..-. '.' .-,-

;/

(b) The fact that the fans could, an average run 30% 5. Recommendations Designing the Quiet Plant
slower on any given night (compared to their day
time required speed) did much to improve (a) House all rotating equipment in acoustically
residential relations. Noise complaints tend lined buildings.
focus on night time nuisance. In fact in (b) Muffle engine e~hausts and purge blower vents
recognition of this the ERCB directive allows a with reactive silencers where possible.
plant a permissible noise level IOdB higher from (c) Choose electric over engine driven equipment~ all
,",' 7am to 10 pm compared to that imposed at night. other things equal.
The cooler fan VSD is an excellent way of buying (d) Where possible, keep a good mix of engine speeds,
into that margin as the average Alberta night is fan speeds and blade counts to reduce tonal
22F cooler than the corresponding day which spikes.
allows a 30% fan speed reduction on a typical (e) Don't rely on berms and dykes.
cooler. (f) Choose water cooling towers over aerial coolers
where possible and fit aerial coolers with VSD
The final advantage of fan VSD retrofits is that controlled fans.
it is the ONLY acoustic 'treatment' we have yet (g) Experiment further with Stack Induced Draft
established which also has a payout in regard to Coolers where water cooling is not an option.
power savings. This payout is 2-1/2 to 3 years (h) Use process speed control where possible over
(retrofit) in Alberta's scenario. If Installed at bypass valving.
design stage the payout would be under one year.
In most U. S. scenarios payout would be List of Figures
significantly faster due to the fact that by
comparison. Albertals electric utility rates are I. Commonly Heard Noise Levels
the cheapest in N. America. 2. The dB Scale as Ratios
3. The dBA correction scale
4.5 The Stack Induced Draft Air Cooler (SIDAC) 4. Acoustic Fields
5. Semi-Free Field Dissipation
6. Atmospheric Absorption -. ~.'
One solution to the fan noise problem which Amoco has
successfully experimented with at Wembely and 7. Diffraction
Willesden Green is the SIDAC. This cooler Is B. Refraction
completely silent as it has no fans but works on the 9. Pure Tone - Definition
thermal draft created by building a chimney stack over 10. Absorptive Silencer Characteristic - Typical
the cooler bundle. Figure 16 Illustrates. II. Air Cooler SilenCing
12. Barrier Diffraction
Retrofit's are not possible. One cannot Just shut off 13. Barrier Optimal Location
a cooler's fans, put a chimney on top and expect It to 14. Perforated Wall Liner
work as well. The reason lies in the radically 15. Fan Operating Curve on VSD
different mechanical/thermal design parameters. The 16. Stack Induced Draft Air Cooler (SIDAC)
stack induces a draft only about 20% as strong as a 17. Economics SIDAC vs Conventional
fan blown cooler. To compensate the cooler bundle 18. Recommendations
.. j'
needs about twice the surface area for the same duty.
The tUbe bundle needs to be spread out only 2 rows ~-'-

deep (instead of 4 typical) to reduce the air dp to a

minimum. :-;.
Figure 17 shows the economic comparison at Wembley of
a SIOAC vs conventional cooTer. The trade off is a
close balance in capital installed cost with the SIDAC
winning (obviOUSly) in acoustics and also on zero
operating costs.
Summarily the SIDAC costs somewhat more FOB shop due
to the much larger require tube bundle. However it ~,- .
regains thIs expense on installation costs due to the
non-requirement of millwrights to setup rotating
equipment~ electricians to wire motors to an MeC and i ... :.-
hook up vibration SID switches. - '.':
.~' '-_ .
4.5.1. Limitations of SIDAC Units .:,. ,
;-~~r.~
SIDAC's have not been tried and are unlikely to be
viable in cases which either:
(1) require warm air recirculation or
(ii) are in isothermal condensing service

".,-,'
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84-5
 Fig. 1
Decibel Weighting Curves Fig. Sound levels of Familiar Noise Sources
Source Sound Level dBA
0 Counlry Home 30
SoN Whisper al5 Feel 30
Public Library ~O
10 Quiet omce or Living Room 40
Mooerale Rainlall 50
20 Inside Average Urban Home 50
'A' Weighted Scale Qulel Slreel 50
Lighl Car Trallic alSO leel 55
CD
"0
30 Normal Conversalion al 31eel 60
0
Noisy ONlco 60
;;:; - 40 Loud Singing al 3 leel 70
Traclor alSO leel 75
"0 Busy TraNlc inlersecilon 7810 95
50 Eieeltie Typewriter 80
Bus or Heavy Truck alSO 'eel 80
Jackhammer 8810 9~
60 Loud Shout 8810 98
Frelghl Train alSO ieel 90
-70 Modilled Mol.reyele 95
Jel Taking oN al 2000 'eel 100
L Aplilied Rock Music
Jel Taking oN al200 reet
110
120
CD I 10 100 1000 10000 (,S~l u12~
Air-Raid Siren 130 c~J:om

,
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(J)

dB Scale as Ratios Fig. 2

Acoustic Fields Fig. 4

Free Field .--..- Spherical Radiation Increasing Decreasing

Semi Free Field .--..- Hemispherical Radialion + 10 1000 % 0 100%
Reverberanl Field'--"- Mulliple Wall Reflections.--..- Lp Essentially Conslant +9 794 +1 126
+8 630 +2 160
Receptor RHears Reflections from an Inlinile Number of Source Images... +7 501 +3 200
+6 398 251

~
Images- dB dB +4
Increase +5 316 Reduction +5 316
*" *" u~.

*" *" * +4 251 +6 398

*"
Anechoic Chamber.--..- Non Relleclive Walls .--..- Simulated Free Field
+3 200 +7 501
+2 160 +8 630

[?J C511-1ll1ll
+1
0
126
100%
+9
+10
794
1000 %
c'.; ~l
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~
::.P~"l:

Fig, 7 Semi Free Field Noise Dissipation Fig. 5

bSQ~~b
ReleCle(j S.
Oill/(j
~\Q~'3.I},'3.\'?)
o '.
... Diffracted Sound
:~~-,~ .... ~-.

Poinl Source .lw Conslanl

Sound Pressure Level Lp is a to Power Flux (Lw ) per unit area

SA a r 2
Therefore, Lp Reduces as r 2 in a Free field
Ground Absorplion, Trees and Atmosphere may Reduce this
'''20u''1 Prediction Further
C!:I>llll:,1
CD
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Noise Refraction Fig. 8 Noise Attenuation by Air Absorption Fig.6
Allenualion A=7.4 r2.r . 10.8 dB
Normal Atmospheric Temp Gradient
T
Where: f =Mean Frequency Hz

r/\
Cool ..' v r = Dlslance from Source in m
.,-
.. i o=Relalive Humldlly %
~
.---
E.g., @50%r.h., @1000 min 50 h,band A =0,004 dB
\
Warm'
" . . . . . . _.. 'M .'

Source Receptor Bul @50% r.h., @1000 min 4000 h,band A = 23 dB

Almospheric Inversion Source
The Train Analogy
Receiver ':
~ Small No. 01 long Cars I~ long Wavall _.~

.- . .-,"
Warm
-'(

.. Jij;
as as ~ 'iii. A'i..liiZ aAtA
I~o. 01 Shorl Cars '~miqnJlmlDi.dt
=='c
Source
Cool )
Receptor
large

In each case, the Damping in the Coupling Equates 10 Sound Absorpllon.

II Engine Shunls 10 and Iro Obviously Caboose Awilileel more 01 the Ellecllhan Caboose e,
B

!:..

Sound Travels Faster in Warm Air ~S9HII1

Refracted up Normally & Down in Inversions C~n OIJ I ....

'I. . '/"". ,. "~~":.:'(S':Q;'~"::'-" ..: .J,,: .. . ~ ~. .

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 Fj.11 Pure Tone - ERCS Definition Fig. 9
Silencers and Mufflers Discharge Silencer
t.--d Olscharge Silencers The 63 Hz 1/3 Dcl Freq is Ihe Peak
it it Stands more Ihan 10 dB
lnlake
Above Eilher Adjacenl1/3 Dcl Bank
Sl~ncers then a"Pure Tone" is Delined 10 Exisl

"'-
,- ...

Silencers lor AIr-Cooled Condenser

Inlake
SIk!ncers Silencers lor Cooling Tower

'\!.~ DUCT Silencer

~.e:
'~egl'ler or Grille
Silencer near aIr Tet'mlnal
Fan

DI:~~
Enclosure
/'

~encer 63 125 250 sao 1K 2K 3K 4K

CentrirugBl.lan EncloSUre with Intake SIlencers Inlake and Discharge Silencers for Cenlrllugal Fans Hz Oclave Cenlre Bank Frequency
.,.,
CD Elsmples ofComrT1on Absorpllw-e-Tvpe Parallel Batlle SIIl'ncer AppllcaUons em Oil; C~!1 arJ~

CD

Fig. 12 Noise Control Melhods Fig. 10

... ~,l~~~
'}).\e\)
ReleCfeds. ~lo9'J1.~ 70 I , I I I I I I I i
<'-. '_ olJf/d
, '. iii"
"D
-;;; 50
<n
o
--'

~
/lIWrnJrnmmpU'Illpmml'\
30 /..... 12'
Sound '"
1<: L ;;.1
/ .......'" B'
Source ~
",,1'./ ....... B=6"
~.""""
1

10 .... 4
C =12"
L =4',6',12'
63 250 1000 4000
\\\\\"\ \
Oclave Band Cenler Frquency (H,)

Why Barriers are Little use Around PlanIs Unless Iheir Height is
Subslantial Compared 10 Dislance from Planllo Resident Effecl 01 Length on Insertion Loss for Parallel Bailie-Type Silencers
C531 0';1
(~~l 01:.1>
 ,,,'.'
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Fan Operation Potential Power Saving vs Ambient Temp. . Barrier Attenuation/Diffraction Fig. 13
100I , = _I 0 Fig. 1
A
_~----J_--~:,~-.~~~--::-=_iI
r' ..
;I ~

l !'
',:'
.' ,r I .'
'. . 100M x Y 900M
..
I" "
oI[, I 1 ~------- -------------
C--
::_. ~ --
,, I
\ I I ~- .-----------------.~

'/'
. 'I i
[
,:. . I Jt;Y
',.'i;,: ':,' " ' ,
I
I ,

,c,",'1';
I' ' J
>.oj" ' ~
\

"1 Complex Allenuation Formula Governed by "Fresnel No,"

'......~. I, ' -,

I :.---' .. ., FN =1 (A+B+C) A Wavelength

A
0
10 30
~ 20 With Wall at 'X': (A+BC) = 0.56 and al 63 Hz FN =0.17
50 70 90
Degrees F al 500 Hz FN =1.34
Eg, al500 F Operate@ 53% Speed @14% Pwer With Wall at 'Y': (A+B-C) = 0.20 and at 63 Hz FN =0.06
and Noise Reduced by 14.3 dB
at 500 Hz FN =0.48
[S9201~O

0> CS920IJY
,
.j:>.
to
FIG 14
Fig. 16
Stack Induced Draft Air Cooler (SIDAC)
.
.:.

20ft Chimney
Induces Nalural Draft
:'
No Fans or Power "
Required .;
~:'

09-10-25

Tube Bundle
(Musl be x 1.5 to x2 Larger than WEHBLfr ACOUTSIC INSULATION DETAIL AS IIICLUDEO ON ALL WALL AND
Convenlionalto Compensate ROOf INNfR SKINS TO RfDUCE NOISE WIICRC ROTATING fQUIPH(HI IS
lor Lack of Forced Air) 1I0uS(O. EffCCTlvEN(SS Tl~ICALLr 4 - , dB INSIDE AND I _ ] dB

C~9~al~1 AT PLANT F{NCL

,. . .,"
,.. "~:\;\::::~7~~"~~f':~:,~: \.}"l)'~>;.:~':/_ '",,!.' ,:. '.:<;" :,.::~,~.,~,;I ' ,,~;~' ,:. . , :""
: ~.'/ ,,".
 Economics of Stack Induced Draft Air Cooler Fig. 17
Costs as %of Installed Conventional FinFan
FinFan SIDAC
Tube Bundle 15 22
Structure & Louvers 12 12
Fan, Plenum & Motor 7 ..
Chimney Stack .. 10
--
FOB Shop 34 44
Civil Installation 10 13
Piping 10 10
Mechanical Erection 26 26
Electrical Hookup 15 ..
Vibration sid Instrumentation 5 ..
--
Total Installed Cost 100 Units 93 Units
-- --
I Operating Cosl/Year $260400Ikw 0
..,.
OJ
,
I C5~101~1

0 ,
Fig. 18
Recommendations
1. House all Rolating Equipment in Acoustically Lined Buildings
2. Mullle Engine Exhausts and Purge Blower Vents with Reaclive Silencers
where Possible
3. Choose Eleclric over Engine Driven Equipment, all other things equal

4. Where Possible, keep agood mix of Engine Speeds, all olher lhings equal

5. Don'l Rely on Berms and Dykes

6. Choose Waler Cooling Towers over Aerial Coolers where Possible and
fit Aerial Coolers with VSD Controlled Fans

7. Experiment Further with Slack Induced Dral! Coolers where Waler

Cooling is not an Oplion
B. Use Process Speed Control where Possible over Bypass Valving C:>i;a!.)