Thursday, January 2, 2014

Basic Facts On Environmental Noise Control

By Eugenia Dickerson


Noise pollution is a major problem in the modern industrialized world. A noisy environment is difficult to work in and possess a health risk as well. Proper environmental noise control is needed to better the acoustic environment. Persons who work in noisy industrial areas should undergo regular medical check-ups to ensure that they have not suffered from hearing impairment.

There are numerous other sources of this kind of pollution other than manufacturing industries. They include, among others, architecture, transport and urban planning. The most stubborn causes of pollution in this context worldwide are aircraft and road traffic. While some sources of pollution are fairly easy to control others like human social activities present a major challenge.

There are various methods that may be employed indoors or outdoors depending on the source. The available potions can be used for walls, ceilings, floors or exterior walls. The type of material chosen is determined by, among other factors, the function of the structure. Theaters, recording studios and auditoria produce sound that can be easily absorbed by baffles. Sound masking is the active addition of other sounds that help minimise other unwanted sounds.

Development of hybrid vehicles in efforts to control road traffic sources will need to attain a market share of about fifty percent to have a significant impact on the streets. Improving tire tread designs for trucks better shielding diesel stacks are some of the ways of curbing noise at source level. Speed control is effective since the minimum sound emissions come from vehicles moving at a speed of at least thirty kilometres per hour.

Aircrafts with quitter engines are now being adopted by a number of designers and this has gone a long way into making the environment better. Restricting flights in some sensitive areas also helps in managing the pollution. Restriction can be done through allocation of specific times for flights, allocating specific paths, runways and so on. The main disadvantages of doing this include inconveniences to travellers and unfavourable flight economics.

Several materials have been incorporated into buildings to improve the acoustic properties. Panels made of steel are usually fitted into walls. Good panels are those that have very little interference with the substrates. Fabric covers are usually used in a number of buildings to improve absorption. The fabrics are made into sound curtains or blankets that are fitted onto surfaces or noisy equipment.

Noise from industrial equipment can be reduced by redesigning the machinery to operate in a manner less prone to produce extreme sounds. Additionally, workers can be provided ear protection equipment, shock mounting source equipment and creation of solid barriers. With regard to more conventional office environments, remedies may also involve researching for silent office equipment such as printers and photocopy machines.

A properly organised environmental noise control framework is required in virtually all public places. The methods chosen for this are variable but will fall in any of the following categories: vibration dumping, vibration isolation, absorption or sound isolation. In general, sound isolation is the use of barriers to impede transmission. Damping involves extraction of vibration energy from various media and dissipating it as heat.




About the Author:





0 التعليقات:

Post a Comment

Search