Passive noise control in buildings: An engineering case study of ducted systems

Abstract

The most common noise sources in buildings are related to Heating, Ventilating and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems, plumbing systems, electrical systems and exterior sources. Passive Noise Control (PNC) techniques in buildings have been implemented in several ways. The aim of this work is to analyses the use of silencer to attenuate the noise in the ducts that are part of the ventilation systems in buildings, internal combustion systems, fans, gas conduction systems, boilers, etc. The main objective of a silencer is to reduce the transmission of noise, disturbing as little as possible the circulation of gas or liquid. In the first instance, the silencers are classified as reactive and dissipative, depending on whether the attenuation of the noise is produced by reflective or dissipative mechanisms, respectively. In a reactive silencer, the losses occur essentially due to the reflections of the sound waves in impedance discontinuities, such as widening or narrowing of the tube. In dissipative silencers, the flow is in contact with a large surface of absorbent material. The attenuation of the noise is then produced by visco-thermal losses in the porous material. In this work, a practical issue will be addressed with a noise reduction of 19 dBA in 60 Hz.

Practical application

Noise is a current issue in residential areas that could lead to health problems for people. The origin of these noises within buildings is very diverse, one of them is produced by ducts. Appling the PNC technique in modern building construction would be a good prevention practice. For this reason, in this project a PNC system was carried out in the ducts of a residential building, which could be used as a praiseworthy solution, avoiding problems for the inhabitants of these spaces.