New emerging technologies designed to mitigate noise pollution within industrial facilities
Introduction
As largely stressed in many of our past publications, noise can constitute a problematic issue in industrial facilities, regardless of the scope and the type of the plant. Generally technical risk evaluations disregard noise pollution – which is connected to certain negative consequences such as hearing damages and other incidents that lead to severe workplace injuries and illnesses – as a critical hazard, and so noise control as a clear concern and necessary measure.
Innovative trends based on emerging technologies (and methodologies) cancompensate for the misevaluation of soundproofing in industrial safety. The present article seeks to illustrate four solutions that are bound to revolutionize the industrial control market in the upcoming years.
1. Noise-cancelling windows
The noise pollution originating outside the facilities is probably the trickiest one to be removed. Often it is not possible to identify the source as it occurs for indoor machinery, for instance. A research conducted by a cluster of scholars from Nanyang Technological University of Singapore has found its own way to solve this problem.
The concept revolves around applying a special device – which has been developed by the team taking inspiration from new Apple’s headphones models – to windows and entrances. Such a system will be based on a technology that exploits sensors to detect external noises and counteract the incoming waves, thus obtaining a reduction up to 50%.
2. IoT-based noise attenuation
Traditional soundproofing solutions faced several limitations for mere structural reasons. One of the most common inadequacies related to noise-canceling systems is the lack of time between sensing and emitting. Which benefit could IoT technology bring in this sense? According to many academic studies, an IoT-based system can easily identify the harmful waves spreading by using sound sensors that will block incoming noise producing a counteracting noise itself.
3. Nano-structured foams
Soundproofing experts commonly regard foam materials as a proven solution that pays back in most of the cases. Yet, research has advanced lately to such an extent that using nanomaterials and nano-structured additions will become in the future a regular proposition. All the solutions of this kind dissipate the sounds by converting the vibrations into heat.
Unlike the standard soundproofing foams, these revolutionized foams will be obtained by injection of nanopowder to create from scratch microscopic pores and channels. This solution allows it to absorb noise from 60% to 100% more effectively than traditional foams.
4. 3D-printed Acoustic Rings
Most soundproofing methods work according to some principles of actions. There is generally less space for engineered solutions that deal with passive execution. The 3D-printed metamaterial rings revealed by a group of researchers from Boston University provides a method that redirects noise waves by counteracting vibrations, and they do it thanks to a peculiar design of spiral and circular shape.
Conclusion
The solutions presented above can potentially become game-changing assets in the future. Digitalization of assets can be a robust grip for a transitional trend within the sector. However, it is pretty evident that, so far, new developments have been confined into the realm of concepts and empirical findings.
As long as they do impact the market, Stopson Italiana will continue to stress the importance of evaluating sources of noise and potential techniques using traditional approaches. Thanks to its extensive knowledge and experience, Stopson Italiana is keen to meet all customers’ requirements and supply comprehensive acoustical solutions in order to achieve their soundproofing goals.
Recent Comments