Acoustic louvres for soundproofing are appropriate when it comes (often: with little space available) to allow air renewal of a confined space (e.g. because of the presence of a noise barrier, a canopy or a sound enclosure) or even the air intake or the discharge of a ventilation network (or of an industrial process), while limiting noise propagation through the opening required in a such context.
There are therefore many situations for which acoustical louvres for soundproofing can usefully be envisaged:
- for machines, when they must be equipped with a noise hood to limit their sound emissions, one of the required functionalities for such an industrial soundproofing construction being then to be able to evacuate the dissipated thermal power
- for the ventilation of technical rooms, including in the energy production sector (e.g. compressors, motors, transformers), sometimes: integrated to doors
- for normal operation (requiring a transfer of the fluid that air is) of cooling sets, aero-condensers, air conditioning systems … when it is necessary to equip them with a noise limitation device
ITS participated in the implementation of acoustic louvres for soundproofing refrigeration units in the Vaucluse department (France, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region).
The aim was to reduce, for residents living in the immediate environment, the noise nuisance caused by a large cooling facility, the operation of which had given rise to complaints that the operator was obliged to consider, while remedying the problems caused, to comply with the regulations in force in France regarding neighborhood noise.
Acoustic louvres for soundproofing refrigeration units have therefore been integrated into metal structures, made using soundproofing panels, intended (as they were around the incriminated sources of noise) to reduce sound emissions of the facility.
The sizing of the acoustic louvres for the soundproofing of these refrigeration units was of course made considering the acoustic requirements but also the aeraulic constraints of the project (the acceptable total pressure loss being, as often in such a circumstance, close to zero, which induced the consideration of free surfaces for the passage of air accordingly).
The soundproofing device thus constituted worked perfectly: the emergence i.e. the difference between the A-weighted equivalent continuous pressure levels of the ambient noise (refrigeration facility in operation) and the residual noise (in the absence of the noise generated by the refrigeration facility, but measured over its operating period) was limited as required - as appropriate to 5 or 6 dB(A) in the daytime and 3 or 4 dB(A) in the nighttime period - in the Zones with Regulated Emergence (ZRE), which included, in the vicinity: houses, building zones and areas occupied by third parties e.g. Public Access Buildings (PAB), and other industrial plants as well.
The operator of this facility, for which acoustical louvres for the soundproofing of refrigeration units were implemented, communicated its full satisfaction following the works carried out in record time.