Noise limitation of production equipment is often necessary, in general, in order to respect regulatory texts in relation, on the one hand, with the protection of the workers against the risks related to noise exposure and, on the other hand, with the preservation of the environment.
This is particularly the case of an electricity generation facility with gas turbines (combustion turbines), noise being emitted by the various subsets making up each turbomachinery (in addition to noise emissions associated with the mouths for air intake and exhaust not included in the project reported in this article, although regularly studied and subject of simulation and design work by ITS as part of other projects in the field of energy production):
- the turbine compartment i.e. compressors, combustion chamber, turbine
- the auxiliary compartment
- the load compartment
- the portion of the envelope of the intake duct enclosed
- the portion of the envelope of the exhaust duct enclosed
- related equipments: e.g. gas module, generator
All these production equipment must be the subject of a specific study for the development of noise limitation devices having all the required features (they are numerous and varied, for such particularly complex installations involving technologies of high level but which do not guarantee the absence of risks, in view of the processes involved).
ITS will participate in the noise limitation of production equipment related to the operation of two combustion turbines of high power output (more than 120 MW for simple cycle, more than 190 MW for combined cycle) for a power generation unit in North Africa.
This will involve the design and construction of buildings with high acoustic performance, with integrated ventilation systems and of noise barriers.
The study shall allow the sizing and the optimization of the industrial soundproofing devices: it will namely include the prediction of the sound attenuation of partitions, of the insertion loss (with and without flow noise) and of the total pressure loss of ventilation silencers as well as the simulation of the impact after soundproofing on the one hand in terms of sound power level and on the other hand in terms of sound pressure level in specified locations.
The optimization of the cost and of the duration of intervention for assembly and disassembly operations are key factors of success of the efficient soundproofing concept considered for noise limitation of those electricity production equipments.