Silent Generators with Noise Reduction and Barrier Walls
Anyone who’s seen a genset in action will know how loud they can be. The biggest and most powerful can produce sound louder than 100 decibels, almost as loud as a jet engine at point-blank range and more than enough to cause deafness.
Generators and Noise Pollution
Since electrical generators are meant to be active for hours at a time, this can be a serious problem for any people in the vicinity. Sustained noise levels as low as 40 dBa have been shown to cause sleep disturbance, hypertension, stress, stimulate aggression, increase accidents, and promote anxiety and anti-social behavior.
Because of this, many cities across the US have enacted anti-noise ordinances. In Boston, for instance, it is illegal to produce noise in excess of 50 dBa between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. or in excess of 70 dBa at all other hours. The punishments range from fines to seizure of property.
Noise Reduction in Generators
Noise is often a function of power. Commonly a generator will produce more noise when it is under load than when it is not supplying power to anything. Generator noise comes from two main sources - engine noise and exhaust noise. Many generator manufacturers offer noise attenuation solutions for their products. There are often aftermarket options available to also reduce the noise that generator sets make.
One way of reducing noise can be to build barrier walls around the generator. As long as these block the line of sight between the generator and the listeners, noise should be reduced. But while this is a good way to reduce airborne sound transmission, a solid floor can still transmit vibrations from the diesel generator or gasoline generator used for standby electric generation purposes. This is called Impact Insulation Class transmission. It can be alleviated by careful design of the building structure and the use of sound-deadening techniques, structures and materials. These include mounting the generator off the floor, or placing it on an absorbent cushion made out of cork or balsa, or separating work and living spaces from the generator location.
Barrier walls are of little use to portable generators, however. Take the case of a generator used to provide electrical power in a temporary campsite. Another way of approaching silent generators is to purchase a quieter generating set in the first place. Most generators are either air-cooled generators or water-cooled generators. Water-cooled generators are often less noisy than their air-cooled counterparts, whose concession to noise control may be as little as a muffler in the exhaust.
Posted in Generators