A Study on the Noise Reduction of Reciprocating Type Air Compressors

This paper deals with the noise evaluation technique of a reciprocating air-compressor and its noise reduction. The reciprocating air-compressors are widely used in the small, medium sized industrial firms, and lots of their employees are affected and irritated by their noise in the workplace. Thus, noise control actions should be taken appropriately by considering the hearing loss due to the occupational noise exposure. Lead-wrapping techniques are employed to identify the contribution of principal noise sources which are generally known as motor, belts, suction/discharge valves, moving pistons, and flow-induced noise caused by edges or discontinuities along the flow path e.g. expansions, contractions, junctions and bends etc .. As a result, main noise sources of the air-compressor can be categorized by the suction/discharge noise, valve noise, and compressed-air tank noise. Based on the investigations, mufflers are designed to reduce both the suction/discharge noise and the compressed-air tank noise. Instead of the conventional valve plate, polyethylene resin is used as a new one for the reduction of valve impact noise. In addition, attempts are made to reduce the valve noise propagation to the cylinder head and the compressor tank by using the insulation casings. As a result of the countermeasure plans, it can be achieved that the noise reduction of the air-compress is up to 10dB.