industrial, utility, and generators

Hush Acoustics engineers have worked on many different industrial job environments. Such areas can often create large amounts of noise  from vehicles, loading or dumping of materials, or large pieces of electrical equipment such as transformers or generators. Emergency generators especially have become much more prevalent in recent years. Diesel generators are incredibly noisy and often located near neighboring property lines, especially in urban areas. Whether as a standalone project, or as part of a larger project assessing mechanical noise, we are able to predict generator noise levels and recommend noise control treatment. 

Typical Services:

• Review local noise ordinances for noise limits of industrial sites.
• Advise on noise control plans.
• Predict expected noise levels with noise control treatment.
• Review equipment selections for generator, outdoor enclosure, and load bank.
• Analyze noise impact of generator based on location and source sound levels.
• Advise on acoustic enclosure attenuation requirements for equipment to comply with the design goal.
• Provide recommendations for retrofit noise control options. 
• On site measurements for troubleshooting, continuous noise monitoring, post-treatment compliance testing.

exemplary projects

Elkhart Shredder

Acoustical Solutions, Inc. built noise walls around the Sturgis Iron and Metal Co. Inc. facility in Elkhart, IN, to minimize noise from a shredder reaching the surrounding community. This mega shredder consumes whole vehicles and spits out shredded parts into several different piles for disposal or recycling. Although the large motor makes noise, the greatest noise occurs when liquid propane tanks which are accidentally left in the vehicles are crushed. Hush Acoustics worked with Acoustical Solutions to design noise walls for this shredder as well as around the facility, and perform in-field insertion loss testing of the noise wall.

Vulcan Edsall Road Facility

Vulcan Materials Company owns a concrete plant along Edsall Road in Fairfax County, VA. Hush Acoustics worked with Vulcan as they sought a special exception to their zoning by measuring noise levels from various sound sources on the site, predicting noise levels in the community, and designing an earthen berm to reduce noise levels.

Nuclear Power Plant Sirens

Nuclear power plants are required to have warning systems in the surrounding community. Under contract through Blue Ridge Research and Consulting Hush Acoustics measured sound levels at a set distance from the sirens in the community surrounding Indian Point Energy Center in Buchanan, NY, for comparison to the requirements and siren specifications.

Freehold Substation

Central Hudson Gas and Electric hired Hush Acoustics to measure sound levels in the community beside an electrical substation in Freehold, NY, before and after the transformers were replaced. We have performed similar services at many substations. Typical projects include prediction of sound levels anticipated after the transformers are changed.

Montville Substation

Jersey Central Power and Light hired Hush Acoustics to design a noise barrier to screen noise from an existing electrical substation in the Town of Montville, NJ, reaching the nearby residences. We also testified at a board of supervisors hearing about zoning approval for the proposed noise wall, as well as performed nighttime sound level measurements along the property line to demonstrate that the noise wall reduced noise emissions to the town noise code limit.