Noise Level Investigation and Control of Household Electric Power Generator

Abstract

Electric power generator is an essential household facility particularly in developing countries. It exists in various capacities and makes in shops, offices, workshops and factories. The attendant environmental risks of this source of power supply are major challenges to users both at household and industrial level. Efforts through research and development are still on-going to mitigate the prevailing health hazards. This study investigates noise level of typical portable generator (2 kW/220 V) and the sound absorbance capacity of an acoustic enclosure developed from a multilayer panel made of locally sourced galvanized metal sheet (0.90 mm), Polyurethane acoustic foam (7.50 mm), Particle board (35.0 mm) and plywood (10.0 mm). The noise produced by the generator when on load and no load were considered for cases of it being placed inside and outside the enclosure and compared with acceptable OSHA safe thresholds noise level for the school environment where the study was carried out. The result shows a significant reduction of noise produced indicating a shift from very laud threshold (average of 86.23 dB (A)) for no load and no enclosure to moderately low region (average of 69.34 dB (A)) for the case of no load using enclosure. Likewise considering loaded scenario similar trend was recoded with average acoustic capacity of the enclosure of 23.20 dB (A). The effect of the enclosure is positive and the potential benefits of improved noise absorption panels to enhance better performance of the developed enclosure for office and household generators was established.

Keywords: Electric Generator, Enclosure Panel, Noise control, Load, Household.