Research on noise reduction characteristic of sound barrier on natural draft wet cooling towers

Abstract

To weaken the noise pollution of wet cooling towers, a large-scale wet cooling tower with a 660 MW unit is used as an example, and the water-splashing noise is measured in a field test. The sound source characteristics are determined based on the field test results, and the sound source surface is specified as the initial parameters of the simulation. Then, the noise propagation model for the wet cooling tower is established based on the ray-tracing method, with a maximum relative error of only 2.22%. Two noise reduction schemes, vertical and curved sound barriers, are proposed based on this model. Furthermore, the noise reduction effects of two different types of sound barriers are investigated. Under identical conditions, the simulation reveals that the vertical sound barrier performs better than the curved sound barrier in terms of noise reduction. In addition, The results also show that a vertical sound barrier with a length of 90 m, a height of 10 m, and a distance of 15 m from the tower is an optimal scenario, with an A-weighted sound pressure level (A-SPL) of just 42.08 dB(A). In summary, the noise problem associated with wet cooling towers may be effectively addressed in this instance.