The mufflers for exhaust valves of industrial equipment

Abstract

The operating of exhaust valves of pneumatic cylinders and other pneumo-automatics causes impulse noise generation. Staff, working on half-automated conveyers and package lines, are often exposed to the high-intensity impulse noise, which is a reason for hearing loss. The design of a silencer for steady flow is well explored but there is not as much attention for an impulse noise attenuator. Moreover, mufflers for discharge valves of industrial equipment must meet additional requirements because an air exhaust emits broadband sound and an implication of mufflers with essential aerodynamic drag results in an operational disorder for pneumo-automatics. The long lifetime and simple maintenance are also significant for a consumer. The muffler’s model takes into account an attenuation performance, calculation of a silencer pressure drop, and prediction of mass and size of the device that allows us to work out multi-criteria optimization tasks. There are considered peculiarities of impulse noise muffler design for the packaging pneumatic automates. The mufflers have low aerodynamic drag, are easy to install, inexpensive, and reliable. They provide the best acoustical performance for frequencies 500–4000 Hz. The comparison of effectiveness is represented for the different silencers. There are given examples of successful implementation of the mufflers in industry.