Vibration and noise characteristic of two-stage centrifugal compressors used in refrigeration system is studied experimentally. Experimental results of vibration acceleration, sound pressure spectra and their coherence indicate that the compressor noise is dominated by tonal components at discrete frequencies and is mainly radiated from the vibration of the outlet pipe of the compressor. Therefore, a multi-layer micro-perforated panel absorber fixed at the outlet pipe is employed to attenuate the compressor noise, where acoustic transmission analysis and generic algorithm are combined to design optimal geometry parameters of the absorber. Experimental results confirm that the designed micro-perforated panel absorber can effectively reduce the noise of the centrifugal refrigeration compressor.