UTILIZATION OF SHREDDED PLASTIC AND RICE STRAW-SAWDUST

AS NOISE REDUCING TILES

CARLO JAY RIVERA

JURIE MAE C. USHIODA
UTILIZATION OF SHREDDED PLASTIC AND RICE STRAW-SAWDUST

AS NOISE REDUCING TILES

A CVE 199 (THESIS PROPOSAL)

Presented to the Faculty of
Department of Civil Engineering and Technology
College of Engineering and Technology
Mindanao State University - Iligan Institute of Technology
Iligan City

In Partial Fulfillment
Of the Requirements for the Degree of
BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN CIVIL ENGINEERING

CARLO JAY RIVERA

JURIE MAE C. USHIODA

Prof. Cherry May S. Florendo

Instructor

November 2021
 CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

Every part of the people’s work and lives has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic

in the entire world. Companies, organizations, and institutions encouraged their employees to

work remotely from home in reaction to national and municipal containment policies. During the

COVID-19 pandemic, many workers were encouraged to WFH full-time, redefining the

traditional definition of WFH, which had previously only been used for specific types of work,

on an as-needed basis, or in unusual employee circumstances.

As work from home is being implemented and encouraged during pandemic, different

struggles and distractions can be observed in people’s own workplace. Staying on track is one of

the most difficult tasks for people who are new to working from home. Ambient noise and digital

distractions are both enemies of remote working. As the day progresses, workers may discover

that background noise is interfering with their productivity. This struggle doesn’t only apply to

workers but also to students who are affected by online learning platforms forced by the

consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Moreover, one of the most significant forms of pollution in the environment is noise.

Noise pollution is on the rise as a result of growing industrialization, automotive traffic, trains,

and airplanes, among other factors, which has a negative impact on human health. According to

recently estimated statistical data (Ghatak and Gupta, 2011), a percentage of the population

suffers from headaches (53%), high blood pressure (36%), anxiety (40%), hearing disabilities
(36%), cardiovascular diseases (15%), irritability (67%), and insomnia (61%) as a result of

technological development around the world.

People's tolerance for various amounts of noise varies greatly. The general public in the

Philippines is mostly inconvenienced by the massive noises produced by machines such as

vehicles, home appliances and other machineries. According to Berglund et al. (1999) from the

World Health Organization, hearing loss, speech communication interference, rest and sleep

disturbances, mental-health and performance consequences are only a few of the negative effects

of noise. These negative effects are experienced by millions of Filipinos as noise pollution is

present in the country. Now that teleworking or working from home has been increasingly

popular among large enterprises around the Philippines as improved electronic media and the

internet have become more widely adopted, one essential factor to consider is the ability to

manage the background noise in workspaces especially involving calls and interviews.

Teleworking does not only involve call center work but it also covers the rampant virtual

assistant projects and video gaming/streaming industry in the Philippines. With this, there is an

urgent need to determine and discuss the major struggles, such as noise pollution, that influence

the workspace of Filipino teleworkers.

Furthermore, noise pollution endangers not only human health but also the cognitive

capacity of students (Diaco, 2014). Unwanted loud noises, also known as noise pollution, plague

the learning settings offered to children in the Philippines. According to the World Health

Organization (WHO), during teaching sessions, background sound levels (BSL) should not

exceed 35 dB for pupils to hear and interpret spoken messages (Ibrahim & Richard, 2000;

Berglund et al., 1995). Several sound monitoring sessions conducted recently in diverse learning

environments in Northern Mindanao and Western Visayas found that continuous and individual
BSLs exceeded the permitted range, reaching levels considered detrimental to the ear by

audiologists (Diaco, 2014). For children in many schools and homes in Northern Mindanao,

these loud background noises are a nuisance. These noises contribute to unhealthy learning

environments and put students at danger in terms of their cognitive, academic, and professional

development.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

As teleworking has become more popular in recent years, it is essential to manage

environmental noise as one of the major struggles that impacts teleworkers' workspaces,

particularly call center agents, online instructors, virtual assistants, and streamers. This struggle

doesn’t only apply to teleworkers but also affects the cognitive capacity of students, especially

those who are enrolled in online flexible learning. In addition, although there have been studies

using porous materials to reduce noise in various contexts, the usage of porous renewable and

waste products is still in its early stages and needs to be studied more. Therefore, this study will

investigate shredded plastic and rice straw-sawdust as efficient soundproofing materials for noise

reduction.

1.3 Research Objectives

This study aims to answer the following:

1. Is there any significant difference between the noise level of cement mortar and

cement mortar tile (Setup A) with shredded plastic tile of Setup 2-A?

2. Is there any significant difference between the noise level of cement mortar and

cement mortar (Setup A) with shredded plastic tile of Setup 2-B?

 3. Is there any significant difference between the noise level of cement mortar and

cement mortar (Setup A) with rice straw and sawdust tile of Setup 3-A?

4. Is there any significant difference between the noise level of cement mortar and

cement mortar (Setup A) with rice straw and sawdust tile of Setup 3-B?

5. Is there any significant difference among the NRC of Setup 2-A, Setup 2-B, Setup

3-A, and Setup 3-B?

1.4 Significance of the Study

This research aims to produce an environment-friendly alternative to cement tiles that not

only utilizes waste materials but also produces tiles that are noise absorbing. The tiles undergo

tests to determine if the noise level reduction is of a significant value. The first to benefit from

this study are the students in Northern Mindanao and nearby areas, particularly those who are

enrolled in an online learning platform which is commonly implemented in an uncontrolled

environment. With this, the noise reducing tiles would contribute to healthy learning

environments and allow students to improve their cognitive, intellectual, and professional skills.

These tiles would also be beneficial to anyone in the Philippines who is required to work

or perform in a quiet environment. Specifically, the noise reducing tiles will help Filipino

workers working at home that are vulnerable to background noises and help maintain a

productive job. Generally, this research is designed to help lessen the physical and mental risks

of noise pollution that is timely and present across the world. Finally, this research would be

beneficial for future researchers who would be investigating similar topics.

1.5 Scope and Delimitation

 This study solely focuses on the capacity of shredded plastic and the combination of rice

straw and sawdust to absorb noise. Tools and equipment to be used for the set-up are provided by

researchers and to be conducted inside the researcher’s house vicinity. The plastic will be

gathered by the researchers from the recycled wastes and the rice straw and sawdust will be

gathered from farmland located in Barangay Karaos, San Francisco Agusan del Sur.

1.6 Definition of Terms

The following terms were defined according to how they are used in the study:

ASTM It is the abbreviation for American Society

for Testing and Materials and will be the

standard that the researchers will follow

during the experiment.

Noise level It is measured in decibels (dB) and will be

measured during the experiment.

Noise level meter It is the instrument to be used by the

researchers to measure noise level.

NRC (Noise Reduction Coefficient) Refers to a single number value ranging

from 0.0 to 1.0 that describes the average

sound absorption performance of the RSST

and SPT.

Portland cement It is the type of concrete that will be used in

the study.

RSST
 contains the following components: cement,

sand, rice straw, and sawdust.

It is the abbreviation for Rice straw -

sawdust tile. It is an experimental tile that

No. 10 Sieve Refers to the type of sieve used to ____ the

collected rice straw.

No. 20 Sieve Refers to the type of sieve used to ____ the

collected sawdust

It is an instrument used to find particle size distribution of a particular aggregate.

Signal generator It is the instrument used by the researchers

to produce a constant signal during the

experiment.

SPT It is the abbreviation for Rice straw -

sawdust tile. It is an experimental tile that

contains the following components: cement,

sand, shredded plastic.

1.7 Conceptual Framework

The study premised that shredded plastic and rice straw-sawdust are both effective sound-

absorbing materials for noise reducing tiles. Recycled plastics can exhibit a high amount of

sound absorption in the medium frequency band, which is not typical of most absorption

materials, and as a result, they can be used in a variety of noise-control applications (Grkovic et

Independent Dependent Variable Dependent Variable

Variable
Noise Level NRC (Noise
SPT Composition Reduction
al., 2018). For the rice straw and sawdust, both are potential natural porous materials that can

absorb noises. These types of material can be utilized to create noise-reducing panels (De Silva

et al., 2012). Hence, the foregoing paradigm presents the variables of the study and the process

through which it will be conducted using the systems approach.

Figure 1.1. The schematic diagram of the study.

The concept shows that the SPT and RSST composition as the dependent variables are

used to determine the noise level of each tile set-ups. After determining the noise level, this

variable will then be used in order to calculate the noise reduction factor which will interpret

whether the SPT and RSST are effective noise reducing tiles.

CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

The ability to manage noise is essential. Glass wool and rock wool are now employed as

noise absorbent materials for noise reduction. However, it is widely believed that these elements

have serious health consequences for humans (Langer et al., 2001). As a result, an urgent
exploration of an alternative natural material for noise absorption is necessary. The Noise

Reduction Coefficient (NRC) is a measurement of a material's ability to absorb noise. It is

defined as the ratio of absorbed sound intensity to incident sound intensity in Miao et al.

Porous materials, which have a great potential for sound absorption, are commonly

employed for noise reduction. Porous foam or fibrous medium are the two types of materials.

Glass or rock wool, which has significant acoustic absorption capabilities, is the fibrous

substance used to make sound absorbers. Polyurethane is used to make foam. Foam has internal

gaps that capture sound energy, making it an excellent acoustic absorption medium. The passive

noise reduction approach uses materials such as glass wool, polyurethane foam, asbestos, and

other materials to reduce noise. Moreover, natural fibers have the potential to provide a low-cost,

renewable source of fibers for polymer composite materials (Faruk et al., 2012; Al-Oqla and

Sapuan, 2014; Sanjay and Suchart, 2019).

Aside from natural porous materials, a lot of research has also gone into the acoustic

characteristics of rubber and the prospect of employing rubber for passive noise reduction based

on recent trends in porous sound-absorbing materials (Arenas and Crocker, 2010). The

preliminary results of the absorption coefficient of these rubber samples, under normal incidence

settings, have been demonstrated to be quite high. These studies were pushed through with one

reason that plastic manufacturing and use have increased significantly as a result of rapid

urbanization and economic growth in several countries. The recovery rate of plastic trash

remains very low due to the low recycling value of plastic and a lack of technological support.

The majority of it is dumped in landfills, burned in incinerators, or washed into the ocean.

Pollution, food chain contamination, biodiversity breakdowns, energy waste, and economic loss

are all repercussions of these massive amounts of plastic garbage.

 Rapid industrialization has occurred as a result of technological advancement, and

industrial noise plays a critical role in producing noise problems. Machines are the primary

contributors of noise in industry. The machine noises were determined as being in the frequency

range of 1 kHz to 8 kHz. People's tolerance for various amounts of noise varies greatly. The

general public is mostly inconvenienced by the massive noises produced by machines. Hearing

loss, speech communication interference, rest and sleep disturbances, mental-health and

performance consequences are only a few of the negative effects of noise (Berglund et al., 1999).

The methodology of the study by De Silva et al (2012) entitled “Utilization of Sawdust

and Coconut Coir Fibre as Noise Reducing Wall Surface Materials” includes the creation of

sawdust tiles and a coconut coir fiber panel, as well as an experimental process for determining

each tile's Noise Reduction Coefficient. In analyzing the data, the Noise Reduction Coefficient

(NRC) was calculated as the proportion of the noise reductions caused by the tile compared to

the incident noise level before the tile was installed. The noise reduction was calculated as the

difference between the noise level measurement before and after the tile was installed. The

study's findings clearly reveal that the noise reduction coefficient of a 25mm thick tile is often

larger than that of a 15mm thick tile, with the exception of 6 and 7 kHz, where it is in the range

of 0.25-0.45.

In the frequency range of 1-4 kHz, a similar tendency has been observed in a study

“Noise Control Using Coconut Coir Fiber Sound Absorber with Porous Layer Backing and

Perforated Panel” by Rozli et al. (2010), in which they conducted a previous study in which they

studied the influence of Noise Absorption Coefficient thickness (NAC). Although a direct

comparison between NAC and NRC would not be acceptable, the NRC increases with increasing

the thickness from 1- 6 kHz in the current study, whereas it was observed from 1- 4 kHz in the
prior work. When outside noise waves struck the tile, the particles inside were stimulated and

began to vibrate. As a result, the air on the other side of the tile began to vibrate, causing a wave

to flow through the tile. The transmission is the term for this. The sound wave's energy is lost at

each transmission step. It's the amount of energy that the tile has absorbed. The transmission

length increases as the thickness grows, resulting in more energy loss and perhaps contributing to

an increase in NRC.

In addition to the prior study (De Silva et al., 2012), the data results show that NRC

varies with sawdust particle size, while other variables remain constant. NRC is higher for the

tile cast with large particles than for the tile cast with small particles in most frequencies. The

void ratio (porosity) increases as the particle diameter is larger. Smaller diameter particles, on the

other hand, can pack tightly, lowering the void ratio. If there are more voids, the sound wave will

be able to transfer well across the material and will be muted. It could help increase the

absorption component.

Another study involving porous material entitled “Acoustic Property of Recycled Plastic”

is published by Grkovic et. al (2018). The research work is aimed at the acoustic properties of

recycled rubber granules in the frequency range of 125Hz-1600Hz, as well as the relationship

between the sound absorption coefficient and the thickness of the material. The testing samples

consisted of recycled plastic granules (granule sizes ranged from 3 to 5mm) and a polyurethane

resin binding agent. The samples were 10mm, 20mm, 30mm, 40mm, and 50mm thick, and they

were cast in moulds with a diameter of 100mm without being pressed to ensure porosity. The

absorption coefficient was measured in an impedance tube and the SRPS EN ISO 10534-2

standard was used to describe the transfer function mechanism between two microphones. This

method works by recording signals from two microphones and computing their transfer functions
to decompose the standing wave that forms in the tube. The absorption coefficient is obtained

after the reflection coefficient is calculated using the transfer function. The values of the

absorption coefficient at normal incidence, in the frequency range indicated by the physical

dimensions of the tube and the distance between the microphones, are obtained using this

method. It is possible to acquire quick measurements for normal incidence using this method and

tiny samples.

The data result of the study shows that the absorption coefficient of recycled plastic

increases with increasing frequency up to a value of 1250Hz, beyond which it declines (Grkovic

et al., 2018). The best absorption coefficient values are found in the range of 800Hz to 1600Hz.

The thickness of the material has a considerable influence on raising the absorption coefficient at

higher frequencies beyond 1250Hz, up to a thickness of 30mm, and thereafter has a negative

effect, causing a minor fall in the absorption coefficient. It can be inferred that these materials

exhibit a high amount of sound absorption in the medium frequency band, which is not typical of

most absorption materials, and as a result, they can be used in a variety of noise-control

applications.

CHAPTER III

METHODOLOGY

3.1 Research Design

 The study will adapt an experimental research design which requires the production of

tiles and calculation of NRC and statistical significance.

Figure 3.1 Flow Chart

3.2 Gathering of Materials

The procedure will start with the researchers gathering the materials needed for the

experiment. The rice straw and sawdust will be gathered from local farms of Barangay Karaos,

San Francisco Agusan del Sur and the plastic materials will be collected from segregated waste.

The collected plastic will be shredded into fine pieces. The rice straw will also be grinded

into finer pieces. The sawdust will be passed through a No. 20 sieve while the rice straw will be

passed through a No. 10 sieve and the retained materials are used for the experiment. The

retained sawdust and rice straw are mixed together for the following steps.

3.3 Preparation of Tiles

Mixing of Tiles
 In mixing the components for the tiles, the researchers will follow the procedure based on

ASTM C270 standards. A total of five tiles will be produced all of which will follow the same

procedure. The control (Setup 1) which is the cement mortar tile is first prepared by adding most

of the water and half of the sand. Next, add the cement (Ordinary Portland Cement: OPC) and

the rest of the sand. After one minute of continuous mixing, slowly add the rest of the water.

Mixing will be done for at least three minutes. For the remaining tiles, the experimental material

will be added at the same time with the cement. The mixture ratio and composition are stated in

the following tables.

Mixture Identification Cement Sand Material

Mixture A 1.5 1 1

Mixture B 1 1 1

Table 3.1 Mixture Ratio

Tile Identification Tile 1 Tile 2

Setup 1 (Control) Cement mortar None

Setup 2-A Cement mortar Shredded plastic (Mixture A)

Setup 2-B Cement mortar Shredded plastic (Mixture B)

Setup 3-A Cement mortar Rice straw and sawdust (Mixture A)

Setup 3-B Cement mortar Rice straw and sawdust (Mixture B)

Table 3.2 Control and Experimental Setup Composition

Molding of Tiles
 The mold dimensions that will be used for all the tiles are 20cm x 20cm x 2.5 cm, length

x width x height. Fresh mortar will be poured into the mold making sure to uniformly fill the

molds and tamping it in the process.

Curing of Tiles

As per ASTM C270 standard, the tile will be cured for two weeks through natural curing.

3.4 Collection of Data

After all the tiles are cured and dry, the researchers will prepare the experimental setup as

shown in the following figure.

Figure 3.2 Experimental setup

The sound level meter is placed inside the wooden box and the speaker attached to the

signal generator is placed outside the box at a fixed distance. The tiles will be placed on the side

of the box that is facing the speaker. The noise level will be measured for each setup with a

constant noise. Finally, the NRC is calculated using the formula:

 a−b
Noise Reduction Coefficient (NCR) = ; where a is the noise level with only the
a

control tile while b is the noise level with the control tile and experimental tile.

3.5 Data Analysis

The following statistical tools will be used in this study:

ANOVA (Analysis of Variance) – Tells if there are any significant differences between

the noise level of the Setup 1 (control) to Setup 2-A, 2-B, 3-A, and 3-B and if there is a

significant difference among the NRC of Setup 2-A, Setup 2-B, Setup 3-A, and Setup 3-B.

The researchers will use Microsoft Excel 2010 Software in calculating the

aforementioned Statistical Tools for convenience and efficiency.

 BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Berglund, B., Lindvall, T., and Schwela, D. H. (1994). Guidelines for Community Noise:
Adverse Health Effects Of Noise. Stockholm University and Karolinska Institute. Page 21.

Faruk, O., Bledzki, A. K., Fink, H. P., and Sain, M. (2014). Progress report on natural fiber
reinforced composites. Macromol. Mater. Eng. 299, 9-26. doi: 10.1002/mame.201300008

Gupta, S. and Ghatak, C. (2011). Environmental noise assessment and its effect on human health
in an urban area. Int. J. Environ. SCI., 1: 1954-1964