TRIBHUVAN UNIVERSITY

INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING
PULCHOWK CAMPUS

NOISE POLLUTION
Prajaya Pathak (074BME626)
Prajwal Koirala (074BME627)
Prasanna Koirala(074BME628)
Prateek Neupane (074BME629)
Reban Niraula (074BME630)

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL AND AEROSPACE ENGINEERING

LALITPUR, NEPAL
Contents
• Nature of sound
• Human ear
• Quantification of sound in terms of SPL and PWL
• Typical noise levels of different places and effects of
noise
• Noise control methods

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 INTRODUCTION
• Noise Pollution Noise, commonly defined as unwanted
sound, is an environmental phenomenon to which we are
exposed before birth and throughout life.
• Noise is an environmental pollutant, a waste product
generated in conjunction with various anthropogenic
activities. Under the latter definition, noise is any sound-
independent of loudness that can produce an undesired
physiological or psychological effect in an individual, and
that may interfere with the social ends of an individual or
group.
• These social ends include all of our activities-
communication, work, rest, recreation, and sleep.

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• Noise pollution, also known as environmental
sound pollution, is the propagation of noise with ranging
impacts on the activity of human or animal life, most of
them harmful to a degree.

• Poor urban planning may give rise to noise disintegration

or pollution.

• Some of the main sources of noise in residential areas

include loud music, transportation (traffic, rail, airplanes,
etc.), lawn care maintenance, construction, electrical
generators, explosions, and people.

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• Today, the average noise level of
98 decibels (dB) exceeds the WHO value of
50 dB allowed for residential areas.

Fig: Noise Pollution

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 EFFECTS:
• High noise levels can contribute
to cardiovascular effects in humans and an
increased incidence of coronary artery disease.

•  In animals, noise can increase the risk of

death by altering predator or prey detection
and avoidance, interfere with reproduction and
navigation, and contribute to permanent
hearing loss.

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Noise Pollution and Human Ear

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Effects of Noise on Human

Auditory Hearing Loss

Effects

Speech
Interference

Psychological Sleep
Effects Interference

Annoyance

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Effects of Noise on Human

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The Hearing Mechanism

1. Stimuli
2. Conduction of Sound Waves
3. Transduction of Sound Waves
4. Neural Transmission of Sound Waves
5. Encoding of Signals

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The Hearing Mechanism

FIg. Human Ear

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The Hearing Mechanism

1. Stimulus

- Sound waves as received by the receptors

- Range: 20Hz to 20KHz of frequency

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The Hearing Mechanism

2. Conduction of Sound Waves

External ear: Collects and reflects the sound waves to external

auditory meatus.
Middle Ear: Conducts Tympanic Membrane vibrations to ear ossicles.

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The Hearing Mechanism

3. Transduction of Sound Waves

- Conversion of Mechanical sound wave into Electrical Signal

- Takes place in inner ear

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The Hearing Mechanism

4. Neural Transmission of Signals

- Transmission of the transduced electrical signals

- To the Auditory Cortex

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The Hearing Mechanism

5. Encoding of Signals
- Neural Processing of Auditory Information
- Perception of the Auditory Information

a. Encoding of frequency (Pitch Determination)

b. Encoding of Intensity (Loudness Determination)
c. Feature Detection
d. Localization of sound in space

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Quantification of Sound
(Acoustical Parameters)

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 Basic Acoustical Parameters
Sound Pressure
• Sound Pressure Level (SPL)

Sound Power
• Sound Power Level (PWL)
• Sound Intensity

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 Sound Pressure
• Sound Pressure is the force of sound on a surface area perpendicular to

the direction of sound.

• Sound pressure is the difference between instantaneous absolute

pressure and the ambient pressure

• In air, sound pressure can be measured using a microphone, and in water

with a hydrophone.

We can define the mean-square sound pressure as

Where,
• p rms is the root mean square of acoustic pressures
• T is the period of measurement
• p is the instantaneous acoustic pressures

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The SI unit of sound pressure is Pascal (Pa).
 SOUND PRESSURE LEVEL (SPL)
• Sound pressure level is the end result.

• Pressure level as a ratio of sound pressure to a base level.

• Sound Pressure Level (SPL) is a logarithmic measure of the RMS sound
pressure of a sound relative to a reference value, the threshold of hearing.
It is measured in decibels (dB).

for air ... water, steel, etc., are different.

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 Some Typical Sound Pressure
Source at 1 m Sound Pressure Lp re 20 µPa *
Rifle 200 Pa 140 dB
Threshold of pain 20 Pa 120 dB
Pneumatic hammer 2 Pa 100 dB
6 Db = double the Pa 1 Pa 94 dB
Street traffic 0.2 Pa 80 dB
Talking 0.02 Pa 60 dB
Library 0.002 Pa 40 dB
TV Studio 0.0002 Pa 20 dB
Threshold of hearing 0.00002 Pa 0 dB

Reference Sound Pressure P0 in air= 2 x 10-5 Pa = 20 µPa = 0 dB

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 Sound Power
• Sound power is the rate at which sound

energy is emitted, reflected, transmitted or

received, per unit time.

• Sound Power Level and the Sound Power

from some common sources as fans, jet engines,

cars, humans and more ..

• The SI unit of sound power is the watt (W)

• Sound power passing through an area is sometimes called sound flux or acoustic
flux through that area.
• Sound power denoted by P

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 Sound Power Level
• Sound power can more practically be

expressed as a relation to the threshold of

hearing – 10-12 W in a logarithmic scale

named Sound Power Level, expressed as

Lw = 10 log (N / N0 )
Where,
Lw = Sound Power Level in Decibel (dB)
N = Sound Power (W)
N0 = 10-12 - reference sound power (W).
• Human hearable Sound Power spans from 10-12 W to 10 - 100 W, a range of
10/ 10-12 = 1013.
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 Sound Intensity
• Sound intensity also known as acoustic intensity is defined as the sound
power per unit area.
• The usual context is the noise measurement of sound intensity in the air at
a listener's location as a sound energy quantity
• Sound intensity is not the same physical quantity as sound pressure.

• The SI unit of sound intensity is the watt per square meter (W/m2)
• It is denoted by I.

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Sound Pressure vs. Sound Power
Parameter Sound Pressure Sound Power Level
Level
Abbreviation SPL PWL
Symbol Lp Lw
Units Pascal Watt
Reference 20 micro-Pa (µPa) 1 pico-Watts (pW)
Uses Sound Quantifying the
measurements, acoustical source
sound limits, level of sound
regulations, and sources (usually
many others mechanical
equipment)

Both can be reported as dB, but Lp ≠ Lw!

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In acoustics, Sound Power Level (SWL) characterizes the intrisic acoustic power
of an acoustic noise source, whereas Sound Pressure Level (SPL) characterizes
the acoustic noise level observed at a certain distance from the source in a
certain acoustic environment.
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 Typical Noise
Levels At Different
Places and Effects
of Noise
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  • The sound pressure level (SPL) is the most commonly us
of the acoustic wave strength.

• Sound pressure level (SPL) or acoustic pressure level is a

measure of the effective pressure of a sound relative to
value.

• The unit of SPL is decibels (dB).

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• Since, excessive noise can be harmful for the human health, so
some permissible noise levels must be established.
• WHO has defined some guidelines values for noise level at
different environment based on the lowest level of noise that
affect health (critical health effect).
• Apart from WHO guidelines, the policymakers of each country
themselves can define a certain permissible noise level that
least hamper the health.

Some of the permissible noise levels are given below:

Permissible noise level Permissible noise level
Zone standards in day time (dB) standards in night time (dB)

Industrial Zone 75 70
Commercial 65 55
Zone
Residential 55 45
Zone
Silent Zone 50 40

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Effects of Noise:

• Interference with communication: Noise tends to interfere with

auditory communication, in which speech is a most important
signal.

• Cardiovascular effect: Studies show that noise raises the risk of

cardiovascular disease such as hypertension, coronary heart
disease, heart failure and stroke.

• Cognitive impairment: When young children are regularly

exposed to levels of noise that interfere with speech, they may
develop speech or reading difficulties.

• Sleep disturbance: The more intense the background noise, the

more disturbing is its effect on sleep. Measurable effects on
sleep start at background noise levels of about 30 dB.

• Effects on performance: Mental activities involving high load in

working memory, such complex analysis, are all directly
sensitive to noise and can hamper performance. 31
• Mental health effect: In noisy areas, it has been observed that
there is an increased use of prescription drugs such as tranquilizers
and sleeping pills, and an increased frequency of psychiatric
symptoms and mental hospital admissions.

• Tinnitus(Ringing in the Ears): Tinnitus can be very distressing

condition and can lead to disturbed sleep and affect speech which
is caused by noise.

• Effect on wildlife: Wildlife faces far more problems than humans

because of noise pollution since they are more dependent on
sound. They become disoriented more easily and face many
behavioral problems. In nature, animals may suffer from hearing
loss, which makes them easy prey and leads

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NOISE CONTROL METHODS

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Only few methods to reduce noise indoors.

These control measures are just variations of the three basic methods:

• Reduce the amount of sound produced from the source

• Block, or contain-and-dissipate the sound

• Reduce excessive room reverberation

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 Control at the source

• Reducing the noise levels from domestic sectors

• Maintenance of automobiles

• Control over vibrations

• Low voice speaking

• Prohibit loud speakers

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 Source control at industrial level includes:

1. Maintenance: Replacement of worn parts, lubrication of moving parts, use of properly shaped
cutting tools

2. Substitution of materials: Metal can be replaced with plastics. Eg. Steel sprockets in chain
drives

3. Substitution of equipment: electric for pneumatic, hydraulic rather than mechanical presses,
belt conveyors instead of roller conveyors.

4. Substitution of process: use cutting fluid in machining processes, hot for cold working,
welding for riveting.

5. Substitution of mechanical power generation and transmission equipment: Use of electric

motors, likewise, use of belts or hydraulic power transmission for gear boxes

Source control to reduce aerodynamic-induced noise:

1. Minimize fluid velocity

2. Minimize turbulence by using large, low speed fans with curved blades

3. Avoid elbows
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 Block, or contain-and-dissipate the
sound
1. Enclosure and isolation:
Enclose noisy equipment in rooms with acoustic features like sound isolating, acoustic
louvres, or sealed windows and doors. Worker may also operate remotely the equipment
from an isolated room.

2. Acoustic barriers:
Panels made of sound absorbing materials are placed between the source of noise and
worker.

3. Installation of silencers in the ducts and at pneumatic exhausts

Silencers allow fluid to pass but restrict the passing of sound by reflecting or dissipating
the sound.

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 Reduce reverberation
• Reverberation happens when sound produced in an enclosure hits a hard reflective
surface.

• The sound reflects back and ads to the original source.

Reverberation in a
room
• Reverberation can be reduced by
arranging the equipment in a room in
such a way that the equipment is not
too close to too many reflective
surfaces.

• Any source placed near hard reflective

surface has its sound level of noise
increase by 3dB. Equipment placement in the
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room
Thank You

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