Intelligent vibration isolation can reduce noise in the workplace. This is what happened in a Schluchseewerk AG power station, where the loud noise emanating from screw pumps could be significantly reduced with the help of vibration-isolating “slab” panels from ACE shock absorbers.

Utilizing the power of water is the primary task of Schluchseewerk AG. The company, headquartered in Laufenburg on the Upper Rhine in Baden, is located near the reservoir that is part of the company name. Over the decades, the 1928-founded company has created a network of power plants that provide around 1600 MW in pump mode and 1800 MW in turbine mode for Germany's energy supply. The southern Black Forest offers ideal conditions for the sensible and efficient construction and operation of pumped storage power plants. From the Schluchsee down to the Upper Rhine, the Black Forest drops around 600 m. The large drop height creates high water pressure, which is converted by the five power plants of the company with four sets of machines in electrical energy.

Divided into two power plant groups, each turbine, generator and pump work as required. The problem of employees being affected by company noise is similar at all locations. As the youngest child among the power plants of the Schluchseegroup, the choice fell as the location for a pilot project to improve the working climate at the Waldshut power plant. Its maximum flow rate during pump operation is 40 m³ / s. Every year it generates about 170 million kWh of electricity.

A high proportion of this is due to the screw pumps installed there. With a weight of 300 kg each, they are also the core of the noise problem. Because the direct transfer of the resulting during the pumping forces on the water tank, the entire construction is set in vibration. This is mainly due to the high proportion of air in the pumped oil, which is in the tank. The resulting background noise is so loud that almost all employees of the power plant feel disturbed.

To change this, the Schluchseewerk turned to a trusted partner: "We have worked together with ACE several times over the past few years. In addition to the innovative products, we were also impressed by the courteous, friendly and service-oriented nature of the employees ", says Gerhard Bockstaller, skilled worker production at KW Waldshut.

Containment of operational noise through teamwork

The strength of ACE as a specialist for industrial damping technology lies in the speed of comprehensive service provided by local technical consultants. In addition, depending on the customer's requirements and depending on the application, specialized teams are put together. In this case, Udo Fischer, who works for ACE as an engineer and customer advisor in south-west Germany, immediately noticed that it wasn't just the pumps themselves that could be the problem, but yours as well Gland with the foundation.

He then got in touch with the ACE development team for vibration technology at the company headquarters in Langenfeld in order to best meet the Schluchseewerk's request for structure-borne noise insulation of 6 dB.

As a result of the inventory, the customer was suggested to use an elastic screw connection using vibration-isolating plates from the Slab family to reduce the operating noise measured at 86 dB. “When it came to vibration isolation, we trusted ACE completely. Udo Fischer and his team took on the design, test phase and installation of their products for us, ”explains Gerhard Bockstaller.

Taking all factors into account quickly led to the ACE vibration isolating panels. These are available in three different product families and textures. A first clue as to which of the three different board types from ACE are best suited in Waldshut was provided by the design using the company's own software. With the help of the program, the correct material type depending on the load can be found by determining the desired insulation in relation to the excitation frequency.

So it was decided to use SL type slab plates. These vibration isolation plates made of elastic PUR materials can be used universally and are very versatile. They are available ex works in Langenfeld with different damping properties, different permissible surface pressures and variable standard densities and can be ordered, cut to size and delivered from there using the online configurator.

Vibration isolation confirmed by 6,6 dB

In Waldshut it was previously about the actual isolation of the noise source. For this purpose, the ACE team installed slab plates between the tank and the pump and between the screw head and the pump. This took place in the form of a so-called elastic storage. With the aid of the illustrated screw connection, the structure-borne sound transmission was completely separated from the transmitter, namely the pump, to the receiving tank.

The previous theoretical calculations predicted a reduction of 6,6 dB as a result of this measure. Vibration measurements performed by the team during the installation, as requested by the customer, confirmed the theoretical assumption that the special type of elastic bolting could prevent residual transmission of vibrations by ACE.

At the end of the day, everyone was delighted with the value of 6,6 dB and the fact that the theoretically calculated value could be achieved exactly in the field and even reduced by 6% compared to the customer's intended 10 dB. The measuring service is provided by the shock absorber specialist, depending on the application. If one also considers that a level reduction by 3 dB already corresponds to a reduction of the sound energy by 50% and a reduction by 10 dB is accompanied by the halving of the volume, this result is a big step.

As a solution to this solution proved that the Slab products are cut to size and easy to install by sticking. This makes them suitable for many damping requirements. The high-tech material made of microcellular polyurethane elastomers is environmentally friendly foamed with water. Due to the possibility of foaming, it can also be used on other materials, eg. As self-adhesive carrier films or wear layers are applied. As a result, the wide range of applications of these products increases again many times over.

In order to increase the working comfort by further noise reduction in addition, the solution described is supplemented by a sound insulation of the drive motor. But the range of applications of the vibration-isolating slab plates presented here goes far beyond the case. Other applications are z. As the reduction of vibrations on foundations of equipment and machinery, the pipeline insulation or the calming of test benches, measuring tables and their foundations.

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