Exhaust Noise Emission Characteristics of Gasoline Engine

Authors

  • D. O. Omondi
  • R. Kinyua
  • A. N. Mayaka

Keywords:

exhaust noise emission, internal combustion engines, noise exposure, safety and health

Abstract

The use of internal combustion engines have increased over the years as they are a common prime mover for a variety of tasks including transportation, power generation, and machinery and process operations in industries. Safe work practices require that noise exposure be monitored and controlled and should not exceed set limits. The most common method of engine exhaust noise control is the use of mufflers or silencers. However, depending on the year of manufacture, maintenance and operating environment, loads and operating speeds, these engines emit noise that seriously affect the safety and health of those exposed. Data analysis on noise produced for by engines during operation is not available. In this paper, an analysis of the exhaust noise emissions for different operating speeds of a gasoline engine is presented. It is found that the values of the average noise levels for the frequency components increases by between 6% and 50% with increase in engine speed for both arrangements with and without the exhaust silencer system installed. For the arrangement with the exhaust system the peak average noise level was 84.9 dB(A) at frequency of 31.5 Hzwhile that without the exhaust system the peak average noise level was 106.1 dB(A) at 125 Hz.The former was just about the action limit while the latter was beyond the recommended action level of 85dB(A), both
determined at a background noise level of 39.2 dB(A).There was a tendency for the noise levels to reduce at higher frequencies. It was
also observed that the average noise levels decreased for each of the centre frequencies with occasional spikes that indicate centre frequencies that could be used for noise control. This analysis provides vital information needed in order to justify technical or management solutions to the noise problem.

Author Biographies

D. O. Omondi

Engineering Workshops, JKUAT

R. Kinyua

Institute of Energy and Environmental Technology, JKUAT

A. N. Mayaka

Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Multimedia University of Kenya

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Published

04-04-2022