Those that work in and around processing plants and production facilities know how loud these processes can be. As fluid flows through piping, changes in flow rates and pressures can create noise. In an Automation.com article, How Additive Manufacturing Leads to Quieter Control Valves, Emerson’s Grady Emswiler and Mike Hoyme explain how this:
…sound is created by very high pressure drops across a valve, which generates high vapor velocities as the fluid moves through the narrowed passages in the valve body. Aerodynamic noise has a strong dependence on the gas velocity, so high flow and high pressure drop applications tend to reach deafening sound levels very quickly.
From a control valve standpoint, much work has been done by the Emerson team managing the Fisher brand of valves to mitigate this noise. You may be familiar with some of these technologies, including Fisher Whisper Trim technologies, Fisher Vee-Ball attenuator, Fisher WhisperFlo trim, Fisher 6060 WhisperTube modal attenuator, and Fisher V260 control valve with Aerodome attenuator.
As Grady and Mike note in the article:
…additive manufacturing techniques (3-D alloy printing) have introduced a whole range of new possibilities in noise reduction solutions.
The WhisperTube modal attenuator is one example where additive manufacturing made possible what couldn’t previously be manufactured through traditional methods. The exciting news is that the Emerson technologists have only scratched the surface of what’s possible in noise mitigation with additive manufacturing technology.
Here’s a brief 1:40 YouTube video, Treating control valve noise with Fisher Whisper technology, that shares how the bar continues to be raised for control valve noise reduction by reducing sound pressure levels to a manageable level with Fisher Whisper technology.
Visit the Control Valve Noise Reduction section on Emerson.com to learn more about these noise reduction technologies and how they can be best applied in your processing applications.
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