Demand for Sound Intensity Measurement services continues to grow

18 February 2016 by Chris Anderson, Director

Demand for Sound Intensity measurement services provided by Spectrum continues to grow as ISO 9614 measurement standards are increasingly specified as the preferred method for sound power level measurement. However, the benefits of sound intensity measurement extend well beyond equipment noise testing.

For over a decade the European petroleum industry has expressed an increasing preference for the use of sound intensity measurements for the determination of equipment sound power levels during FAT (factory acceptance tests), commissioning noise tests and in-situ noise assessments on refineries and platforms.

Although national industry standards also recommend the use of sound pressure level based measurement procedures as being acceptable, there are strong reasons to opt for sound intensity, as follows:-

• Sound intensity gives more accurate and typically lower measurement results in locations where background noise or acoustic reflections can be problematic (e.g. factory test beds, refineries, platforms).

• More accurate and lower results assist the purchaser in predicting work area noise levels and the vendor in demonstrating compliance with equipment noise specifications.

Whilst the benefits to equipment purchasers and vendors are clear, the benefits of sound intensity are equally relevant in other areas such as building acoustics or remedial noise control, where the ability of sound intensity to accurately quantify the origin of noise in a complex sound field can eliminate the financial risk of attenuating the wrong source.

Unfortunately, although the technology has been available for some time, instrumentation remains expensive and is not therefore generally purchased by occasional users. In view of the above, Spectrum have purchased a full Bruel & Kjaer Sound Intensity Kit and can offer sound intensity measurements both for the purposes of undertaking noise tests to relevant standards and for the analysis of complex noise problems where sound pressure level measurements alone may be inadequate.

Further information on Equipment Noise Testing