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Question:
I need to reduce the noise level reaching a residence located approximately 150 feet from an industrial metal stamping plant. The plant external wall is standard cement block. Would it be feasible to fill the cement block cores with a sound absorbing foam that could be sprayed in as a semi-liquid? I also am interested in applying material inside this plant wall to further reduce the external noise situation. What are the range of choices vs. cost?
Thanks for any help you can provide ….
Larry

ANSWER: Thanks for sending us your question. Thanks for your question. Acoustic blankets are a premium product for in-plant applications such as yours. Filling the cement blocks with foam could be a bit costly and labor intensive and not as effective as acoustic blankets alone. Certainly, any additional measures taken will help reduce Industrial Noise.
For example, since noise travels along construction material, if you have pipes or electrical conduits exiting the building in the direction of the residential area, you will want to use a product like Acoustic Pipe wrap and barrier found on this page (which will open a new window ). This will reduce the sound waves & vibration traveling along those conduits bringing sound outside.
For your main source, to absorb equipment noise from your stamping presses, you’ll want to if possible isolate the noise by wrapping or enclosing loud sections that can be enclosed. The purpose here is to block the sound transmission more than absorb it so it does not have a chance to reach the residential neighborhood. Fastening our Acoustic blankets & sound curtains (which will open a new window ) will work well for noise abatement. Industrial Noise will be blocked from reaching the walls and traveling to the outside. The blanket material can be easily and cost-effectively attached to the cement block and/or as I mentioned before, as screens or enclosures closer to or wrapped on particular equipment.
The Acoustic blankets should also be enclosed around other noisy equipment adding to the overall sound generated from your stamping equipment. Generators and other such mechanicals are what I’m referring to… in fact, one of the most common uses for our acoustic blanket is stopping generator noise. Doors and windows are another easy escape from sound and we have a specialty product that is a fitted acoustic door panel using our blanket material (which will open a new window)which will be one more step in reducing and stopping the noise leaving your plant. We also carry all the necessary blanket and sound curtain hardware for installations.
Furthermore, if you have metal open ceilings as I imagine the sound will transfer through the gridwork and metal (and yes wood) structures and that vibration of material will carry the sound to the outside. Industrial Noise will escape gridwork from drop ceilings, skylights, exhaust pipes, and electrical conduits that all may exit through the ceiling. Using our HVAC Pipe Wrap Barrier will reduce that from happening.
If there is a drop ceiling, then using a Ceiling Tile Barrier laid atop the grid will significantly reduce noise from escaping.. however, I imagine that your ceiling is open and most of the metal, in which case added baffles will help absorb extra sound waves that are bouncing around your facility looking for exit gaps and materials to vibrate and travel through. Our acoustic blankets for heavy industrial plants are indeed available as baffles, and we have fire-rated industrial foams (scroll toward the bottom to see the FireFlex products) that serve this purpose.
I believe the following measures will give you a great range of choices each and every one of them proven acoustic soundproofing material that will work hard inside an industrial plant environment such as your stamping plant. All of these are more cost-effective and will eliminate more noise than simply filling the cement block as the actual cement material (the concrete itself) without interruption shares the inside and outside air allowing that to be a conduit for escaping noise.