Abstract:

Sound from cooling towers in power plants can be a significant contributor to the overall noise level at plant boundaries. Because of their size, cooling towers cannot be treated as a single noise source, and special considerations must be made in determining the contribution of the cooling tower to the overall plant noise level. The significant sound sources of a cooling tower will be identified, as well as how the total sound emitted from a cooling tower is affected by operational and design changes in these sources. Data from field sound measurements of cooling towers will be used to illustrate some of these points. Discussion of measures to reduce cooling tower sound levels in a new installation will also reviewed. [See NOISE-CON Proceedings for full paper.]