| Author: | Tai, Tak Yin |
| Title: | Environmental friendly assessment of noise control methods in air-conditioning ductworks |
| Degree: | M.Eng. |
| Year: | 2012 |
| Subject: | Air conditioning -- Noise. Ventilation -- Noise. Noise control. Hong Kong Polytechnic University -- Dissertations |
| Department: | Department of Building Services Engineering |
| Pages: | ix, 77, 76 leaves : ill. (chiefly col.) ; 30 cm. |
| Language: | English |
| Abstract: | Environmental problems including global warming, ozone layer depletion and energy crisis have let to the development of solutions to alleviate their impacts. However, in studies of the large building services systems which usually dominate the building energy consumption, acoustic control systems in mechanical ventilation and air-conditioning system (MVAC) were overlooked. This has led to obvious negative effect on the environment when significant amount of control system units installed in MVAC is the corollary of need for proper selection of acoustic control systems. This dissertation provides solutions to evaluate the sustainable performances of acoustic control methods including the silencer, the duct lining, active noise control and semi-active noise control and select the most appropriate control method in term of sustainability. Two analytical models, analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and life cycle analysis (LCA), were used to analyze environmental, social as well as human impacts of the control methods. AHP involved survey to collect intangible information, such as system complexity and performance to human comfort. The survey targets involved experts including local university professors and acoustic consultants (totally 13 respondents). LCA involved computer simulation of LCA TOOL provided by Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (EMSD) to collect tangible information, such as resource depletion, carbon emission and energy consumption. The results of the models showed that the silencer performed the best in AHP while the duct lining performed the best in LCA. This difference was directly attributable to the misunderstanding of sustainable development of noise control methods, as the respondents believed that the lower the initial cost and resource depletion, the more sustainable the methods are. However, LCA results showed that sustainable performance also depended on the life span of the systems and differences between initial and operation stages. The combined result showing the sequence from most sustainable to least sustainable was: duct lining, silencer, active noise control and semi-active noise control respectively. |
| Rights: | All rights reserved |
| Access: | restricted access |
Files in This Item:
| File | Description | Size | Format | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| b25255654.pdf | For All Users (off-campus access for PolyU Staff & Students only) | 3.67 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
Copyright Undertaking
As a bona fide Library user, I declare that:
- I will abide by the rules and legal ordinances governing copyright regarding the use of the Database.
- I will use the Database for the purpose of my research or private study only and not for circulation or further reproduction or any other purpose.
- I agree to indemnify and hold the University harmless from and against any loss, damage, cost, liability or expenses arising from copyright infringement or unauthorized usage.
By downloading any item(s) listed above, you acknowledge that you have read and understood the copyright undertaking as stated above, and agree to be bound by all of its terms.
Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:
https://theses.lib.polyu.edu.hk/handle/200/6645