title: A noise control package for vibrating screens.
abstract: Hearing loss was the second-most common illness reported to the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) in 2009. Furthermore, between 2000 and 2010, 30% of all noise-related injury complaints reported to MSHA were for coal preparation plant employees. Previous National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) studies have shown that vibrating screens are key noise sources to address in order to reduce coal preparation plant noise. In response, NIOSH researchers have developed a suite of noise controls for vibrating screens consisting of constrained layer damping (CLD) treatments, a tuned mechanism suspension, an acoustic enclosure, and spring inserts. Laboratory testing demonstrates that this noise control suite reduces the A-weighted sound power level of the vibrating screen by 6 dB. To provide a comparison to laboratory results and prove durability, field testing of two noise controls was performed on a vibrating screen in a working coal preparation plant. The spring inserts and CLD treatments were selected due to their ease of installation and practicability. Field testing of these controls yielded reductions that were comparable to laboratory results.
authors.affiliation: NIOSH, 626 Cochrans Mill Rd, P.O. Box 18070, Pittsburgh, PA 15236 USA.
authors.forename: M Jenae
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Lowe
authors.affiliation: NIOSH, 626 Cochrans Mill Rd, P.O. Box 18070, Pittsburgh, PA 15236 USA.
authors.forename: David S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Yantek
authors.affiliation: NIOSH, 626 Cochrans Mill Rd, P.O. Box 18070, Pittsburgh, PA 15236 USA.
authors.forename: Junyi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: United States Steel Corporation, 5706 Ollie St, Pittsburgh, PA 15207 USA. Work reported here was undertaken while at CDC.
authors.forename: Kevin C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Schuster
authors.affiliation: NIOSH, 626 Cochrans Mill Rd, P.O. Box 18070, Pittsburgh, PA 15236 USA.
authors.forename: Jessie J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Mechling