SPX Profiles

Low Noise Solutions

When Guaranty Bank's Temple Island Data Center needed a cooling solution in a soundsensitive environment, they turned to SPX Cooling Technologies to turn down the volume.

SPX Cooling Technologies has developed new “low noise” configurations that allow cooling equipment to operate with reduced radiated noise, while maintaining equipment performance. Primarily designed for new HVAC and industrial equipment applications, many of these sound-reducing options can also be used on existing installations.

“Noise Pollution” is a growing concern for communities around the globe. With continued urban development and expansion of industrial facilities, many of our customers are faced with strictly enforced noise regulations. In response to this growing demand for quiet, yet efficient equipment, SPX Cooling Technologies delivers an array of acoustically engineered quiet cooling equipment solutions.

Low Noise Fans
Fan noise is typically the largest noise contributor to mechanically cooled equipment. By installing wide chord, premium efficiency fans capable of operating at low tip speeds, sound levels can be lowered as much as 2 to 10 decibels depending on the model and configurations. Compared to traditional fan configurations, this revolutionary design provides equivalent or better performance with minimal cost impact, making low noise fans a very economical solution.

For extreme cases where fan sound must be all but eliminated an even quieter design is available. SPX Cooling Technologies’ “Ultra Low-Noise” fan is capable of reducing the sound pressure levels another 3 to 6 decibels with a negligible reduction in equipment performance.

Attentuators
Many of SPX Cooling Technologies’ products are “direct-contact” heat exchangers meaning that the air is in direct contact with the water it is cooling. While very compact and efficient, this type of heat exchange produces falling water noise in addition to fan noise. For these types of units, SPX Cooling has introduced a unique and proprietary configuration of baffled attenuators, or silencers.

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Through exhaustive research and testing, these systems have been designed with negligible impact on equipment performance. These modularized panels are easily assembled on site and can be configured to deliver anywhere from 5 to 12 decibels on noise reduction at the tower inlet as well as at the fan discharge. These options combined with an expanding product portfolio, continue the effort of SPX Cooling Technologies to be the single source for quiet global cooling solutions.