Sunbelt Power
Acoustical envelope and ventilation system for a 20 MW standby power plant

General Description:
ATCO Noise Management designed, supplied and installed the structural steel, acoustical envelope, acoustical building ventilation system, combustion exhaust silencers, air conditioning, fire suppression, and acoustical equipment doors for a 20 MW standby power plant at Atlanta, Georgia.

The site was exceptionally narrow so a conventional acoustical treatment could not be used. Instead, a unique silencing solution was devised that converted a portion of the building into a silencer.

Acoustical treatment involved channeling 860,000 cfm (cubic feet per minute) airflow over 10 Caterpillar 3516 Spark-Ignited engines for cooling, then drawing up the air into an acoustical exhaust plenum. The plenum was designed to absorb noise from all interior noise sources. ATCO Noise Management's Types E and B acoustical walls and Type B acoustical roof were used to reduce engine noise from leaking into the surrounding neighbourhood. ATCO Noise Management also designed the engine muffler and tailpipe so that the muffler weight could be isolated from the engine to reduce stress.

Owner:
Southern Company Energy Solutions, Inc.
Atlanta, Georgia

Project Location:
Hemphill Finished Water Pumping Emergency Generator Building
Atlanta, Georgia

Customer:
Sunbelt Power, A Division of Yancey Brothers Company
Austell, Georgia

Technical Information:
10 Caterpillar 3516 Spark-Ignited generator sets at 60 Hz, 1000 kW
Original source noise levels specified at 130 dBA

Acoustical requirements:
75 dBA at 150 feet

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