 Alliance Acoustical Consultants, Inc. |
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INDUSTRIAL NOISE continued - Retrofit
and Treatment
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Pringles Snack Packaging Noise Control Client: Duke/Fluor Daniel (EPC Contractor) for Procter & Gamble Location: Jackson, Tennessee, USA Project Description: In expanding their popular ‘Pringles’ snack chip product line, Procter & Gamble developed a unique, single-serve, modular snack packing line at their Jackson, TN facility. The project involved tailored inventions and one-of-a-kind process equipment for efficiently packaging the snack chips into new, custom-made single-serving cups. The project consists of two separate filling, packaging, and conveying lines which join together at a palletizer. Following palletization, the pallets are shrink-wrapped and warehoused for shipment to distributors. Scope: Noise Control Engineering: (a) Post-start-up noise reduction troubleshooting; and (b) noise mitigation alternatives assessment, ranking, and cost estimation. Regulatory Involvement and Environmental Documentation: None; in-house engineering study only. Noise Control Services: The project was installed as two separate production lines; each being a separate phase. With the first phase, both OSHA requirements and P&G in-house noise goals were met, allowing technicians to work without hearing projection devices. However, following the installation of the second line, the noise levels throughout the packaging room increased from the additional equipment; necessitating a hearing conservation program. To attempt a return to the preferred, no-hearing-protection-needed environment, AAC conducted a noise evaluation to determine the prudent and cost-effective method for reducing single-serving facility noise levels. As a first step, AAC engineers made detailed on-site measurements, both of specific equipment items and of the working environment as a whole. These measurements helped pin-point the significant, individual noise sources, as well as defined the reverberant characteristics of the various operating spaces. Next, a ranked listing of the most troublesome noise sources was made with several noise reduction alternatives for each type of source suggested. Finally, the potential reduction for each technique was estimated to provide P&G with the technical side of a benefit versus cost analysis and to aid in their implementation strategy. During the analyses and evaluations for potential noise reduction methods, primary issues included ease-of-cleaning (in a food-handling environment), ease-of-maintenance (to keep the equipment and processes running), and the overall functionality within the processing system. Since the equipment must be disassembled and thoroughly cleaned periodically using chemical solutions and high-pressure water rinses, several constraints are placed on typical industrial noise control methods that may otherwise be applicable in non-food industrial situations. To (a) preclude any foreign material from getting into the food product, (b) restrict places wherein bacteria/mold/fungi could be supported, and (c) allow for thorough cleaning using pressurized caustic cleaning solutions and/or water jets in a food-grade facility, innovative noise control methods were applied. The study recommended a stepped noise control implementation program that would (a) treat some of the sources and (b) modify some of the propagation paths; all while maintaining the food-grade cleanliness standards plus having the least effect on the operations and worker movements within the packaging facility. P&G has begun implementing these recommended steps, working toward an improved operating environment in the facility. |
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