Projects

Every year, Alara-Lukagro bv realizes a large amount of projects in the area of noise control, for both national and international original equipment manufacturers and end-users. Please find below a small selection of recently executed projects, during which many different solutions were delivered:

acoustic louvres;
sound insulating enclosures and containers;
sound masking (active sound conditioning);
sound absorbing ceiling;
¼ λ resonance splitters;
flue gas attenuators;
sound screening partitions.

Very large double doors at C-mine

TITEL

Principal: Dox Acoustics
Location: Genk
Market segment (s): Horeca
Product group: Doors

C-mine is the name of a large development project in the Belgian Genk. The name refers to Belgians history of mining around which the project is built. The left picture shows the pit head frames: on the left the newest of Belgium from 1963 and on the right the oldest from 1915. Around this industrial heritage, the last few years a large area has been developed including a large theatre, restaurants, cafe's and various institutions and design activities, such as the Media & Design Acadamy. In this way eductaion is linked to creative and artistic economics. For more information, take a look at www.c-mine.be

The pit head frames in the picture are a central reference point in this clubbing area. At the rear of the premises snap looking, inward opening, large double doors are mounted. At the front of the dance facilities, a door section consisting of two major parts can be found. One part was constructed against a wall at full height on the inside, halfway the width.

In the left part an air louver is mounted, providing inlet of ventilation air into below grade space. On the right hand side of the louver we find a regular entrance door and above the louver and small door two mesh panels are positioned. These panels where given the exact same look as the adjacent doors, with a relate appearance.

With the very large double door, a concrete upper edge over the full width of the roof behind it had to be covered up. Therefore, the doors run up in front of and beyond the roof, where the upper part is an aesthetic finish only. In the meantime, secure fixing towards fixed towards walls and ceiling was vital, without it being visible from the outside.

The pictures below give a small impression of the many customer specific details. To comply with the acoustical demands e.g. extra high espagnolet bolts with additional fixing points are applied, in combination with sliding bolts. Nevertheless, in practice we quarantee a slightly lower sound insulation value than theoretical calculations provide. But once again, the guaranteed sound insulation value was met!

Alara-Lukagro encloses worlds most accurate microscope

Principal: TNO Industrie & Techniek
Location: Delft, NL
Marketsegment(s): Industry
Product group: Sound insulating enclosures

This hightech microscope, for which Alara-Lukagro supplied and assembled an acoustic enclosure, is located at TNO Delft (NL) and delivered by Zeiss Orion USA. The microscope with a resolution of 0.25nm = 2.5 ångström = 0.000000025mm, however, is also very sensitive to acoustic disturbances. As an example of the sensitivity, a truck driving over a bump on highway A13 some kilometers further up, is already visible as a disturbance in the image. Another example is pole driving in the town centre; despite the distance also this leads to unacceptable image disturbances.

The microscope functions as following: helium atoms are shot towards a tip of 3 wolfram atoms, where helium ions are created. At the tip, the strongest elektromagnetic field in the world excists (some volts per nm!!). The helium ions are blasted towards the viewed object via a vertical column. The reflected ions are worden daarna met een detector opgevangen en omgezet naar een image. De microscoop bevat honderden patenten.

Not only noise, but also the tiniest dust particle may have a negative influence on the result. The enclosure with microscope therefor is placed in a so-called “clean room”. For this reason, our mechanics where dressed like space invaders during assembly.

All this was for a reason, since the demand was to reduce the acoustic sensitivity of the microscope between 300 Hz and 3kHz by a factor 4. This we reached succesfully! Also Zeiss USA is very pleased with the result; currently we are in contact regarding the possibility to deliver our acoustic enclosures world-wide.

Beautifull project at the Children hospital Erasmus MC - Sophia

Principal: Van Wijngaarden & Co
Location: Rotterdam, NL
Market segment(s): medical sector
Product group: hygienic walls & ceilings, room acoustics

After selection of the most hygienic ceiling product, Alara-Lukagro provided the Isoleco 1000 for application at the Children hospital Erasmus MC - Sophia. Mainly known as Sophia children hospital, this part of the Erasmus Medical Centre is an authority in various specialisms among children hospitals throughout Europe. Here, almost 2000 m² of the ultra hygienic Isoleco 1000 ceiling panels are mounted in Operating theatres and surrounding Intesive Care hallways. The work is done in friendly cooperation with Boom & Zn, a company strongly specialised on jobs like these in hospitals and stock keeper Van Wijngaarden & Co Rotterdam.

The pictures below provide some impressions; a project in which we take genuine pride. For further impressions on other jobs well done at this hospital, please take a look at the website of the Friends of the Sophia children hospital.

Design sound insulating doors at Jaarbeurs Utrecht

Design geluidisolerende deuren Jaarbeurs Utrecht

Principal: Vios Building Group
Location: Royal Trade Fair Utrecht (Koninklijke Jaarbeurs Utrecht), NL
Market segment(s): civil building
Product group: sound insulating and fire resistant doors

At an early stage Alara-Lukagro was involved by architect 123DV Architectuur en Consult with the design and function of the doors for the entirely changed and renewed Media Plaza at the Royal Trade Fair Utrecht.

Our customer Vios Building and Maintenance Utrecht was responsible for the work done. Together with Dokter Interieurbouw they have produced various examples of snap architectural work. The Alara-Lukagro sound insulating doors were designed for a stylish look with mirror MDF and padauk slates. Due to the demand of aligned slating and almost invisible hinges, the functioning of the doors was simulated carefully in order to ensure the deeply protruding slats wouldn't collide with each other.

After a production visit, final details were discussed and green light was given for start of the production. The interior rooms of the meeting rooms are characterised by a plain furnishing and very specific lighting possibilities. For that reason not only are the doors coated in RAL 9010, but the Dorma TS 93 door closers with door coordinators for the correct closing sequence, connected with the fire monitoring system were supplied in the same colour too. Obviously we are proud of the end result and the pleasant cooperation with all parties involved.

Higher efficiency demands flexible solution

Principal: ArcelorMittal (Decosteel)
Location: Geel, Belgium
Market segment(s): generators, energy
Product group: sound insulating enclosures, Kinetics

Within a steel producing company many installations and activities generate noise. At paint line Decosteel 2 the straightener is the major source of noise exposure. Rather then providing anyone with individual hearing protection, Decosteel 2 decided to fix the noise issue collectively by building a sound insulating enclosure around the straightener. The enclosure does not only reduce the noise, but also ensures our production- and maintenance employees to carry out their jobs safely. Thus, we kill two birds in one stroke.

The straightener in the exit part of the paint line guarantees the quality of the finished products. During the start-up phase men found limited or no noise exposure due to the straightener. The line speed was at that time ”only” 50 to 60 meters per second. Due to the continuous improvement and optimisation of the paint line, the line speed was also increased. Currently several products are running at a line speed of 110 meters per second, a doubling of speed compared to the speed during the start-up phase. The increased line speed also introduced more noise exposure at the straightener. We are talking about values of 97 dB(A).

On February 15^th 2006 in Belgium new and more strict noise regulations on the shop floor became applicable. The absolute limit value dropped from 90 dB(A) towards 87 dB(A). From 85 dB(A) ear protection is mandatory and from 80 dB(A) each company has to inform it's employees about the risks of noise exposure and provide proper ear protection. For ArcelorMittal this was the time to come into action. Immediately a number of companies was contacted which could produce and assemble sound insulating enclosures. After thorough consultation they decided to join in with Alara-Lukagro via the Belgium company Dox Acoustics.

A staff member of ArcelorMittal reports: "Our goal was to reduce the noise exposure drastically, but at the same time to preserve the accessibility of the interchangeable cassettes. Besides that, it was important to fit detachable panels at the engine side. In case of a technical defect on one of the engines or end switches, our mechanics should be able to work safely. When the design was finished, we have discussed it with our operators who are responsible for interchanging the cassettes. Also our technicians were asked to give their opinion on the design.

After some adaptations we have started with the effective assembly of the enclosure. The coated sheet is fed into the enclosure and further into the straightener via a slot, which is adjustable in height. The front side, where the cassettes are exchanged, is fitted with a flexible, sound insulating, double layered cloth. The engine side consists of at the lower part of removable panels, the upper part is also a flexible, sound insulating cloth. During assembly first of all a fully steel construction was erected, against which sound insulating panels were mounted. Alara-Lukagro guaranteed a minimum noise reduction of 10 dB(A). After complete finishing of the enclosure a noise level was measured of 83 dB(A). That's a noise reduction over 15 dB(A). You don't have to convince us anymore, the enclosure is a true recommendation to any installation!"

Sound masking in open office areas

Principal: Procter & Gamble
Location: international
Market segment(s): civil building
Product group: room acoustics

The company Procter & Gamble has granted us several purchase orders for sound masking systems at several locations. Amongst others their offices in Paris (F), Istanbul (TU) and Madrid (ES) are equipped with sound masking systems. Based upon the required level of privacy every room is divided into a number of zones, each with its own masking level. From this a technical design is made and cabling is put to paper.

After putting all components to place and fitting and connection of all cabling is performed in cooperation with local installers, the system is finished and optimised. It's possible to adjust the level per speaker to ensure an optimum spreading of the signal. At wish the sound masking system can be combined with a public address system and offers the possibility for background music. The recent extension of the system in Geneva (CH) enhances the quality of the Alara-Lukagro system and customer satisfaction.

Luxury shipping in silence

Principal: several (luxury) yacht builders
Location: international
Market segment(s): shipping, offshore
Product group: enclosures

Luxury and comfort are not only determined by the quality of construction and materials, but above all by perception. More and more therefore luxury yachts are supplied with high power engines, which unfortunately also produce a lot of noise. By applying sound insulating enclosures big power engines can be used without any loss of comfort.

Mobile sport facility for use offshore

Principal: Noble Drilling
Location: various oil rigs on the North sea
Market segment(s): offshore, petrochemical industry
Product group: enclosures

After a number of successful projects in the field of noise control we received a request from Noble Drilling to design, engineer and deliver a mobile, isolated room in which sports activities could take place. Thanks to our wide experience on e.g. ventilation, vibration control and mechanical construction they thought we were the right partner for this challenge. Besides noise insulation the following starting points were given:

fire protective, complete with i.e. fire detection system and sprinkler installation;
noise attenuated ventilation system, including air-conditioning
construction designed and certified on mechanical strength, thus making it possible to mount the room partially free hanging;
inside completely ready for us, with i.e. lowered ceiling, speaker system, special carpeting on the floor, mirror wall, etc.

The end result is a fine, practical fitness area in which employees can exercise according to ARBO-regulations. Thanks to the use of corner castings the sports room can be swiftly disconnected and transported to another location. However, the rig personnel would not like to miss their sport facilities. As a result we have received additional purchase orders, enabling them to exercise in a pleasant atmosphere at different locations.

Decoupling of architectural floor in favour of highly sensitive equipment

Principal: OBM Verbouw en onderhoud bv
Location: Vught
Market segment(s): civil construction
Product group: spring isolators, vibration isolation

The sound insulation of an architectural construction in general is very much dependent on the mass of the construction (law of mass), however, it can be influenced dramatically by vibrations within the material. If no precautions are taken the vibrations will be transported by the construction towards its surrounding, which may lead to major problems with noise nuisance. Vibrations can be caused by e.g. rotating equipment, but also by numerous impact forces like with a dance floor.

At an industrial company the OBM building company has fitted a floating floor. As vibration isolators the so-called KIP-pads from Kinetics have been used. This type of vibration isolator is produced out of mineral wool with a very high density, protected all around by a special coating. The KIP-pads are very easy to apply and are available in many different densities. By using different densities and/or varying the number of KIP-pads per square meter a matching solution can be found for almost any application. This way it's possible to create local hotspots.

On top of the concrete foundation the KIP-pads are applied at constant distance from each other. The space between the pads is filled with a sound absorbing material such as mineral wool to prevent cavity resonance. One or more layers of multiplex are the bases for the concrete top flooring. To prevent contact bridges an elastic material is fitted around the floor. Before the concrete is poured the multiplex base is covered with a watertight foil, thus preventing the concrete to leak through possible cracks and forming a contact bridge after all. After hardening of the concrete only the superfluous foil has to be removed.

Thanks to the optimal decoupling with the KIP-pads and a dilatation seam all around the floating floor has a very high sound insulation value. Also the vibrations introduced by machines are hardly transported towards the surrounding.

The construction of a new compressor station for Hoekloos Botlek

Principal: Hoekloos (Linde Gas)
Location: Botlek Rotterdam
Market segment(s): petrochemical industry
Product group: enclosures

During the production process of Shell Botlek, for instance the gas carbon dioxide is emitted in large quantities. Due to the fact that CO₂ is held jointly responsible for the greenhouse effect, several possibilities were examined to limit these emissions. The outcome of this investigation resulted in the construction of a pipe network to the Westland. In floriculture, this gas is mainly used to stimulate the growth process. This environmentally friendly solution compelled the construction of a distribution station on the Shell premises. As this station may not contribute to the existing zoning, an acoustical requirement was set to a sound level of <80dB(A) at 1 m under free field conditions.

It was decided to compose the entire station (all walls and the roof) of sound absorbing and -insulating panels. The detachable roof provides the possibility to replace or remove all equipment present. In total, the distribution station consists of 4 rooms for the compressor systems. On September 7th, 2005, the entire environmental project, including distribution station, was officially brought into use by Queen Beatrix.

Unique sound insulating facade at Dynamo Youth Centre Eindhoven

Geluidisolerende buitengevel Jongerencentrum Dynamo

Principal: BAM Utiliteitsbouw
Location: Eindhoven
Market segment(s): civil construction
Product group: spring isolators, vibration isolation

Many catering establishments would like to offer their Principals live music, but at the same time, they have to comply with the current environmental standards. An excellent sound insulation is essential during the evening and night. That is the reason why BAM commercial and industrial building has applied the facade in a completely contact insulated manner at the Youth Centre Dynamo in Eindhoven, without having to make concessions with regard to the construction. In close co-operation with Jansen raadgevend ingenieursbureau located in 's Hertogenbosch Kinetics PSB sway braces were applied as isolators which are provided with special clips that can be secured in mortar, rather than standard cavity wall cramps.

Due to large mechanical strength and excellent contact insulating effects, the required amount of sway braces could be limited. In combination with the user-friendly way of mounting, the wall could be realized at relatively low costs. Inside the building, a level of 112 dB(A) can be produced without the environment being disturbed by it.

Giant resonance silencer at Sabic

Principal: Sabic (formerly DSM)
Location: Geleen
Market segment(s): (chemical) industry
Product group: silencers

A special, cylindrical silencer was designed, manufactured, delivered and then mounted in a chimney at Sabic (formerly known as DSM). With a diameter of 5 m, it was not only a challenge for us to mount it, but to transport it from our location to Geleen as well. Taking the dimensions and weight into consideration, we decided to transport the silencer in separate parts and to assemble it on site.

¼ wavelength resonance silencer in gas venting duct

Principal: CSM
Location: Breda
Market segment(s): nutrition and food industry
Product group: silencers

CSM is one of the largest processing companies of sugar beets in the Netherlands. For their plant in Breda, Alara-Lukagro designed, constructed and positioned a ¼ wavelength resonance silencers in the gas venting duct of the boiler installation and pulp drying room that had to comply with very stringent requirements. The sound level was mainly determined by the ventilators with peaks in the spectrum at 135 Hz and 290 Hz. The capacity of 132 m³/s in combination with temperatures around 1,100 °C and remnants of burned pulp lead to the design of this ¼ wavelength resonance silencer. The advantage of this type of silencer is the possibility to adapt the attenuating values to a specific disturbing frequency. In addition, the splitters are not sensitive to pollution as a result of adhering remaining parts of the pulp. The silencer with dimensions of width x height x length = 4,600 x 3,500 x 4,500 mm and a weight of 16,000 kg was mounted, including the duct parts, with the help of 500 tons cranes in 2 days. The sound level was reduced from 106 dB(A) to 76 dB(A).