Sound localization techniques for the effective optimization of acoustic emissions from Heat Pumps [14]

With every new generation of Heat Pumps, engineers strive to design the product for low sound emissions. In fact, sound emissions from Heat Pumps are complex and difficult to locate with standard methods like near field sound pressure level measurements. In an effort to optimize and eventually reduce sound emissions from these products, engineers need to understand where unwanted sound is emitted from.

An acoustic camera embodies the enabling technology for providing this information in the format of color-coded optical images indicating the location of dominant sound emissions in a specific frequency band. Once the exact locations of excessively loud or psychoacoustically unwanted noise is known, the information can eventually be used for better understanding the root cause and determining effective countermeasures.

In addition, the technology can be employed in field service applications to assess critical sound emissions from a Heat Pump at the point of immission. Since acoustic cameras are very sensitive to the spatial direction of interest, these measurements can be successfully conducted in a noisy environment with e.g. traffic or industrial noise. Again, the information can be used to assess the criticality of sound emissions from Heat Pumps or argue the optimal orientation and embedding in an environment during installation.

The goal of the presentation is to give the audience a comprehensive overview of the capabilities and limitations of the technology with explicit reference to its use for both engineering and field service applications in the Heat Pump industry. Actual examples are given to provide thorough insights on the process of effectively using the technology in this context.