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SILEX BUILDS
IT'S LARGEST-EVER SILENOX SILENCER
- July 27, 2000
 In
the fields of sound or emission
control, companies and products
have to measure up if they're
going to cut problems down to
size.
That's why Weatherford Global
Compression, one of the world's
top 3 gas compression companies,
turned to Silex for a customized
retrofit installation at a new
Dolni Bojanovice facility near
the town of Hodonin in Czechoslovakia
- where noise and emission standards
are among the toughest of any
nation.
"Simply put," says
Weatherford Project Manager,
Greg Motyka, "Silex is
the best in the industry for
jobs like this. And we made
that abundantly clear to our
client from the very beginning."
Silex, with engineering expertise
and technologies that can reduce
sound and emissions to virtually
any level, began to address
the problem by first analyzing
on-hand detailed specs for the
engine in question: Caterpillar's
G3612 TALE Lean Burn Unit.
Next, objectives were established
for carbon monoxide (CO), total
hydrocarbons (THC) and non-methane
hydrocarbon (NMHC) emission
levels, that could meet all
government regulations with
a comfortable safety margin.
Effective sound reduction levels
were especially critical, so
db(A) goals also had to be determined
-again based on government requirements
and the engine's known characteristics.
Finally, before silencer customization
could begin, on?site and nearby
residential noise factors had
to be considered, as well as
any anticipated 24?hour variation
in engine usage that might ultimately
affect engineering design.
"One of the early issues
we had to face", says Len
Morris, Application Sales Engineer
for Silex, "was balancing
our virtually limitless capability
for sound and emission reduction,
with cost-effectiveness and
practicality. We actually have
the potential here to reduce
noise and emissions by almost
100% if required, but in terms
of economics that would simply
be overkill."
Silex then began applying its
engineering expertise towards
customizing their patented Hospital
Grade 2-way SileNOX - a state-of-the-art
combination unit that integrates
a number of advanced technologies
to produce combined emission
control and silencing.
With access to specialized resources
at Johnson Matthey, Silex engineers
also began adapting the SileNOX'
units to incorporate the JM
catalyst element - usually built
from a metal monolith with higher
mechanical strength and greater
thermal durability than most
other catalytic materials, and
a catalyst that delivers impressively
low back pressure.
Size, material thickness, physical
characteristics, coating formulations,
and even the design structure
itself had to be rigorously
engineered and customized to
meet the multiple needs of this
Dolni Bojanovice facility in
Czechoslovakia.
SILEX PROJECT
AT A GLANCE
Facility: Dolni Bojanovice,
Czechoslovakia
Engine: Caterpillar G-3612
TALE Lean Burn
Silencer Type: Customized
Hospital Grade 2-Way SileNOX
SileNOX Model: SC-JDDS-30-S16
Length: 944.8 cm (372")
Diam: 198.1 cm (78")
Wt: 3,774.9 kg. (8,322
lbs)
CO Output: .19 g/bhp/hrCO
Reduction: 90%
THC output: 2.975 g/bhp/hr
THC Reduction: 50%
NMHC output: .35 g/bhp/hr
NMHC Reduction: 50%
Insertion Loss (Sound):
70 db(A) max @ 1.5m (4.9 ft)
According to
Warren Tait, Engineering Manager
for Silex, this latest application
was just one more testimonial
to Silex' design, engineering
and manufacturing capabilities
in the fields of sound and emission
control.
"All our standard and customized
products are manufactured and
developed in-house at our Mississauga
location," Warren claims
proudly, "which means we
maintain total control over
performance, quality assurance,
scheduling, delivery - and ultimately,
over the cost of manufacture."
"Our search for ideal,
cost-effective solutions,"
he goes on to say, "has
traditionally been based on
close, working partnerships
between companies like Weatherford,
Johnson Matthey and ourselves.
This is one of the reasons we
always make our own engineering
expertise and on-site information
resources available to the industry
at all times."
How successful is a partnering
philosophy like this when you
have to custom-design noise
reduction or emission solutions
on a scale that has never been
attempted before?
Sometimes, the best tribute
to Silex success in
sound control
can be found in an unexpected,
true life event rather than
final project specs or db(A)
output statistics.
The Mayor of Hodonin, concerned
about the high noise levels
that might soon emanate from
the new Dolni facility so near
his town, demanded the plant's
operators attend a special meeting
in his office to discuss the
project.
After a series of tough, pointed
queries to learn the amount
of noise and disturbance his
townspeople might eventually
have to tolerate, the Mayor
fixed a steely, disapproving
gaze on the operators to ask
the question that had been uppermost
in his mind.
"When," he said coldly,
"do you actually plan to
start up and begin invading
our ears with all this noise
and clamor?"
Puzzled, the operators looked
at each other and then back
at the Mayor.
"Start up?" they asked
innocently. "We've been
operating for a month."
For
more information, contact:
Silex Inc.
Phone: 905-612-4000
eMail: info@silex.com
Internet: www.silex.com
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