Welcome to our Spring e-Bulletin

Our feet haven’t touched the floor this year so far, as we build momentum with many new clients who are embracing IAC’s world-class noise control products we have been introducing into the Australian market.

Just one of these, for example, our newly introduced world-leading Audiology Rooms and Booths which we are launching to clinicians at the Audiology Australia Conference in Sydney this month. We are expecting a very positive reception, there.

As the year progresses, we assure you of our continued commitment to provide the best in the market when it comes to noise control solutions across Australia and beyond.

Kind regards.

Paul Godbold
General Manager
http://www.industrialacoustics.com/australia

Gas Turbine Exhaust Silencer silences power station near Alice Springs

IAC Colpro has recently successfully commissioned a high performance exhaust silencer installed on a Solar Turbines’ Taurus model gas turbine engine at a new power station in the Northern Territory.

The Taurus gas turbine and IAC Colpro’s high performance silencer is operating at Power & Water’s new Owen Springs power station near Alice Springs, in the Northern Territory. In operation now for approximately 9 months without fault, it is helping Power and Water to remain safely below their required boundary noise level. Power and Water Corporation is the sole provider of electricity, water supply and sewerage services to 80,000 customers across 1.3 m sq kilometres.

Solar Turbines Australia - one of the Caterpillar group of companies – commissioned the supply and install of the exhaust silencer to improve acoustic performance to above the level provided by a standard factory silencer. This was achieved with outstanding success. The 13m high exhaust silencer has recently been tested and shown to provide 15dB more attenuation than the standard silencer. Performance was particularly high in the critical low frequencies.

In operation now for approximately 9 months without fault, it is helping Power and Water to remain safely bellow their required boundary noise level.

“Noise from power stations is becoming an increasing issue as electricity demands increase throughout Australia and the world,” said Paul Godbold, General Manager. “We are well placed to provide solutions both for OEMs and electricity producers, with our mature solutions and proven designs. We are continuing to receive orders for further power applications, currently in production. We hope to receive another order for a single large intake system soon.”

For further information please contact...

IAC Colpro’s Thermowrap prevents fire damage to combine harvesters

IAC Colpro is about to receive an order for up to 50 sets of Thermowrap – our own-brand thermal insulation - from Larwoods Ag Services in South Australia.

Larwoods is the leading supplier of agricultural machinery in South Australia and five of their combine harvesters were lost due to fire during the last harvest over the Christmas break. The fires were caused because of a build up of dust and small chaff on the engines exhaust systems. IAC Colpro Thermowrap will prevent this from happening, and so assure Larwoods’ customers of continuous service from their machinery during harvest this year.

This order will entail the complete insulation of the engine manifold, turbo and exhausts systems. IAC Colpro Thermowrap is superior to other thermal insulation products available.on the Australian market. Thermowrap Blankets consist of layered 100% fibreglass materials that provide exceptional heat and noise control at temperatures to 1200°C. Thermowrap exhaust blankets also withstand intense vibration. They are also removable for maintenance. Special construction is available so that it can be adapted for use in solving a wide variety of thermal insulation problems.

“Because our Thermowrap patterns are created and plotted digitally we further increase accuracy and consistency of the final product. All our digital patterns are saved and backed up electronically to allow us to recall previous jobs“ says Luis Astillo, IAC Colpro’s Pattern Maker/Installer.

Luis went to South Australia and with Larwoods visited many large farms in the Kadina area, obtaining measurements of all the different models that have been put into service in that area over the years.

Combine harvesters, commonly called Headers here in Australia, are yet another application for IAC Colpro’s engineered solutions to problems and issues faced by customers.

For further information please contact...

Come visit IAC Colpro at the Audiology Australia XIX National Conference 2010

IAC Colpro will be exhibiting at the Audiology Australia Conference It is being held at Darling Harbour Convention Centre, Sydney from Sunday 16th to Wednesday 19th May.

The IAC Colpro team will be at stand number 20. You will be able to meet Shaun Moore and Scott Moore (no relation). Shaun is an expert on audiology products visiting from IAC UK and will be helping the local team promote our audiology products at the conference.

At the stand you will be able to discover what you can expect from an IAC Colpro audiology suite of rooms or booth. We will also have a standard audiology booth on display so you can try it out for yourself.

IAC Colpro audiology rooms and booths are considered to be of a high architectural quality, with much thought given to finish, as well as function. Acoustic performance is meets or exceeds world standard and IAC facilities are in use in many of the leading hospitals and clinics in the UK, Europe and world-wide. Here is just one example in the UK.

For further information please contact...

Coal mining haul truck exhaust retro-fit

IAC Colpro is supplying exhaust noise control systems to the haul truck fleet of Bulga Coal Surface Operations in the Upper Hunter Valley.

New South Wales is well endowed with mineral deposits that support a healthy mining industry. Our open cut mines throughout NSW mine gold, minerals and precious stones but also massive quantities of coal -over 240 million tons a year. Australia is the world’s largest exporter of black coal, 97% of which is mined in NSW.

The good news for IAC Colpro is that such open cut mining facilities are subject to what are the strictest noise requirements in the world. As production increases and legislation gets stricter, the market for IAC Colpro products grows. We have been helping mines in the area to meet their noise requirements for over 15 years.

We were approached by Bulga Coal Surface Operations in the Upper Hunter Valley to provide a solution to quieten their existing fleet of Dresser 830E haul trucks. In particular there was a requirement to reduce exhaust noise. The Komatsu Dresser 830E is a diesel-electric, ultra class haul truck with a capacity of 230 tonnes.

The exhaust system comprises two 250mm primary exhaust silencers: one bespoke 250mm secondary silencer, and 250mm exhaust ducting from the primary silencers to the outlets under the back of the body. The exhaust system fits well and the exhaust noise is clearly reduced using a proven exhaust design.

IAC Colpro has the experience and knowledge to provide noise reduction solutions for a full range of mining machinery. Our heritage of serving the industry means that the majority of ‘quiet’ machinery used in NSW, and specifically in the Hunter Valley, includes components originally supplied by IAC Colpro. The IAC group of companies now has manufacturing and engineering facilities spread throughout the world able to provide noise control solutions both to OEMs and end users.

Guy Pulley is Project Manager at IAC Colpro: “For this latest contract on Komatsu trucks, we have fitted bespoke exhaust system to three to date, with two more trucks yet to be installed. We were confident in the performance and the customer is certainly pleased with the product, so further retrofit work to more of their fleet may well follow in the future.”

For further information please contact...

IAC Colpro backs up Canberra’s Verizon Data Centre

IAC Colpro has supplied an emergency back-up generator installation for the Verizon Data Centre in Fyshwick, Canberra, Verizon’s latest of over 200 such data centres that it operates in 23 countries.

Protection from power outages is vital for any Data Centre given the role of the servers they house in internet, ecommerce and econnectivity for the organisations they serve. Loss of power could be catastrophic in terms of business disruption.

IAC Colpro undertook the turnkey operation from engineering the solution to its supply, installation and commissioning. IAC Colpro is well positioned for these applications because we have a proven track record of completing within spec and on time and have an acoustic foundation with many years’ experience.

We undertook full excavation and civil works at the site to accommodate the two in-ground 30,000-litre double-walled, bulk fuel tanks.

The fuel tanks and concrete anchors had to be craned into the base of the tank pit where they were then strapped to the anchors and gravel backfill material in-filled around both the tanks and pit. Two Ebsray model MD100 positive displacement standby and duty fuel pumps were installed to supply fuel to the two generators. A third fuel pump model Z580 complete with Dahl 500 fuel/water filter was charged with polishing the diesel fuel within the bulk fuel tanks and removing the water.

A fuel pump room was constructed from blockwork with ventilation louvres and metal roof. An internal pit ensures return fuel from the generator day tanks will return back to the bulk fuel tanks under gravity conditions. We also installed all the in-ground (double-walled) polyethylene pipework including that for the pump suction and tank return fuel.

To protect the Verizon Data Centre workers and neighbours from noise nuisance IAC Colpro acoustic canopies cover the two MTU 12V4000 G61generators, located on a concrete supporting slab. IAC works world-wide protecting communities from noise nuisance from industrial and commercial activities. For full information on our noise control products and services, visit www.industrialacoustics.com/au.

Dave Pearce, Senior Project Manager, said: “We are seeing an increase in these kinds of contracts for Data Centres as Australia like the rest of the world increasingly relies on econnectivity to power business and government. This is our first project for Verizon which we hope to build on. Worldwide IAC is increasingly providing distributed power and noise control services to Data Centres.”

For further information please contact...

IAC’s state-of-the-art acoustic laboratory for Volvo Cars

The IAC group of company’s global test facilities team has designed and developed a new acoustic laboratory for Volvo, at the Volvo Cars’ production complex in Torslanda, Sweden.

The full story from Volvo has appeared on many of the world’s leading automotive websites around the internet. In it, two of their leading professionals are quoted:

"With our new test chamber we can test four-wheel drive cars in an entirely different environment than we could previously," says Eva Lahti, acoustic engineer at Volvo Cars. "Here in Sweden and Scandinavia we have large, quiet spaces. The acoustic environment is open and free, not densely packed. And that's how our customers expect a Volvo to sound."

"Most of our work relates to creating the foundation for the best acoustic comfort from the customer's viewpoint. Customers who purchase a premium car expect that," says Johan Stenson, manager of the NVH Centre.

Facts about the new semi-acoustic test chamber at the NVH Centre

• The facility entered full operation in the first half of 2009.
• The building is insulated from vibration to avoid all outside interference.
• The three-storey building has three vibration zones.
• The test chamber, made of concrete, measures 22x15.9x6.75 metres.
• The sound-insulated wedges covering the walls and ceiling measure 1.5 metres from the underlying concrete surface to the tip.
• The measurement equipment is designed for use with both four-wheel drive and two-wheel drive cars.
• Maximum output is 300 kW from 90 to 250 kilometres per hour for high-performance testing.

To read the story in full, click any of these links: fleetfinancials.com swedespeed.com carpictures.com automotive-fleet.com

To see Test Facilities we have undertaken worldwide visit our Gallery and for more information contact Graham Dale, Global Test Facilities Manager gdale@iacl.co.uk +44 (0)1962 873000

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