Gas turbine exhaust system silencing design

Gas turbines are the preferred prime mover in many applications because of their high efficiency, fuel flexibility, and low environmental impact. A typical mid-size machine might have a power rating of 80 MW, a flow of about 1000 kg/hr, and an exhaust temperature of over 500C. The most powerful single source of noise is generally the exhaust, which may generate over a kilowatt of acoustic energy. This paper reports that there are two important ways in which exhaust systems can radiate noise. The first is through the discharge of the exhaust duct, with the exhaust gas. Because of the large quantity of hot gas, the duct exit is always oriented vertically; it may be fairly high in the air in order to promote dispersion of the exhaust plume. This source is almost always attenuated by means of a silencer located somewhere in the ductwork. The second source of noise is often called breakout; it is the radiation of exhaust noise through the walls of the ducting. Breakout is most important for those sections of the exhaust duct which lie upstream of the silencer, where sound levels inside the ducting are highest. Both exhaust duct exit noise and breakout noise can be calculated from the sound power level of the gas turbine exhaust and the sound transmission loss (TL) of the silencer and ducting