Analysis of noise pollution in an andesite quarry with the use of simulation studies and evaluation indices

Abstract

This paper presents the verification of two partial indices proposed for the evaluation of continuous and impulse noise pollution in quarries. These indices, together with the sound power of machines index and the noise hazard index at the workstation, are components of the global index of assessment of noise hazard in the working environment of a quarry. This paper shows the results of acoustic tests carried out in an andesite quarry. Noise generated by machines and from performed blasting works was investigated. On the basis of acoustic measurements carried out in real conditions, the sound power levels of machines and the phenomenon of explosion were determined and, based on the results, three-dimensional models of acoustic noise propagation in the quarry were developed. To assess the degree of noise pollution in the area of the quarry, the continuous and impulse noise indices were used.

Short review on occupational noise exposure in the extractive industry and similar works

“…Except for one study that takes place in the construction field (Lee, Kim, & Hong, 2019), every other paper set is related to the mining industry, where the exploited commodities varied between marble (Melo Neto, Kohlman Rabbani, Barkokébas Junior, Lago, & Jonathas, 2012) to aggregates (Onder, Onder, & Mutlu, 2012) and andesite (Kosała & Stępień, 2016), limestone (Çınar & Şensöğüt, 2019), coal (Simion, Kovacs, Toth, Ilie, & Gireadă, 2017) and lignite (Srivastava, Gupta, Srivastava, & Kaur, 2010), chromite (Kerketta, Gartia, & Bagh, 2012), copper (Lilic et al, 2018) and iron (Lokhande et al, 2017).…”

“…Given that this study's aim is related to occupational exposure to noise, the experimental data was classified according to the measurement setting, which is provided in Table 1, divided into activity, equipment, job category, and working area. (Srivastava et al, 2010) x (Gupta, Roy, & A. Rajan B, 2012) x (Kerketta et al, 2012) x (Melo Neto et al, 2012) x (Onder et al, 2012) x (Cinar & Sensogut, 2013) x (Gyamfi, Amankwaa, Owusu Sekyere, & Boateng, 2016) x (Kosała & Stępień, 2016) x x (Lokhande et al, 2017) x (Simion et al, 2017) x (Lilic et al, 2018) x (Wichers et al, 2018) x (Çınar & Şensöğüt, 2019) (Lee et al, 2019) x (Mihut, 2019) x…”

“…Regarding activity, both studies (Kosała & Stępień, 2016;Srivastava et al, 2010) focused on the blasting operation, where increasing distance leads to lower noise measurement values. The peak pressure level measured at 200 metres from the blast was 132 dB (Srivastava et al, 2010), whereas the equivalent continuous sound pressure level (Leq) for an 8-hour period was 53.3 dB at 86 metres, 37.2 dB at 155 metres, and 31.0 dB at 186 metres.…”

“…The selected equipment for each study is detailed in Table 2. (Gupta et al, 2012) Jack hammer drill (Cinar & Sensogut, 2013) Bulldozer, cone crusher, excavator, grader, hydraulic hammer, jaw crusher, mill, sieve, truck (Gyamfi et al, 2016) Drilling machine, tyre wrench, lathe machine, block making machine, generator set, crusher machine, primary processing machine, secondary processing machine, excavator machine, air compressor (Kosała & Stępień, 2016) Crusher, siever, vibrating feeder, wheel conveyor, conveyor, dispenser aggregate for the loading silo (Simion et al, 2017) Bucket-wheel excavator (Lilic et al, 2018) Truck, shovel, bulldozer, drilling rig, grader, crusher, belt conveyor (Wichers et al, 2018) Asphalt mixer, drilling rig, crushing plant (Lee et al, 2019) Air compressor, breaker, bulldozer, compactor, crusher, drill, excavator, grader, jack hammer, loader, roller (Mihut, 2019 Truck, tractor, motor hacksaw, charger, bulldozer, excavator…”

Recognition of the 24-hour Noise Exposure of a Human

“…The method was based on the single number global index, which is an approximate general measure and the function of four partial indices: the noise hazard index at the workstation, sound power of the machines index, continuous noise index, and impulse noise index (Kosała, Stępień, 2016). Allowable noise levels in accommodations destined for people are determined by standard PN-87/B-02151/02 (1987).…”