Environmental Performance of Noise Reduction System in Cogeneration Plants—A Life Cycle Assessment Study

Abstract

Although one of the most harmful factors to health is noise, it is often ignored in life cycle assessment (LCA) studies. Most researches regarding noise inclusion in LCA focus on the problem of transport noise, and very few works consider the impact of noise emitted by other sources. This study addresses the effects of noise generated by cogeneration plants. The main objective is to assess the environmental performance of the noise reduction system by considering the health effects of noise due to steam discharge as well as to compare the environmental loss associated with the production and disposal of a steam silencer with the benefits resulting from its application for noise reduction. A method to determine midpoint and endpoint human health indicators for a composition of noise emitted by intermittent stationary source and background noise is developed. The results indicate that the health benefit due to noise reduction is six orders of magnitude greater than the environmental loss. Human health indicators attributable to noise reduction in the residential zones under consideration span a wide range of disability adjusted life years (DALY)—0.16–136 DALY. The greatest values occur in the densely populated areas located close to the noise source. A formula is proposed to express annoyance of the residents of individual zones depending on their distance to the steam discharge source, its sound power level, and existing background noise level. Uncertainty and sensitivity analyses have been carried out assuming other conditions. Modifications of sound power level, noise reduction efficiency, steam discharge duration, and the silencer lifetime have not affected the overall conclusion drawn.

Evaluation of Construction Site Noise to Allow the Optimisation of Construction Processes and Construction Machinery Selection

“…Noise can cause a number of health problems, not only hearing loss or deafness, but also stress, tinnitus, high blood pressure, headaches, physical exhaustion, difficulty concentrating, stomach and digestive problems, circulatory problems, sleep disorders, fast heartbeat, withdrawal peripheral blood vessels, increased adrenaline levels, loss of magnesium. According to research by the Regional Office of Public Health in Banská Bystrica, construction site noise is cited as the second most annoying set of unwanted sounds [2,[9][10][11][12].…”

Life Cycle Assessment Study May Exclude Less Significant Processes from the Scope—Reply to Comment by Heijungs and Cucurachi

“…In the comment of Heijungs and Cucurachi [1] to our recent study (Marcinkowski and Kopania [2]), the commentators raised a few remarks. The main question concerned the restricted scope of the study, as sound-related impact considers only noise due to steam discharge and traffic noise and excludes processes such as production and disposal.…”

“…At the end of their comment, Heijungs and Cucurachi (2021) questioned the method selected for the analysis conducted by Marcinkowski and Kopania [2] and the methods presented in previous studies (Ongel [3]; Meyer et al [4]). The commentators stated that these methods failed to add sound generated by different processes included in the life cycle.…”

“…To conclude, our study (Marcinkowski and Kopania [2]) was oriented towards carrying out a preliminary analysis of the problem, allowing us to obtain first-order approximation results. We are aware that our site-specific case study represents a particular contribution to the field, but simultaneously, this can be seen as an indication of the importance of the problem of noise effects, especially in the context of the LCA method.…”

One Process Does Not Make a Life Cycle—Comment to Marcinkowski and Kopania

“…In a recent contribution, Ref. [1] study the life cycle impacts of a noise-reducing technology for a combined heat and power plant. The study has merit, because, as the authors observe, most studies that include noise impacts in a life cycle assessment (LCA) focus on transportation noise, ignoring industrial noise.…”