Reducing sound waves at sea

The research, led by Prof Mehrdad Zanganeh, focuses on the design of turbochargers for marine applications – an area that is subject to ever-stricter noise standards.

Current noise-reduction methods involve fitting filter silencers to compressor intakes. These limit the pressure ratio of the turbocharger and consequently prevent improvements in fuel efficiency and power density.

While noise is a growing concern, the industry is also being urged to increase fuel efficiency and reduce NOx emissions. However, increasing the efficiency means increasing the speed of the engines, which in turn creates more noise.

To overcome these conflicting challenges, the team at UCL is working on a noise-control method that uses aero-acoustic models alongside data from 3D inverse-design methods.

’In our approach we specify the pressure distribution on the blade shape and combine that with noise data,’ explained Zanganeh. ’This will help us to pinpoint the optimum balance between noise and efficiency and hopefully lead to much more innovative designs.’