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Description
Pipeline systems are used for the transportation of fluids in a wide range of engineering applications such as water distribution, oil pipelines and marine vessels. Noise from pumps and compressors can propagate efficiently through such systems, often resulting in sound being radiated far from the original source. Existing passive treatments are widely used in industry to minimise the effect this has on radiated noise, but the effective frequency range is limited by mass and size constraints. In contrast, active control systems, that use a secondary source to cancel the sound or vibration from a primary source, generally exhibit high performance at low frequencies. The inclusion of a secondary actuator can, however, adversely affect the fluid flow in the system or require complex modifications to the pipeline. This paper proposes a potential solution where the secondary actuator is integrated into an orifice plate, which are commonly used to reduce pressure or restrict flow in pipeline systems. The actuated orifice plate is used in an optimal feedforward control system to minimise the downstream broadband sound pressure. This work serves as a proof of concept that such an active orifice plate has the potential for controlling fluid-borne noise in pipeline systems.