Fig. 5 shows the sound pressure level in dB(A) for the frequency range to 10 kHz at the position 1 m in front of and 1 m above the suction housing. In mechanical systems where an impeller rotates, like the suction housing, there is noise of a discrete frequency, caused by the cyclic variation of the aerodynamic force due to the interaction between the wing and the suction housing when that wing passes in a fixed point, and there is also broadband noise, generated by a turbulent boundary layer on the wing. The discrete frequency noise is also known as interference noise, because it arises from interference between the rotary wing and the nonuniform inflow wind of velocity defect. In other words, it is attributed
to the rotating pressure field that is fixed to the rotary wing. This can be expressed by the Blade Passage Frequency (BPF), which is related to the number of blades and revolutions as follows: BPF ¼ ðVr NÞ=60; ð1Þ
where Vr refers to the number of revolutions (rpm) and N is the number of blades.
The specified rotary number of the motor used in the suction is 3360 rpm (56 Hz), and the motor has 52 blades; thus the expected BPF of the suction housing is 2912 Hz. However, the motor specifications are expected to have some degree of error.