Avaliação de materiais atenuantes para o ruído industrial emitido por equipamento de beneficiamento de sementes

Abstract

In seed treatment units, the attributes of seed quality, among them the genetic, physical, physiological and health attributes, are given primary attention. However, the fundamental factor involved in this process is the health and safety of the worker who is included in all stages of seed processing. Workers in this sector are exposed to several types of risks, among them the noise. The predominant equipment as a source of noise in these units is the spiral separator, used to make the separation of the soybean seeds, the contact of these seeds to the turns of this equipment is what generates the high level of noise. The present work aimed to analyze and look for ways of simple implementation that can attenuate the Sound Pressure Level emitted by this equipment. The observations were made on the free field and six types of attenuating materials were evaluated. It was observed that the equipment emitted sound pressure levels above 99 dB(A), levels well above determined by the regulatory standard for an 8-hour exposure, considering the 85 dB(A) provided in standard, the safety zone of the equipment is 9 meters. The attenuating materials used were 0.50 mm metal sheet, plywood board which reduced the risk zone to 6 meters and the materials bubble plastic in five layers, egg carton, PVC pipe, acoustic foam in one and three layers reduced the risk zone to 5 meters.