Many contractors and quarries face increasingly restrictive noise limits, particularly in urban areas. Effective solutions are necessary to cut out harmful noise to improve work safety and to maintain neighbourly relations with local communities. Sandvik's solutions are not only beneficial to the surrounding areas, they also reduce operators' and worksite personnel's exposure to harmful noise levels, thereby offering a more comfortable working environment.

The main source of noise from a top hammer drill rig is the rock drill itself, which accounts for up to 75 per cent of the total sound power level from a drill rig. Both new Sandvik solutions reduce the sound level around the drill rig by isolating the rock drill and rod handling system inside a noise-suppressing structure. These solutions are especially effective at suppressing the most disturbing drilling noise frequencies, between 2,500 and 10,000Hz.

NoiseGuard-DXi reduces noise emissions from Ranger DXi series drill rigs (maximum 27kW rock drill, recommended hole diameter 51-127mm / 2-5in) designed for construction applications and quarries.

NoiseGuard-DXi is a fully enclosed structure that provides up to −12.9dB noise reduction in A-weighted sound pressure within a 16m radius of the rig. In this measuring distance, the noise reduction compared to unmitigated sound pressure is up to 95 per cent. The NoiseGuard-DXi option comes with a camera system that provides visually aided drilling when the structure doors are closed. Additionally, it has an innovative single-bolt dismantling design for fast and easy maintenance on the feed system.

The NoiseShield-DC is a simple, compact solution for the smaller, cabinless Dino DC410Ri drill rigs (14kW rock drill, recommended hole diameter 51-76mm / 2-3in) that excel in urban worksites. While not fully enclosed, NoiseShield-DC offers up to a −7.5 dB reduction in A-weighted sound pressure by directing the drilling noise upwards through an open top, away from the operator and surrounding areas. This reduction translates to an 82 per cent mitigation in noise pressure within a 16m radius of the drill rig.

For noise reduction for the classic Ranger DX series drill rigs, a solution called NoiseGuard-DX has been successful in the market for several years.

Requirements to limit noise from drilling machinery stem from several international and national sources, such as EU directives, various safety standards, occupational health and safety legislation and environmental regulations. The measurements above represent the A-weighted sound pressure (LpAd) levels according to the EN 16228-1 safety standard, which applies the methods standardised in SFS EN ISO 3744:2010 for determining the sound power level of a noise source.

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