Ken Lovorn

Sound advice on attenuating genset noise, vibrations

Whether they’re used for prime power, standby, or emergency service, diesel generators make noise—lots of noise. Here’s how to lower genset noise to an acceptable level.

The cost of cutting corners

With the increasing economic pressure on design engineers in the electrical construction industry today, there is a greater demand for more work in less time and a requirement to make increased profits on the time that is worked. Phrases that one hears all too often are: I will have the contractor responsible for the coordination study because I do not know how to do it. The project is due out this week so I am going to skip calculating fault current for this distribution system. These arc fault breakers are being required by the Code just so the breaker manufacturers can make more money. I don’t have the time to design this pole base, so I will just copy a detail from the last project. I will just calculate the current carrying capacity of this duct bank feeder the same way that I calculate a feeder in conduit. Everyone else sizes feeders using the basic table 310-16, so I am going to do it the same way. These are just a few examples of the many design tasks that are dropping by the wayside, taking the “Engineering” out of the practice of engineering. These conflicting issues create a working environment that is the ideal breeding ground for ethical conflicts for the engineer.