Is it possible to make a generator run silently???

Question

As in complete silence, or as close to that as possible.

Any ideas???

Answer 1

Only if you find a silent primary drive instead of a diesel motor.

Answer 2

double the size of the muffler containing additional baffling.

Answer 3

As long as you can arrange cooling you can house it inside a box with insulation.

Answer 4

a muffler on the exhust, an air intake for the carborator, engine cooling, then a sound resistance hut and you will be all set.

Answer 5

(Fuel cells are a kind of electrical generator, which are inherently quiet, but I'm thinking that not really what you're looking)

Generators are powered by some kind of engine, and it's from the engine that all(/most of?) the noise comes from. If you could completely enclose the engine in a 100% sound proof box (a box surounding the engine with a perfect vacuum perhaps?), the engine would not be heard. Problem is you need pipes to let air/fuel/exhaust in/out of the engine, and these would allow some sound to escape. (practically the vacuum box would be bulky/heavy)

Active Noise cancellation technologies, predict what the sound will be, and use speakers to play "negative" (anti-phase) sound to reduce the sound level by interference. Most engine noise is "random sound" and so can't be predicted perfectly. It's only when it predicts correctly will sound be reduced. Even so it can often considerably reduce noise

Sound absorbion materials just reduce the intensity of the noise, they can't get rid of it 100%, just reduce it to a level where it's either not noticed, or it ceases to be a problem. Different materials work differently, some will reduce all noise a little, and some will reduce a narrow frequency band of noise a lot, but do little to other sounds.

If the engine has a particularly anoying sound that's at/around a particular frequency perhaps try an Helmholtz resonance (Which work only for a very narrow frequency range) If it's coming from the inlet/exhaust pipes you may even find the engine has been efficency afterwards, as the energy that was formerly going to make the noise, is now being used to fill/empty the cylinders.