Daikin and Fujifilm develop noise reduction technology

JAPAN: Daikin is set to introduce a new noise reduction technology in Japan which is said to reduce ventilation noise by 20% or more in its humidification/ventilation air conditioning units.

The new noise reduction technology uses a ventilation soundproofing material developed by Japanese company Fujifilm. It will the first practical application of the noise reduction technologies that Fujifilm and Daikin have been jointly working on since 2019.

Ventilation noise is said to be reduced by 20% or more without affecting the humidification/ventilation volume.

Ventilation/humidification units 

Last year, Daikin introduced a range of residential Urusara X and Urusara mini split system air conditioners in Japan with ventilation and humidification functions. They were introduced as a result of increasing demand for improved air quality by providing more ventilation. However, this increased ventilation volume also increases the air blowing noise.

Daikin’s air conditioners with humidification and ventilation functions send air taken in from the outside into the room via a hose that connects the indoor unit and the outdoor unit. In order to increase the humidification and ventilation volume, it is necessary to increase the diameter of the hose, but since the size of the hole in the wall through which the hose and the refrigerant pipe pass is fixed, that is difficult.

While Daikin has developed and installed a high-performance ventilation fan to reduce ventilation noise, the sound is further reduced through the addition of Fujifilm’s ventilation soundproofing material.

The soundproofing is achieved by using metamaterial technology which, due to its compact structure, enables wide-band soundproofing, and through its fluid design suppresses wind resistance.

Daikin will make the humidification/ventilation noise reduction kit available as an optional item for Urusara X and Urusara Mini on sale in Japan from this spring.

The noise reduction technology is said to have a wide range of applications for air conditioning equipment in general, and has new potential for miniaturisation of parts. Daikin and Fujifilm say they will continue to develop technologies to further improve the performance of air conditioners.

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