What is BS EN 13487- air-cooled heat exchangers about?
BS EN 13487 is one of a series dedicated to air-cooled heat exchangers.
- Forced convection air cooled refrigerant condensers as specified in EN 327
- Forced convection unit air coolers for refrigeration as specified in EN 328
- Air cooled liquid coolers "dry coolers" as specified in EN 1048
BS EN 13487 provides information for assessing and presenting the acoustic emission characteristics of heat exchangers under stationary operating conditions.
BS EN 13487 is applicable to self-standing forced convection air-cooled refrigerant condensers and air-cooled liquid coolers "dry coolers" and air coolers.
Who is BS EN 13487 - air-cooled heat exchangers for?
BS EN 13487 on air-cooled heat exchangers is useful for:
- Refineries
- Petro-chemical plants
- Gas treating plants
- Compressor stations
- Power plants
Why should you use BS EN 13487 - air-cooled heat exchangers?
When hot process fluid flows through the tubes of an air-cooled heat exchanger, heat is rejected to the surrounding air. The cooled fluid is returned to the facility, while the heated air is discharged into the surrounding environment.
BS EN 13487 offers ways to determine the sound power level of units. Some of them are specifically adapted to provide results with low uncertainties, by using laboratory class or engineering class acoustic methods under highly controlled working conditions. Those results are suitable for certification, labelling and marking purposes. It helps to minimize unnecessary vibrations and sounds in the air-cooled heat exchanger and improves the efficiency of heat removal.
BS EN 13487 is helpful for determining sound power levels LW, expressed in decibels (dB) with reference to a sound power of one picowatt (1 pW), of airborne acoustical noise within the specified frequency range of interest and for prescribed operating conditions of the appliance to be measured:
- A-weighted sound power level, LWA
- Spectral sound power levels
- emission sound pressure level at workplace, LpA
What’s changed since the last update?
BS EN 13487:2019 supersedes BS EN 13487:2003, which is withdrawn.
BS EN 13487:2019 includes some technical changes with respect to BS EN 13487:2003.
These include:
- The Scope was completely revised, and the Normative references were updated
- Terms and Definitions were updated, and new terms were introduced
- The whole document, including Annexes, was completely revised and rearranged

