Abstract:
This research has presented a three level-two factors full factorial
experimental design that investigated the process parameterization of a centrifugal
concentrator for the separation of a waste copper smelter dust (CSD). This was
followed by a theoretical contribution involving the development of a scheme of
predictive models premised on the concept of constrained interpolant models.
These were used for the experimental trend, pattern investigation and furthermore
to provide expressions that depicts optimal experimental conditions in this research.
Based on the experimental outputs, it was observed that a maximum grade of
about 35.02 wt% Cu was achieved at a Rotational Bowl Speed of 120G, Water Flow
Rate of 3.0l/min and constant experimental flow rate of 1.48l/min with a Liquid to
Solid Ratio of 0.5. Similarly, a minimum output of 14.58% SiO2 and 10.29% Al2O3
was achieved at same experimental conditions. This clearly depicts a trend geared
towards optimum experimental conditions aimed at maximizing Cu output and minimizing SiO2 and Al2O3 impurities. The predicted outputs premised on the use of
Matlab software are in good conformance with the experimental outputs with
a high degree of accuracy and confidence level over 97% as shown in Table 1 and
corresponding Figures.
