EFFECTS OF REACTION AND PROCESSING PARAMETERS ON ETHYLENE POLYMERIZATION USING DIFFERENT ZIEGLER-NATTA CATALYSTS:EMPLOYMENT OF TAGUCHI EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN AND RESPONSE SURFACE METHOD

Different Ziegler-Natta catalysts were employed to polymerize ethylene. To investigate the influences of reaction parameters, namely Al/Ti molar ratio, hydrogen and processing parameters, i.e. ethylene pressure and temperature, a Taguchi experimental design was worked out. An L27 orthogonal array was chosen to take the above-mentioned parameters and relevant interactions into account. Response surface method was the tool used to analyze the experimental design results. Al/Ti, ethylene pressure and temperature were selected as experimental design factors, and catalyst activity and polymerization yield were the response parameters. Increasing pressure, due to an increment in monomer accessibility, and rising Al/Ti, because of higher reduction in the catalysts, cause an increase in both polymerization yield and catalyst activity. Nonetheless, a higher temperature, thanks to reducing ethylene solubility in the slurry medium and partially catalyst destruction, lead to a reduction in both response parameters. A synergistic effect was also observed between temperature and pressure. All catalyst activities will reduce in the presence of hydrogen. Molecular weight also shows a decline in the presence of hydrogen as a transfer agent. However, the polydispersity index remains approximately intact. Using SEM, various morphologies, owing to different catalyst morphologies, were seen for the polyethylene.

Response Surface Methodology-Based SERS for Determination of Gymnodimine

Gymnodimine (GYM), a fast-acting marine toxin, is destructive to aquaculture and human health through contaminated shellfish. The current detection methods in GYM have definite drawbacks in operation, such as the demand for delicate instruments and the consumption of time. Therefore, silver colloid was utilized as a surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) desirable substrate for sensitive and rapid detection of GYM in lake and shellfish samples. The theoretical spectrum of GYM is calculated by density functional theory (DFT), and the substrate performance is evaluated by a rhodamine 6 G probe. Under the optimal SERS experimental condition calculated by the response surface methodology, the low limit of detection of 0.105 μM with R2 of 0.9873 and a broad linearity range of 0.1 - 10 μM was achieved for GYM detection. In addition, the substrate was satisfyingly applied to detect gymnodimine in the lake and shellfish matrix samples with LOD as low as 0.148 μM and 0.170 μM, respectively. These results demonstrated a promising SERS platform for detecting marine toxins in seafood for food safety and pharmaceutical research.

Adsorption of Malachite Green Using Activated Carbon from Mangosteen Peel: Optimization Using Box-Behnken Design

In this research,activated carbon from mangosteen peel has been synthesized using sulfuric acid as an activator.The adsorption performance of the activated carbon was optimized using malachite green dye as absorbate.Mala-chite green dye waste is a toxic and non-biodegradable material that damages the environment.Optimization of adsorption processes was carried out using Response Surface Methodology(RSM)with a Box-Behnken Design(BBD).The synthesized activated carbon was characterized using FTIR and SEM instruments.The FTIR spectra confirmed the presence of a sulfonate group(-SO_(3)H)in the activated carbon,indicating that the activation pro-cess using sulfuric acid was successful.SEM characterization shows that activated carbon has porous morphology.Optimization was carried out for three adsorption parameters,namely contact time(20,60,and 120 min),adsor-bent mass(0.005,0.025,and 0.05 g),and initial concentration of malachite green solution(5,50,and 100 mg·L^(-1)).The concentration of the malachite green solution was determined using a UV-Vis spectrophotometer at the max-imum wavelength of malachite green,618 nm.The optimum of malachite green adsorption using mangosteen peel activated carbon was obtained at a contact time of 80 min,an adsorbent mass of 0.032 g,and malachite green initial concentration of 25 mg·L^(-1),with a maximum removal percentage and maximum adsorption capacity of 93.66%and 19.345 mg·g^(-1),respectively.

Probabilistic assessment of rock slopes stability using the response surface approach——A case study

This paper examines the stability condition of a jointed rock slope in the south western region of Saudi Arabia using deterministic and probabilistic approaches,under both dry and wet conditions.The study area is characterized by complex geology in rugged terrains.The stability analysis is carried out using the code FLAC3D to generate a 3-dimensional,ubiquitous joint model,to determine the influence of the dominant,unfavourable discontinuity orientation with respect to the slope face.The deterministic analysis is first implemented using the mean values of the selected random variables,namely the dip,dip direction and friction angle of the dominant discontinuity set,and the stability condition is assessed with a factor of safety based on the classical frictional joint constitutive model.A Box-Behnken design(BBD)approach is then adopted to create the surface response function as a second order polynomial for the factor of safety.To do so,fifteen FLAC3D models are generated in accordance with the BBD.Based on this,10,000 simulations of different slope realizations are carried out using Monte-Carlo simulation technique,and the probability of unsatisfactory of performance of the rock slope is assessed.It is shown that the probabilistic approach provides more insight and confidence in the stability condition of the rock slope,both under dry and steady state heavy rainfall conditions.A discussion is presented on the significance of accepting lower safety factors when heavy rainfall conditions are encountered.

Optimizing electrocoagulation process for the treatment of biodiesel wastewater using response surface methodology

The production of biodiesel through a transesterification method produces a large amount of wastewater that contains high levels of chemical oxygen demand （COD） and oil and grease （O＆G）. Currently, flotation is the conventional primary treatment for O＆G removal prior to biological treatments. In this study, electrocoagulation （EC） was adopted to treat the biodiesel wastewater. The effects of initial pH, applied voltage, and reaction time on the EC process for the removal of COD, O＆G, and suspended solids （SS） were investigated using one factor at a time experiment. Furthermore, the Box-Behnken design, an experimental design for response surface methodology （RSM）, was used to create a set of 15 experimental runs needed for optimizing of the operating conditions. Quadratic regression models with estimated coefficients were developed to describe the pollutant removals. The experimental results show that EC could effectively reduce COD, O＆G, and SS by 55.43%, 98.42%, and 96.59%, respectively, at the optimum conditions of pH 6.06, applied voltage 18.2 V, and reaction time 23.5 min. The experimental observations were in reasonable agreement with the modeled values.

Deformation prediction and analysis of underground mining during stacking of dry gangue in open-pit based on response surface methodology

Deformation prediction and the analysis of underground goaf are important to the safe and efficient recovery of residual ore when shifting from open-pit mining to underground mining.To address the comprehensive problem of stability in the double mined-out area of the Tong-Lv-Shan(TLS)mine,which employed the dry stacked gangue technology,this paper applies the function fitting theory and a regression analysis method to screen the sensitive interval of four influencing factors based on single-factor experiments and the numerical simulation software FLAC3D.The influencing factors of the TLS mine consist of the column thickness(d),gob area span(D),boundary pillar thickness(h)and height of tailing gangue(H).The fitting degree between the four factors and the displacement of the gob roof(W)is reasonable because the correlation coefficient(R2)is greater than0.9701.After establishing29groups that satisfy the principles of Box-Behnken design(BBD),the dry gangue tailings process was re-simulated for the selected sensitive interval.Using a combination of an analysis of variance(ANOVA),regression equations and a significance analysis,the prediction results of the response surface methodology(RSM)show that the significant degree for the stability of the mined-out area for the factors satisfies the relationship of h>D>d>H.The importance of the four factors cannot be disregarded in a comparison of the prediction results of the engineering test stope in the TLS mine.By comparing the data of monitoring points and function prediction,the proposed method has shown promising results,and the prediction accuracy of RSM model is acceptable.The relative errors of the two test stopes are1.67%and3.85%,respectively,which yield satisfactory reliability and reference values for the mines.

Multiple-response optimization for melting process of aluminum melting furnace based on response surface methodology with desirability function

To reduce the fuel consumption and emissions and also enhance the molten aluminum quality, a mathematical model with user-developed melting model and burning capacity model, were established according to the features of melting process of regenerative aluminum melting furnaces. Based on validating results by heat balance test for an aluminum melting furnace, CFD （computational fluid dynamics） technique, in association with statistical experimental design were used to optimize the melting process of the aluminum melting furnace. Four important factors influencing the melting time, such as horizontal angle between burners, height-to-radius ratio, natural gas mass flow and air preheated temperature, were identified by PLACKETT-BURMAN design. A steepest descent method was undertaken to determine the optimal regions of these factors. Response surface methodology with BOX-BEHNKEN design was adopted to further investigate the mutual interactions between these variables on RSD （relative standard deviation） of aluminum temperature, RSD of furnace temperature and melting time. Multiple-response optimization by desirability function approach was used to determine the optimum melting process parameters. The results indicate that the interaction between the height-to-radius ratio and horizontal angle between burners affects the response variables significantly. The predicted results show that the minimum RSD of aluminum temperature （12.13%）, RSD of furnace temperature （18.50%） and melting time （3.9 h） could be obtained under the optimum conditions of horizontal angle between burners as 64°, height-to-radius ratio as 0.3, natural gas mass flow as 599 m3/h, and air preheated temperature as 639 ℃. These predicted values were further verified by validation experiments. The excellent correlation between the predicted and experimental values confirms the validity and practicability of this statistical optimum strategy.

Comparison of Response Surface Methodology and Artificial Neural Network in Predicting the Microwave-Assisted Extraction Procedure to Determine Zinc in Fish Muscles

In this paper, the estimation capacities of the response surface methodology (RSM) and artificial neural network (ANN), in a microwave-assisted extraction method to determine the amount of zinc in fish samples were investigated. The experiments were carried out based on a 3-level, 4-variable Box–Behnken design. The amount of zinc was considered as a function of four independent variables, namely irradiation power, irradiation time, nitric acid concentration, and temperature. The RSM results showed the quadratic polynomial model can be used to describe the relationship between the various factors and the response. Using the ANN analysis, the optimal configuration of the ANN model was found to be 4-10-1. After predicting the model using RSM and ANN, two methodologies were then compared for their predictive capabilities. The results showed that the ANN model is much more accurate in prediction as compared to the RSM.

Optimization of High-Gravity Chelated Iron Process for Removing H_2S Based on Response Surface Methodology

By using a mixture of N2 and H2S as the simulated APG(associated petroleum gas), the desulfurization experiment was performed in a cross-flow rotating packed bed(RPB) based on the chelated iron oxidation-reduction method. In order to determine the operating conditions of the system, the effects of the concentration of Fe3+ ions(ranging from 0.1 to 0.2 mol/L), the liquid-gas volume ratio(ranging from 15 to 25 L/m3) and the high gravity factor(ranging from 36 to 126) on the removal of H2 S were studied by means of the Box-Behnken design(BBD) under response surface methodology(RSM). The overall results have demonstrated that the BBD with an experimental design can be used effectively in the optimization of the desulfurization process. The optimal conditions based on both individualized and combined responses(at a Fe3+ ion concentration of 0.16 mol/L, a liquid-gas volume ratio of 20.67 L/m3 and a high gravity factor of 87) were found. Under this optimum condition, the desulfurization efficiency could reach 98.81% when the H2 S concentration was 7 g/m3 in APG. In this work, the sulfur product was analyzed by X-ray diffraction(XRD), scanning electron microscopy(SEM) and the energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer(EDX). The results of analysis show that the sulfur is made of the high-purity orthorhombic crystals, which are advantageous to environmental conservation.

Optimization of Rooting Medium for Tissue Culture Seedlings of Dendrobium officinale by Response Surface Methodology

[Objectives] To increase the survival rate of tissue culture seedlings of Dendrobium officinale,and optimize the conditions of rooting medium by the response surface methodology( RSM). [Methods]The effects of 6-BA concentration,NAA concentration,potato amount and the amount of mashed banana on the growth of seedlings were determined by single factor experiment and were analyzed by Box-Behnken design and response surface methodology. [Results]The optimal culture conditions: rooting medium 1/2 MS + 6-BA 0. 24 mg/L + mashed banana 87. 63 g/L + potato 89. 30 g/L + NAA 0. 52 mg/L + sucrose 20. 0 g/L + activated carbon 4. 0 g/L + agar 7. 0 g/L,p H 5. 8,and light intensity 2 000 Lx. [Conclusions]The model established by response surface methodology has a good predictability and could be used to optimize the conditions of tissue culture and rooting medium of D. officinale.

Removal of Mercury(Hg(Ⅱ)) from Seaweed Extracts by Electrodialysis and Process Optimization Using Response Surface Methodology

In this work,response surface methodology(RSM)was employed to model and optimize electrodialysis process for mercury(Hg(II))removal from seaweed extracts.Box-Behnken design(BBD)was utilized to evaluate the effects and the interaction of influential variables such as operating voltage,influent flow rate,initial concentration of Hg(II)on the removal rate of Hg(II).The developed regression model for removal rate response was validated by analysis of variance,and presented a good agreement of the experimental data with the quadratic equation with high value coefficient of determination value(R2=0.9913,RAdj 2=0.9678).The optimum operating parameters were determined as 7.17V operating voltage,72.54L h−1 influent flow rate and 5.04mgL−1 initial concentration of mercury.Hg(II)removal rate of 76.45%was acquired under the optimum conditions,which showed good agreement with model-predicted(75.81%)result.The results revealed that electrodialysis can be considered as a promising strategy for removal of Hg(II)from seaweed extracts.

The Adsorption of Pb(II)Using Silica Gel Synthesized from Chemical Bottle Waste:Optimization Using Box-Behnken Design

The adsorption of Pb(II)on silica gel synthesized from chemical glass bottle waste has been studied.The effect of independent variables(adsorbent dose,initial concentration of Pb(II),contact time,and pH)on the Pb(II)removal from water was evaluated and optimized using the Response Surface Methodology(RSM).Under optimized conditions(adsorbent dose:20 mg;contact time:30 min;initial Pb(II)concentration:120 mg.L^(−1);and pH:8),the removal of Pb(II)was 99.77%.The adsorption equilibrium data obtained from the batch experiment were investigated using different isotherm models.The Langmuir isotherm model fits the experimental data.This shows that the surface of the silica gel synthesized from chemical bottles waste was covered by a Pb(II)monolayer.XRF analysis showed that the synthesized silica gel had a SiO_(2) content of 75.63%.Amorphous silica was observed from XRD analysis.SEM-EDX characterization showed that Pb was adsorbed on the silica gel surface.SEM analysis showed that silica gel has irregular particles with a surface area of 297.08 m2.g^(−1) with a pore radius of 15.74 nm calculated from BET analysis.

Modelling of the Resin Penetration Rate into the Archaeological Wood Cell Wall： The Methodology of Experimental Design

The penetration modeling of an adhesive into the fiber requires the measurement of various properties of resin and fiber： the resin viscosity, its surface tension, the penetration depth and the timber pore radius. This study is based on the screening technique that identifies the factors sensed by the experimenter. In order to determine the optimum processing conditions and find the combination of parameters that maximize the productivity in the experimental phase, a geometric illustration of the response has been made. The results are： the pores radius （4 μm）, surface tension （62.5 mN/m）, depth （10 μm） and viscosity （2,000 Cp）.

Optimal Designs Technique for Locating the Optimum of a Second Order Response Function

A more efficient method of locating the optimum of a second order response function was of interest in this work. In order to do this, the principles of optimal designs of experiment is invoked and used for this purpose. At the end, it was discovered that the noticeable pitfall in response surface methodology (RSM) was circumvented by this method as the step length was obtained by taking the derivative of the response function rather than doing so by intuition or trial and error as is the case in RSM. A numerical illustration shows that this method is suitable for obtaining the desired optimizer in just one move which compares favourably with other known methods such as Newton-Raphson method which requires more than one iteration to reach the optimizer.

Experimental design for optimization of 4-nitrophenol reduction by green synthesized CeO2/g-C3N4/Ag catalyst using response surface methodology

In this study,the enhancement of catalytic activity of ceria when modified with co-catalysts such as graphitic carbon nitride and silver was establishe d.The material was synthe sized using phytogenic combustion method,a green alternative to the traditional preparative routes.The catalyst was characterized using XRD,FTIR,SEM,EDX,XPS and TEM techniques.The synergistic effect of the composite CeO2/g-C3 N4/Ag was tested for catalytic reduction of 4-nitrophenol in the prese nce of sodium borohydride.The reaction was carried out at room tempe rature without any light source or exte rnal stirring.The individual and combined effects of four parameters,viz.,concentration of 4-NP,amount of catalyst,amount of NaBH4 and time for the reduction of reduction 4-NP were investigated using Box-Behnken design of response surface methodology(RSM).This statistical model was used to optimize the reaction conditions for maximum reduction of 4-NP.The optimum conditions for the reduction reaction are found to be 0.01 mmol/L 4-NP,15 mg catalyst,20 mg NaBH4 and 13.7 min time interval.

Assessment of dead layers thickness of an HPGe detector after an extended operating period using response surface methodology and Box–Behnken design

Purpose This work aims to study the increase in dead layer thickness of an HPGe N-type detector during its operational period from 2012 to 2018.Methods The dead layer was examined along three Ge-crystal surfaces,such as outer frontal,outer lateral,and inner lateral.These parameters were optimized using response surface methodology(RSM)with a Box–Behnken design(BBD).The Monte Carlo calculations using the GAMOS(Geant4-based Architecture for Medicine-Oriented Simulations)code were performed to evaluate the detector’s efficiency at different values of the inactive germanium layer.Results and conclusion The optimal combination of dead layer thickness has been identified using the desirability function approach,which is a useful tool to optimize multi-response problems.To find the variation in dead layer thickness over the operational period,the optimization procedure was reiterated for both experimental efficiencies measured in 2012 and 2018.The obtained results show that dead layers thickness has increased from 0.6141 mm to 0.7447 mm,0.0803 mm to 2.2721 mm,and 1.5012 mm to 1.6091 mm for the outer frontal,outer lateral,and inner lateral surfaces,respectively.

Optimization of Cultivation Conditions for Exopolysaccharide and Mycelial Biomass by Clitocybe sp. Using Box-Behnken Design

Response surface (RSM) methodology based on a three-level three-factor Box-Behnkendesign of experiment was used to optimize the exopolysaccharide content (EPC) and themycelium biomass in submerged cultivation by Clitocybe sp. AS 5.112. The criticalfactors selected for the investigation were cultivation temperature, time and volume ofmedium, based on the results of previous Plackett-Burman design. By analyzing theresponse surface plots, the optimum ranges of cultivation temperature, time and mediumvolume for obtaining over 1 253.00gmL-1 of EPC lie in 24.325.8℃, 9.710.2d and 76.090.0mL, respectively. While for obtaining over 8.32 mg mL-1 of dry cell weight (DCW), theabove variables would be in the range of 23.824.8℃, 9.610.3d and 71.098.0mL,respectively. By solving the inverse matrix from the quadratic regression equations, theoptimal conditions to gain 1 265.45gmL-1 of EPC were 25.0℃, 9.9d and 83.4mL, to gain8.50mg mL-1 of DCW were 24.4℃, 9.9d and 87.1mL. In order to obtain the maximum yield ofEPC and DCW at the same time, the above conditions would be 24.5℃, 9.9d and 84.7mL,respectively, in this situation, the maximum predicted EPC and DCW were 1 261.60gmL-1and 8.47mgmL-1, respectively. The experimental data under various conditions have validatedthe theoretical values.

Optimization of DsbA Purification from Recombinant Escherichia coli Broth Using Box-Behnken Design Methodolog

Disulfide bond formation protein A （DsbA） is one of the important helper proteins for folding in protein synthesis in vivo. In this study, purification of recombinant DsbA was investigated by examining four important factors with Box-Behnken design method, a statistic-based design of experiments. The optimal operation conditions were obtained by adopting the effectiveness coefficient method on the multi-objective problem, which takes the protein recovery, purification efficiency and throughput of ion-exchange chromatography into account. After the optimization, protein recovery of 96.8% and purity higher than 95% DsbA was achieved, and the productivity was （377.9±1.7） mg soluble DsbA per liter broth. The purified protein was identified by peptide mass fingerprinting matching the record of gil2624856, a mutant of DsbA. The DsbA was preliminarily applied to the refolding of denatured lysozyme in vitro.

Numerical-Experimental Updating Identification of Elastic Behavior of a Composite Plate Using New Multi-Objective Optimization Procedure

This work focuses on the updating-based identification of the three-dimensional orthotropic elastic behavior of a thin carbon fiber reinforced plastic multilayer composite plate. This consists in identifying the engineering constants that minimize the relative deviations between the first eight experimental and three-dimensional finite element frequencies of the vibrating free plate. For this purpose, a multi-objective optimization procedure is applied;it exploits a Particle Swarm Optimizer algorithm (PSO) that is coupled to a metamodeling by the new response surfaces method procedure (NRSMP);the latter is based on numerical design experiments. The conducted sensitivity analyses indicate that the four engineering constants of the two-dimensional elasticity are the most influent.

Phenol contaminated municipal wastewater treatment using date palm frond biochar:Optimization using response surface methodology

Phenol is classified as an emerging contaminant which can be very toxic even at low concentrations and should be removed from wastewaters before reaching the environment.In this study date palm frond and leaf were pyrolyzed at different temperatures to identify the best adsorbent(feedstock)and pyrolysis temperature to remove phenol from aqueous solutions.Date palm frond pyrolyzed at 600℃,termed DPF600,achieved the highest phenol removal rates of 64%and adsorption capacity of 15.93 mg/g.Response surface methodology approach using Box-Behnken design was implemented to obtain the optimal pH(6),contact time(20 h)and dosage(0.1 g)for the maximum phenol adsorption.A predicted adsorption capacity was found as 16.62 mg/g which was in close agreement with the experimental adsorption capacity of 17.38 mg/g.Isotherm and kinetic models in both linear and non-linear forms indicated that Freundlich model(R^(2)=0.99,χ^(2)=0.02,RMSE=1.09)and pseudo-second order model(R^(2)=0.99,χ^(2)=0.85,RMSE=5.41)fit best the obtained experimental data.Thermodynamics calculations affirmed that the adsorption of phenol onto DPF600 biochar was endothermic and spontaneous.The point of zero charge was found to be at 6.5 for DPF600 biochar.Scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive X-ray,Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction confirmed adsorption of phenol onto DPF600 biochar.Application of DPF600 biochar to remove phenol from synthetic primary and secondary treated wastewater samples achieved 60 and 85%removal rates and 241 mg/g and 22.28 mg/g adsorption capacities,respectively.Regeneration studies showed promising adsorption capacities indicating the efficacy of DPF600 for the removal of phenol from wastewater.