Statistical investigations into the flow of copper slag abrasive particles through a blast-cleaning metering system

• Published in: Powder technology 2016-11, Vol.301, p.179-185
• Main Authors: Momber, A.W., Marquardt, T.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Abrasives; Copper slag; DOE; Regression models
• ISSN: 0032-5910; 1873-328X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.powtec.2016.05.050

The paper deals with a systematic investigation into the flow of copper slag abrasive particles through a metering valve. The investigation involves abrasive mass flow rate measurements, and the results are statistically interpreted based on DoE (Design of Experiments) and ANOVA (Analysis of Variance). Three process parameters are varied, namely static air pressure, nozzle diameter and valve opening. Abrasive mass flow rate increases if air pressure, nozzle diameter or valve opening increase. All three main factors provide statistically significant effects, whereby the strongest effect occurs due to changes in valve opening. Although a non-standardized quadratic regression model delivers a satisfactory agreement with experimental results, it misjudges the statistical significance of the process parameters. A standardization of the regression function omits multicollinear effects and simplifies the regression function. A standardized quadratic regression model is found to be capable to statistically describe the relationships in the scope of the evaluation effort. [Display omitted] •Effects of static air pressure, nozzle diameter and valve opening are statistically investigated.•Valve opening provides the most significant statistical effect on abrasive mass flow rate.•A standardized quadratic regression model is introduced.