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INTRODUCTION
During recent years, new electrostatic separation
processes have been developed for ore processing and waste
recycling [1-4]. For each one of these applications, the
quality of the products is a crucial issue.
The statistical process control (SPC) proved to be an
effective tool for improving manufacturing quality in many
industries [5, 6]. Since the pioneer works of Shewhart, eighty
years ago, the SPC methodology has been widely used for
detecting non-conforming products by monitoring the process
through samples. The statistical analysis of sample
characteristics prompts the adjustments to be made to the
process in order to keep it within the specifications.
The key-words of SPC are capability and control charts.
The capability index quantifies the variability in process
characteristics. A process having a high capability index will
constantly respect the quality requirements imposed to its
products. The control charts are graphical representations of
process characteristics. They make easier the control of a
process, in order to maintain or improve its capability.
The present paper aims at answering the question: How
these concepts could be applied to electrostatic separation
processes? The variability of the outcome (quantities of
recovered materials, purity of the products) is a serious
drawback for any new electrostatic separation application.
SPC could be a promising solution to this problem.
IAS 2005
2590
Corona
electrode
Vibratory feeder
high voltage
d1
Grounded
rotating roll
electrode
1
2
d2
Brush
Insulating product
Middling
Static
electrode
Splitters
Conducting product
SPC CONCEPTS
Statistical process control (SPC) techniques are widely
used in manufacturing industries for monitoring repetitive
processes to determine whether they are operating properly.
Variability of process characteristic is the key-concept of
these techniques. Thus, the common cause of variation is the
naturally occurring oscillations of system response around a
long-term average value, due to inherent fluctuations of
system parameters. Special cause variation is typically caused
by some problem in the system, and can be quickly detected
with SPC techniques.
A. Capability.
Process capability studies distinguish between
conformance to control limits (UCL = upper control limit;
LCL = lower control limit) and conformance to specification
limits (USL = upper specification limit and LSL = lower
specification limit). The difference between the upper and
lower specification limits defines the interval of tolerance
(IT). The process capability index Cp is defined as [9]:
I USL- LSL
Cp = T =
6
6
i =1
n 1
(2)
where :
m=
1 n
Xi
n i =1
(3)
USL m m LSL
C pk = Min
,
3s
3s
L = K (s + (m Target ) )
(4)
C pm =
(6)
IT
(7)
6 s + (m Target )
Pp
Cp
* 100
(8)
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(5)
(1)
s=
L = K ( X Target )
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Total variability
Instantaneous
variability
Total variability
Times
Unstable Process
Stable Process
Times
1 n
( X )
n i =1 i
(9)
(10)
LCL X = X K R
(11)
1 n
Ri
n i =1
(12)
UCLR = AR
(13)
LCL R = B R
(14)
Number N
in a subgroups
A
B
K
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A. Set-point identification. The optimal values of the highvoltage U, the speed n and the angular position 2 were
established based on the results given in Table II, which were
obtained under stable ambient conditions (temperature:
T=2021C; relative humidity: RH=27 30 %). The optimal
values of the control variables (i.e., those that simultaneously
maximize metal recovery and insulator purity) , the minimum
middling mass (i.e., the target of the process), and the 95%confidence interval of this predicted value were computed
with a commercial software of experimental design (MODDE
5.0 [11]), and are as follows: Uopt = 31.6 kV, nopt = 75 tr/min,
opt=-6, Target = 0.76 g, TU= 0.91 g, TL = 0.51 g. The upper
(TU) and lower limits (TL) of the confidence interval were
adopted as upper and lower specification limits (TU = USL;
TL = LSL).
TABLE II: RESULTS OF THE 17 RUNS OF THE COMPOSITE EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN
Insulating product
MiddlingConducting product
n
U
min1
60
90
60
90
60
90
60
90
60
90
75
75
75
75
75
75
75
kV
30
30
34
34
30
30
34
34
32
32
30
34
32
32
32
32
32
o
-6
-6
-6
-6
2
2
2
2
-2
-2
-2
-2
-6
2
-2
-2
-2
Mmim[g]
0.54
1.04
0.63
1.14
0.74
1.36
1.00
1.43
0.72
1.30
0.95
1.13
0.59
0.90
0.90
0.86
0.84
Mc[g]
3.67
4.03
3.47
4.03
3.34
3.47
3.14
3.51
3.42
3.69
3.63
3.49
3.79
3.43
3.64
3.60
3.54
Pu[%] RecC[%]
99.73
73.20
99.01
79.80
99.42
69.00
98.76
79.60
100.00
66.80
100.00
69.40
100.00
62.80
100.00
70.20
100.00
68.40
99.73
73.60
99.72
72.40
98.85
69.00
99.47
75.40
99.13
68.00
99.73
72.60
99.72
71.80
99.72
70.60
0.91 0.51
= 2 .3
6 * 0.03
(18)
(19)
(20)
(21)
After corrections :
*
*
Pp* = 1.349 ; Ppk
= 1.405 and Ppm
= 1.50
(22)
(15)
TABLE III : RESULTS OF 60 ELECTROSTATIC SEPARATION EXPERIMENTS CARRIED OUT WITH 3 SUB-GROUPS OF CHOPPED ELECTRIC WIRE WASTES (5g Cu 95g PVC)
Sub-groupe
(test) N
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
RH%
27.5 27.6 27.6 27.5 28.5 28.3 28.9
29
28.4 28.4 29.7
29
28
29.6 29.1 29.7
30
29.4 29.6 29.5
T
20.2 20.2 20.9 20.9 20.6 21.2 21.1 20.9 21.2 21.2 21.3 22.1 22.1 21.1 21.4 20.9 20.9 20.6 20.5 20.4
S1
0.73 0.74 0.75 0.73 0.74 0.78 0.81 0.80 0.79 0.75 0.71 0.72 0.73 0.75 0.71 0.70 0.69 0.71 0.77 0.69
S2
0.72 0.70 0.71 0.72 0.73 0.71 0.68 0.67 0.65 0.63 0.64 0.69 0.70 0.71 0.72 0.71 0.71 0.73 0.75 0.70
S3
0.70 0.71 0.68 0.63 0.65 0.68 0.68 0.67 0.70 0.71 0.69 0.69 0.71 0.65 0.63 0.65 0.68 0.69 0.67 0.69
X
0.72 0.72 0.71 0.69 0.71 0.72 0.72 0.71 0.71 0.70 0.68 0.70 0.71 0.70 0.69 0.69 0.69 0.71 0.73 0.69
R
0.03 0.04 0.07 0.10 0.09 0.10 0.13 0.13 0.14 0.12 0.07 0.03 0.03 0.10 0.09 0.06 0.03 0.04 0.10 0.01
X(m)
R(m)
IAS 2005
0.74
0.02
0.74
0.02
0.74
0.02
0.75
0.05
0.78
0.07
0.80
0.03
0.80
0.02
0.78
0.05
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0.75
0.08
0.73
0.04
0.72
0.02
0.73
0.03
0.73
0.04
0.72
0.05
0.70
0.02
0.70
0.02
0.72
0.08
0.72
0.08
X i [g]
1,0
USL
0,9
UCL
0,8
X = 0.71 g
(24)
(25)
(26)
0,6
and for the upper and lower control limits of the X-bar chart:
UCL X = 0.71 + 0.729 * 0.08 = 0.78 g
0,7
LSL
LCL
0,5
0
10
(a)
12
14
16
18
20
Test Number i
Ri [g]
0.20
UCL R
0.15
For the same set of data, the computed upper and lower limits
of the R-bar chart were:
0.10
0.05
(27)
LCLR = 0 * 0.08 = 0 g
(28)
LCL R
0.00
0
10 12 14 16 18 20
Test Number i
(b)
Fig. 3: X-bar (a) and R-bar (b) control charts for the electrostatic
separation process simulated by the tests i=1..20 in Table III
X i ( m ) [g]
1
USL
0.9
UCL X ( m )
0.8
0.7
0.6
LSL
0.5
0
X (m)
LCL X ( m )
10 12 14 16 18 20
Test Number i
(a)
Ri ( m ) [g]
0.20
0.15
X = 0.71 g
(29)
0.10
and for the upper and lower control limits of the X-bar chart:
0.05
(30)
(31)
For the same set of data, the computed upper and lower limits
of the R-bar chart were:
LCL R ( m ) = 0 * 0 .03 = 0 g
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(32)
(33)
(m)
R( m )
LCL R( m )
0.00
UCLR
10 12 14 16 18 20
(b)
Test Number i
Fig. 4: Moving X-bar (a) and moving R-bar (b) control charts for
the electrostatic separation process simulated by the tests i =3..20
on sample S1in Table III
2594
2.50
X i [g]
2.10
1.70
X i [g]
1.1
1.30
0.9
0.50
0.90
0
6
(a)
9 10 11
Test Number i
6
(b)
9 10 11
Test Number i
0.7
Ri [g]
0.30
0.5
0
5
(a)
10
Test Number i
0.20
Ri [g]
0.20
0.10
0.15
0.00
0.10
0.05
0.00
0
5 6 7 8 9 10
Test Number i
(b)
Fig. 5: Detection of the variation of metal concentration in the feed, by
using X-bar (a) and R-bar (b) control charts
X i ( m )[g]
2.50
2.10
X i ( m )[g]
1.10
1.70
1.30
0.90
0.90
0.50
0.70
6
(a)
9 10 11
Test Number i
6
(b)
9 10 11
Test Number i
0.50
0
5 6
(a)
10
Test Number i
Ri ( m )[g]
2.00
Ri ( m )[g]
0.50
1.60
0.40
0.80
0.30
0.40
0.20
0.00
1.20
0.10
0.00
0
5
(b)
10
Test Number i
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6.00
3.00
0.00
0
5
(a)
9 10 11
Test Number i
0.80
0.40
0.00
5 6 7 8 9 10 11
Test Number i
(b)
Fig. 9: Detection of dust accumulation on the corona electrode, by using Xbar (a) and R-bar (b) control charts
5
(a)
9 10 11
Test Number i
5 6
(b)
9 10 11
Test Number i
X i ( m ) [g]
9.00
6.00
3.00
0.00
Ri ( m )[g]
6.00
4.00
2.00
0.00
0
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Ri [g]
1.20
CONCLUSIONS
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