Application of a Central Composite Design with Response Surface Methodology in Beneficiation Studies of Coal Fines Using an Oleo-Flotation Process

This article presents beneficiation studies of coal fines using Oleo flotation process. Central Composite Design (CCD) integrated with Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was applied to develop a process model from an input-output data set of an Oleo flotation process. The effects of the operating parameter values, that is, diesel oil dosage, wash oil dosage, and rotation per minute, were studied for determination of the optimum operating conditions to optimize the yield percent of the Oleo flotation process at a desired ash percent. Significant reduction in ash percent was possible using an Oleo flotation process. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was also used to test yield and ash percent models for their acceptability for prediction of the output variables from the developed models.