Using factorial experimental design to evaluate the separation of plastics by froth flotation.

This paper proposes the use of factorial experimental design as a standard experimental method in the application of froth flotation to plastic separation instead of the commonly used OVAT method (manipulation of one variable at a time). Furthermore, as is common practice in minerals flotation, the parameters of the kinetic model were used as process responses rather than the recovery of plastics in the separation products. To explain and illustrate the proposed methodology, a set of 32 experimental tests was performed using mixtures of two polymers with approximately the same density, PVC and PS (with mineral charges), with particle size ranging from 2 to 4 mm.

Optimization of wet shaking table process using response surface methodology applied to the separation of copper and aluminum from the fine fraction of shredder ELVs.

With the purpose of reducing the waste generated by end-of-life vehicles (ELVs) by enhancing the recovery and recycling of nonferrous metals, an experimental study was conducted with the finest size fraction of nonferrous stream produced at an ELV shredder plant. The aim of this work was to characterize the nonferrous stream and to evaluate the efficiency of a gravity concentration process in separating light and heavy nonferrous metal particles that could be easily integrated in a ELV shredder plant (in this case study the separation explicitly addressed copper and aluminum separation). The characterization of a sample of the 0-10mm particle size fraction showed a mixture of nonferrous metals with a certain degree of impurity due to the present of contaminants such as plastics.