Method-comparison studies with Taguchi and response surface methodologies for chemical process optimisation: a case study

This paper presents the findings of an experimental investigation conducted for understanding the effect of pH and temperature on three response variables viz. 'loss on ignition' (LoI), zinc oxide (ZnO) and borate (B2O3) in the output of a chemical process. The Taguchi technique and response surface methodology (RSM) have been used to accomplish the objectives of the study. The L4 orthogonal array with two replications for the Taguchi technique and central composite design (CCD) with two replications for response surface were used for conducting the experiments. The analysis was performed using the Taguchi technique, RSM with general linear model (ANOVA) revealed that temperature and its quadratic effect produced significant impact in achieving target values of LoI and B2O3 content. Further, the data analysis reported that effect of pH on three response variables (LoI, ZnO, B2O3) was insignificant in nature, Also, ZnO content was not significant either with pH or temperature.