Design optimisation of aluminium recycling

processes using Taguchi technique

A.R. Khoei
a,*
, I. Masters
b
, D.T. Gethin
b
a
Department of Civil Engineering, Sharif University of Technology, P.O. Box 11365-9313, Tehran, Iran
b
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Wales Swansea, Singleton Park, Swansea SA2 8PP, UK
Received 13 October 2000; received in revised form 7 May 2002; accepted 7 May 2002
Abstract
In this paper, a robust design method is developed for reducing cost and improving quality in aluminium recycling. An experimental
investigation into the process parameter effects is presented to determine the optimum conguration of design parameters for performance,
quality and cost. The Taguchi method is applied initially to plan a minimum number of experiments. Orthogonal array techniques are used to
investigate the simultaneous variation of several parameters and the investigation of interactions between parameters. Matrix experiments
using standard L4 and L9 orthogonal arrays are employed to evaluate the effects of parameters in recycling of aluminium dross and scrap
materials. A statistical analysis of signal-to-noise ratio is followed by performing an analysis of variance (ANOVA), in order to estimate the
optimum levels and determine the relative magnitude of the effect of various factors. Finally, a historical data analysis based on the response
surface methodology is carried out using a Taguchi orthogonal analysis. Experimental results are shown for an L18 orthogonal array illustrating
a good agreement between the optimum factor levels suggested by the signal-to-noise ratios and those obtained from the response surfaces.
# 2002 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.
Keywords: Process optimisation; Taguchi method; Aluminium recycling; Signal-to-noise ratio; ANOVA analysis; Response surface method
1. Introduction
Recycling in general and aluminium recycling in parti-
cular, many believe, enjoys a very bright future. After all,
recycled or secondary aluminium competes with primary
production, which depends on the exploitation of non-
renewable resources. It is to the benet of secondary pro-
duction that government policies are starting to force mining
companies and metallurgical plants to pay the full environ-
mental costs of their operations. In addition, the western
consumer is becoming more aware of recycling issues, and
many have a preference for recycled products. These factors
will make recycling more competitive, and over time the
relative importance of secondary aluminium production to
society will grow.
Recycling of aluminium has been undertaken virtually
since the metal started to be used in the late 19th century,
primarily due to the high value of the scrap because of the
energy saving potential when manufacturing metal from
scrap instead of bauxite. However, it is only in the last
two decades that aluminium recycling has entered the public
consciousness. The recycling rate for aluminium has grown
over the years in a cost effective way from 22% in 1970 to
42% in 1997 [1].
Aluminium recycling operations help to rid the environ-
ment of unnecessary waste by utilising the end-use products
in the form of used beverage containers (UBC), engine parts,
window frames, etc. The increased use of aluminium bev-
erage cans and the ease with which they can be collected and
recycled were probably the biggest factors in increasing this
rate. Another factor was the increased awareness of the
benets of recycling, in general, by the public. Recycled
aluminium has been able to compete economically with
primary aluminium metal. One reason for this is that the
metal does not degrade during the recycling process, alloys
produced from recycled metal and those produced from
primary metal are essentially indistinguishable. This is
true not only for the rst re-melt, but also for subsequent
re-melts.
The aluminium recycling industry has a wide range of
processes, which require a wide range of control techniques.
Along the protracted progression leading from aluminium
dross and scrap into raw material, a variety of processes are
needed, each of which has tight criteria on quality and giving
rise to high added values for the end products. It is in fact
Journal of Materials Processing Technology 127 (2002) 96106
*
Corresponding author. Tel.: 98-21-6005818; fax: 98-21-6014828.
E-mail address: arkhoei@sharif.edu (A.R. Khoei).
0924-0136/02/$ see front matter # 2002 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.
PII: S0 9 2 4 - 0 1 3 6 ( 0 2 ) 0 0 2 7 3 - X
dealing with a chain of transformation processes, the end
product of one process serving as incoming material for the
next process down the line. The added values beneting the
end product in some cases amount to several times the cost
of the incoming material. Good control not only ensures the
productivity of the process and the quality of the product, it
also makes better use of high-capital equipment and length-
ens its active life.
The major aspect of process control involves the model-
ling of process (Fig. 1). As a safe, convenient and low-cost
alternate to trial-and-error performed on the real equipment,
mathematical models operated on computers are fast becom-
ing the rule in process industries as tools for process control
and supervision as well as for training. Mathematical models
require inputs in order to run and produce the desired
outputs. Inputs are in the form of materials properties, or
in the form of parameters qualifying the transport mechan-
isms. This leads to another crucial facet of process control,
commonly referred to as characterisation (Fig. 1). Clearly, it
makes sense to attempt to control a process only if it is
possible to characterise it. This calls for the development of
measurement techniques, a eld of research of considerable
importance in its own right.
The above three research domains namely process char-
acterisation, process control and process modelling, have
been at the centre of research activities for quite some
time [2]. The new element is that with the advent of new
information and communication technologies, the above
three domains can be put to work in a complementary
manner, enabling researchers, designers, operators and man-
agers to collaborate in real time. A numerical modelling of
the process through a nite element model of the rotary
furnace was given by authors in Ref. [3]. In the present study,
an experimental investigation of the process characterisation
and process control will be discussed via a Taguchi approach
and historical data analysis.
This research is aimed to address aluminiumrecovery as a
manufacturing process and to establish the dominant factors
that need to be controlled, to improve an already efcient
process. IMCO Recycling Ltd. is the worlds largest sec-
ondary recycler of aluminium metal which uses a thermal
process in rotary furnaces to effect metal recovery. In order
to aid in metal separation and enhance metal purity, a salt
ux consisting of sodium and potassium chlorides is used.
IMCOs process results in essentially two products; alumi-
nium metal and a residue commonly known as salt cake. The
metal returns to the aluminium supply chain where it once
again appears as beverage cans and a wide number of other
aluminium products. Most of the salt cake is disposed of in
land lls and some is treated by salt recovery wet processes
to recover the salts and produce a saleable non-metallic
material known as NMP. As a major recycler, IMCO has
had and continues to have as an objective clean production
while minimising metal loses. Toward this end IMCO
Recycling Ltd. has recently sought to introduce a scientic
understanding of the process with a view to improving pro-
ductivity and quality, reduce waste and to develop process
models.
In order to optimise the design of an existing process, it is
necessary to identify which factors have the greatest inu-
ence and which values produce the most consistent perfor-
mance. For this purpose, an application of the Taguchi
orthogonal array technique in recycling of coated scrap
material given in Refs. [4,5] is extended to aluminium dross
and scrap materials. A Taguchi analysis is carried out
through a historical data matching, in order to control and
improve the quality characteristic, recovery. The matrix
experiments based on standard L4, L9 and L18 orthogonal
arrays are conducted to change the settings of the various
process parameters. A series of experiments are performed
during normal production at IMCO Recycling Ltd. The
optimum level and relative effect of various factors are
calculated using a signal-to-noise and ANOVA analyses.
Finally, conclusions are drawn from the results.
This investigation has highlighted key areas of the recy-
cling process where close control is required to improve the
consistency of the process. A similar method was presented
by Wells et al. [6] for re-melting of scrap in Reynolds
Reclamation Plants. The Reynolds Reclamation Plant
utilises a reverbatory furnace, but the method appears to
hold for both types of operations. This application of
Taguchi methods focuses on how to cost-effectively conduct
process control activities during the aluminium recycling
process. This method helps to diagnose the health of pro-
cess, minimise production of defects and achieve an equili-
brium between being quality conscious and being cost
conscious.
2. Aluminium recycling process
The importance of aluminium recycling has traditionally
been emphasised mainly for economical reasons: production
of aluminium from bauxite is very energy-intensive, and
thus expensive. Where a high recycling ratio is achieved for
manufacturing scrap (extrusion butts, blanking waste, dis-
cards, etc.), otherwise known as new scrap, the recycling of
aluminium scrap from used products (old scrap) is generally
Fig. 1. The three facets of process control.
A.R. Khoei et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 127 (2002) 96106 97
much more involved. For some particular products, such as
the aluminium beverage can, the material is reprocessed and
used for the same application again (closed-loop recycling).
A more common way of recycling such secondary scrap,
however, is to re-melt it and use it as a base material for
casting applications (cascade recycling). In particular when
highly contaminated or blended scrap materials are pro-
cessed, a reclamation process that is capable of maintaining
a constant high quality of aluminium is required in order to
obtain a base alloy of acceptable chemical specication [7].
This affects the whole recycling chain, starting with the
collection of used materials, separation and classication
into alloy types, cleaning, re-melting, casting and further
working into new (semi)-nished products.
As Fig. 2 depicts there are two basic sources of raw
material to produce aluminium metal from, bauxite and
scrap. First, aluminium could be produced from mined
material, i.e. bauxite rened rst into alumina and then
through the Bayer electrolytic process further upgraded into
primary aluminium metal. Second, as an alternative source
of raw material, aluminium metal could be made from scrap
metal, resulting in secondary aluminium. This study is
principally concerned with the latter route, aluminium
scrap which is not a homogenous material and its quality
and quantity may vary greatly. It could, as in this gure, be
divided into two main different types considering where it
arises in the ow.
New scrap (or prompt-, process or manufacturers scrap)
arises and is recovered during all stages in the manufacturing
chain, from original smelting and rening trough semi-
production to the production of nal goodsregardless if
the products are made from primary or scrap metal. Exam-
ples are clippings, borings and trimmings or the skeleton
remaining after can lids are stamped out of aluminium
sheets. The volume of new scrap is linked to the amount
of aluminium products produced and also depends on the
efciency (and hence the waste implications) of the man-
ufacturing process.
The other scrap source depicted in Fig. 2, the so-called old
scrap (or obsolete-, or country scrap) is recovered from end-
use products, such as automobiles, window frames, used
beverage cans (UBC), etc. reaching the end of their useful
life. Usually, the material compositions of end-use products
are more complex and less known than for new scrap. For
example, aluminium UBCs contains two different alloys,
one for the lid and one for the body of the UBC, hence
demanding different types of treatment. Old scrap therefore
demands a more rigorous treatment than that of new scrap
before a secondary rener utilises it. This service is usually
performed, in the preceding stage before rening, by the
recovery industry, i.e. a large number of scrap collectors and
merchants that sort and upgrade the scrap according to metal
content and quality, package it into bundles and nally
market it.
The next phase after collection and pre-treatment is
smelting and rening. Secondary reners are unique in
the sense that they could smelt and rene scrap of highly
various qualities, i.e. both new and old scrap, contrary to
primary producers and re-melters that require purer raw
material inputs. Secondary reners especially compete with
re-melters for new scrap of high quality (re-melters produce
wrought products, hence they have higher demands on
the scrap material they use than secondary reners). Due
to the mixed quality of most post-consumer scrap, secondary
reners, however, remains the prime buyer of old
scrap. Secondary reners also use small quantities of pri-
mary aluminium, however only as sweeteners to achieve
the required alloy composition. The product of secondary
Fig. 2. The flow of aluminium metal.
98 A.R. Khoei et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 127 (2002) 96106
reners, secondary aluminium alloys, comes in either ingot
or molten form, and is suitable mainly for casting products
and steel deoxidants. Cast alloys are by far the most impor-
tant of these products. As could be seen fromFig. 2, the ingot
or molten metal is then sold to foundries that produce a
variety of cast products from the ingot, mainly to be used
in the automotive industry. The IMCO processes studied in
this paper is exible enough to handle a wide range of
scrap materials and depending on the feed material, the
end-product is suitable for most applications in the primary
industry.
There are several processes to recycle aluminium but a
viable melting option available to processors of aluminium
dross and scrap is to employ a rotary furnace, which is
commonly used in large-scale aluminium recycling. Once
the can has been collected from a collection point, it is
crushed, and taken to a recycling plant. The melting process
is based on a rotary furnace, which consists of a cylindrical
steel drum and a chamber. The furnace is heated by a burner
located in the furnace drum. The burner system generates
temperatures of over 1700 8C inside the refractory lined
drum. At the commencement of heat, ux along with a pre-
weighted amount of feed material is charged into the fur-
nace. On completion of charging, the burner is ignited and
the furnace is rotated. The furnace fume will be collected in
the charging chamber, where it will be extracted by the
furnace fume gas cleaning system. Once molten, the furnace
is stopped and the aluminium is decanted. The molten metal
is then discharged from the furnace and directed either to
moulds where it will solidify, or into pre-heated crucibles.
The schematic view of a usual layout is shown in Fig. 3.
3. Taguchis approach to parameter design
Taguchis approach provides the designer with a systema-
tic and efcient approach for conducting experimentation to
determine near optimum settings of design parameters for
performance and cost [810]. The method emphasises push-
ing quality back to the design stage, seeking to design a
product/process, which is insensitive to quality problems
[11]. The Taguchi method utilises orthogonal arrays to
study a large number of variables with a small number of
experiments [12,13]. Using orthogonal arrays signicantly
reduces the number of experimental congurations to be
studied. The conclusions drawn from small scale experi-
ments are valid over the entire experimental region spanned
by the control factors and their settings [14]. This method
can reduce research and development costs by simulta-
neously studying a large number of parameters [15].
In order to analyse the results, the Taguchi method uses
a statistical measure of performance called signal-to-noise
(S/N) ratio. The S/N ratio takes both the mean and the
variability into account. The S/N equation depends on the
criterion for the quality characteristic to be optimised. After
performing the statistical analysis of S/Nratio, an analysis of
variance (ANOVA) needs to be employed for estimating
error variance and for determining the relative importance of
various factors.
Using the Taguchi method for parameter design, the
predicted optimum setting need not correspond to one of
the rows of the matrix experiment. Therefore, an experi-
mental conrmation is run using the predicted optimum
levels for the control parameters being studied. The purpose
is to verify that the optimum conditions suggested by the
matrix experiments do indeed give the projected improve-
ment. If the observed and the projected improvements
match, the suggested optimum conditions will be adopted.
If not, it will be concluded that the additive model under-
lying the matrix experiment has failed, and ways need to be
found to correct that problem. The corrective actions include
nding better quality characteristics, or S/N ratios, or dif-
ferent control factors and levels, or studying a few specic
interactions among the control factors.
4. Design of experiments
A designed experiment is an approach to systematically
varying the controllable input factors and observing the
effect these factors have on the output product parameters.
In this study, designed experiment is purposed to more fully
understand the aluminium recycling process and its implica-
tions for the control of recovery. In aluminium recycling
process, the standard industry measure of the process per-
formance is the recovery, which can be simply dened as the
Fig. 3. A schematic description of the aluminium recycling process at IMCO Recycling Ltd.
A.R. Khoei et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 127 (2002) 96106 99
metal produced divided by the scrap input. The main causes
of the difference between the input and output are the losses
due to the removal of the impurities in the scrap (for
example, the coatings on UBCs) and the losses due to the
oxidation of the metal to relatively worthless aluminium
oxide. Therefore, recovery is chosen as the quality char-
acteristic and the maximum values show the highest quality.
An important stage in performing an experimental study
is a brainstorming session. At the rst stage of this project, a
detailed experimental investigation of the existing process
was undertaken. The parameters to be investigated during
the experiment were determined after initial brainstorming
sessions, which included all levels of personnel from the
collaborators. A total of over 100 variables were identied
during these sessions, which are believed to inuence the
recycling process. A review of some of the parameters
highlighted during these sessions, such as gas pressure,
fan power, and refractory thickness and composition,
indicated these were inappropriate and unpractical to inves-
tigate on a production aluminium plant. This was due
to many factors including instrumentation difculties,
method uncertainty, their possible failure causing mechani-
cal damage to the recovery and the time required to set up the
instruments.
The parameters, which remained within the experimental
program, were then divided into two categories [16], control
parameters and process stability parameters. The control
parameters, which can be used and adjusted for the recycling
of aluminium, have a signicant impact on the process and
are used to correct recovery variation while running. The
process stability parameters are those, which are either left
to vary while the process is running or are adjusted by the
operator to obtain optimumrunning conditions. Establishing
which of these are key to maintaining process stability is felt
to be essential to the long term success of the project.
In order to investigate the process control and stability
factors, experiments need to be undertaken during produc-
tion. The recycling process is fully instrumented for the
measurement of parameters including load weight, ux
ratio, melting temperature, speed rotation of furnace and
pressures and ow rates in the gas extraction system. A
series of experiments using a Taguchi-type design are
performed during normal production at IMCO Recycling
Ltd. This allowed the effects of experiments to be assessed
without a serious disruption of production. During the
experiments, all furnace operators were required to use a
consistent practice while processing the aluminium scrap
material. Prior to the commencement of the Taguchi trials an
extensive set of monitoring operations were carried out
through the duration of several recycling runs. Monitoring
the recovery showed that the time period over which the
experiments could take place would be a major problem,
because the furnace needed to be clean before any experi-
ment was carried out and this timing needed to be co-
ordinated with the furnace operators so as not to disturb
the production cycle.
5. Experimental results of Taguchi orthogonal array
As explained in Sections 3 and 4, optimising a product or
process design means determining the best architecture,
levels of control factors, and tolerances. It was mentioned
that robust design is a methodology for nding the optimum
settings of the control factors to make the product or process
insensitive to noise factors. In this section, the eight steps of
robust design will be illustrated by using the aluminium
recycling process at IMCO Recycling Ltd. as a case study.
Standard L4 and L9 orthogonal arrays are considered to
evaluate the optimum level for each factor in the recovery of
coated and class scrap materials. Due to the commer-
cially sensitive nature of the process being monitored, the
levels of factors are related to standard operating conditions.
5.1. Test 1: coated scrap material (L4 orthogonal array)
In the rst series of experiments, the simplest orthogonal
array, L4, is considered in determining the effect of three
process parameters, i.e. load weight, furnace temperature
and ux ratio, in the recycling of coated scrap materials.
For each parameter, two levels are chosen to cover the
experimental region, as listed in Table 1. The matrix experi-
ment selected for this case is given in Table 2. It consists of
four individual experiments corresponding to the four rows.
The entries in the matrix represent the levels of the factors.
After creating a Taguchi orthogonal array, the selected
process parameters are varied slightly from standard values,
which result in varying yield levels. A summary statistic
analysis of recovery, called S/N ratio, is employed to nd the
optimum level [9]. By taking the numerical values of
recovery listed in Table 2, the average recovery for each
level of the three factors can be obtained as listed in Table 3.
The optimum level for each factor is the level that gives the
Table 1
Test 1, factors and their levels
Factors Levels
1 2
A. Load weight (t) a a 2
B. Furnace temperature (8C) b b 60
C. Flux ratio (%) c c 1
Table 2
Test 1, matrix experiment (L4 orthogonal array)
Experiment no. Factors Recovery (%)
A B C
1 1 1 1 r 8:1
2 1 2 2 r 6:2
3 2 1 2 r 6:7
4 2 2 1 r 7:7
100 A.R. Khoei et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 127 (2002) 96106
highest value of recovery in the experimental region. Thus,
high level of load weight along with low level of furnace
temperature and ux ratio will make the highest levels of
recovery.
The relative magnitude of the effect of different factors
can be obtained by the decomposition of variance, called
ANOVA [9]. An ANOVA analysis for estimating the error
variance for the factor effects and variance of the prediction
error is given in Table 4. The sum of squares values due to
various factors, tabulated in the third column of Table 4, are a
measure of the relative importance of the factors in changing
the values of recovery. It can be seen that ux ratio explains
a major portion of the total variation of recovery. In fact,
it is responsible for 2:1025=2:3075 100 91:1% of the
variation of recovery. Load weight and furnace temperature
together are responsible for only a small portion, namely 8.8
and 0.1%, of the variation in recovery. It should be noted that
because the error term has no degrees of freedom associated
with it, the sumof squares contribution to this term is zero. In
Table 4, the mean square for a factor is computed by dividing
the sum of squares by the degrees of freedom.
An estimation of the sum of squares for the error term can
be obtained by pooling the sum of squares corresponding to
the factors having the lowest mean square [5], i.e. load
weight and furnace temperature. These two factors together
account for two degrees of freedom and the sum of their sum
of squares of 0.205, as indicated by parentheses. Hence, the
error variance is 0.1025. The variance ratio can be found
using the ratio of the mean square due to a factor and the
error mean square. The large value of the variance ratio,
20.51, means the effect of ux ratio is quite large compared
to the error variance.
5.2. Test 2: class scrap material (L9 orthogonal array)
In the second series of experiments, an L9 orthogonal
array is employed to determine the effect of three process
parameters, investigated in the last test, on the performance
of recycling of class scrap material. For each factor, three
levels are chosen to cover the wide region of variation. These
factors and their levels are listed in Table 5. It was necessary
to ensure that the levels chosen were logical and obtainable
points of operation for the equipment used, and that a
signicant difference in operation could be noted between
each level. While deciding on the levels of control factors, a
frequent tendency is to choose the levels relatively close to
the starting levels. This is due to the experimenters concern
that a large number of bad products may be produced during
the matrix experiment. But, producing bad products during
the experiment stage may, in fact, be benecial because it
tells us which region of control factor levels should be
avoided.
The L9 orthogonal array is given in Table 6, which
consists of nine experiments corresponding to the nine rows
and four columns. In this matrix, the chosen three factors,
i.e. load weight, furnace temperature and ux ratio, are
assigned to columns 13 and column 4 is arbitrarily
designed as an empty column. In this array, the columns
are mutually orthogonal. That is, for any pair of columns,
all combinations of factor levels occur and they occur
an equal number of times. It should be noted that this
design reduces 81 (3
4
) congurations to nine experimental
evaluations.
Table 3
Test 1, average of S/N ratio
Factors Levels
1 2
Load weight (t) r 7:1 r 7:2
a
Furnace temperature (8C) r 7:4
a
r 6:9
Flux ratio (%) r 7:9
a
r 6:4
a
The optimum level.
Table 4
Test 1, ANOVA analysis for recovery
Factors Degrees of
freedom
Sum of
squares
Mean
square
Variance
ratio
Load weight (t) 1 0.0025
a
0.0025 20.51
Furnace
temperature (8C)
1 0.2025
a
0.2025
Flux ratio (%) 1 2.1025 2.1025
Error 0 0
Total 3 2.3075
(Error) (2) (0.205) (0.1025)
a
Sum of squares added together to form the pooled error sum of
squares shown by parentheses.
Table 5
Test 2, factors and their levels
Factors Levels
1 2 3
A. Load weight (t) a 1:5 a a 1:5
B. Furnace temperature (8C) b b 20 b 40
C. Flux ratio (%) c 1 c c 1
Table 6
Test 2, matrix experiment (L9 orthogonal array)
Experiment no. Factors
a
Recovery (%)
A B C e
1 1 1 1 1 r 5:3
2 1 2 2 2 r 2:9
3 1 3 3 3 r 9:2
4 2 1 2 3 r 6:1
5 2 2 3 1 r 0:4
6 2 3 1 2 r 1:8
7 3 1 3 2 r 5:2
8 3 2 1 3 r 4:5
9 3 3 2 1 r 6:3
a
Empty column is denoted by e.
A.R. Khoei et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 127 (2002) 96106 101
In order to measure the volume of metal produced during
each experiment, the crucibles are weighted at the beginning
and end of each experiment, and the quantity of mud is
observed. After completing the experimenters log given in
Table 6, the next step in data analysis is to estimate the
optimum level of each control factor (S/N ratio) and to
perform ANOVA, as described in last test. The factor effects
for recovery of class scrap material and the respective
ANOVA analysis are given in Tables 7 and 8. The optimum
level for each factor is obtained by the average recovery for
each level. From these observations, the optimum setting
of load weight is the lowest level. However, for furnace
temperature, the recovery improves as this factor increases
tends to the highest level. Also, it suggests that the middle
level of ux ratio is most appropriate for higher recovery.
In the ANOVA shown in Table 8, the degrees of freedom
are considered eight for matrix experiment with nine rows,
and two for each control factor with three levels. Thus, six
degrees of freedom are used for estimating the factor effects
and the degrees of freedom for estimating the error will be
two. In order to estimate the relative importance of the
factors, the sum of squares value due to different factors
is obtained. It can be observed that furnace temperature
and load weight, with 18:7=55:5 100 33:7% and
15:5=55:5 100 27:9%, are responsible for a large
portion of the total variation of recovery in this type of
material, and ux ratio makes only a 4.5% contribution to
the total sum of squares. However, an estimation of variance
ratio explains that the effect of these two factors, i.e. furnace
temperature and load weight, is not large compared to the
error variance. It should be noted that the error variance,
calculated in Table 8, is obtained by pooling the sum of
squares corresponding to ux ratio with the sum of squares
from the empty column. Thus, this factor along with the
error account for four degrees of freedom, the total of their
sum of squares of 21.33 and the error variance of 5.33, as
shown by parentheses. These results point out that the
proposed ANOVA analysis can be effectively used to deter-
mine the relative magnitude of the effect of each factor on
the recovery and to estimate the error variance.
The next step in data analysis is to predict the anticipated
improvements under the chosen optimum conditions. The
major aspect of the verication experiment is that the
predictions should be valid under actual manufacturing
conditions for the process design and under actual eld
conditions for the product design. For the recycling of class
scrap material, the additive model is used to predict the
value of recovery under the optimum conditions, as pre-
sented in Table 9. In this table, since the sum of squares due
to ux ratio is small and that this term is included as error,
the corresponding improvements are not included on the
prediction of recovery under optimum conditions. It is clear
that the predicted recovery (r 7:0) under the optimum
conditions (A
1
, B
3
and C
2
) agree very well with the S/N
ratios of recovery at various levels indicted in Table 7. In
fact, furnace temperature and load weight, which are respon-
sible for a large portion of the total variation of recovery,
make the highest value of recovery at the lowest and highest
levels of these factors, respectively. This has also been
experienced in the third experiment, given in Table 6, for
the recovery of r 9:2 at the highest level of ux ratio.
Thus, the optimum settings, or the third experiment can be
adopted, as the new process settings and proceed to imple-
ment these settings.
6. Historical data analysis in quality improvement
Most industries nd it difcult (and expensive) to provide
the customer with products that have awless quality char-
acteristics. A major reason for this difculty is variability.
There is a certain amount of variability in every product,
consequently, no two products are ever identical. Sources of
this variability include differences in materials, differences
in the performance and operation of the manufacturing
Table 7
Test 2, average of S/N ratio
Factors Levels
1 2 3
Load weight (t) r 5:8
a
r 2:8 r 5:3
Furnace temperature (8C) r 5:5 r 2:6 r 5:8
a
Flux ratio (%) r 3:9 r 5:1
a
r 4:9
a
The optimum level.
Table 8
Test 2, ANOVA analysis for recovery
Factors Degrees of
freedom
Sum of
squares
Mean
square
Variance
ratio
Load weight (t) 2 15.5 7.75 1.45
Furnace temperature (8C) 2 18.7 9.35 1.75
Flux ratio (%) 2 2.5
a
1.25
Error 2 18.8
a
9.4
Total 8 55.5
(Error) (4) (21.3) (5.33)
a
Sum of squares added together to form the pooled error sum of
squares shown by parentheses.
Table 9
Test 2, prediction of recovery using the additive model
Factors Optimum condition
Setting Optimum level Contribution
a
A. Load weight (t) A
1
r 5:8 1.2
B. Furnace temperature (8C) B
3
r 5:8 1.2
C. Flux ratio (%) C
2
r 5:1 0.0
Overall mean r 4:6
Total r 7:0
a
By contribution we mean the deviation from the overall mean caused
by the particular factor level.
102 A.R. Khoei et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 127 (2002) 96106
equipment, and differences in the way the operators perform
their tasks. Since variation can only be described in statis-
tical terms, statistical methods are of considerable use in
quality-improvement efforts [17].
There is a strong interplay between design of experiments
and historical data analysis. In the previous sections, the
importance of expressing the results of an experiment
quantitatively have been emphasised by implementation
of a Taguchi approach, to facilitate understanding, inter-
pretation and implementation. Historical data analyses are
the basis for this. Historical data analyses are frequently
used to analyse data from unplanned experiments, such as
might arise from observation of uncontrolled phenomena or
historical records. It is also highly useful in designed
experiments where something has gone wrong. Historical
data analysis is the art of making decisions about a process
or population based on an analysis of the information
contained in a sample from that population. In this study,
the historical data matching will be applied through a
Taguchi orthogonal analysis, in order to control and improve
the quality characteristic.
6.1. Fitting response surface in historical data
In many problems, there are two or more variables that are
related and it is of interest to model and explore this
relationship. In aluminium recycling process, the yield of
product, recovery, is related to at least four signicant
variables, i.e. load weight, ux ratio, furnace temperature
and furnace rotation. In order to build a model relating
recovery to these variables and then use the model for
prediction, process optimisation, or process control, a his-
torical data analysis is employed by observing patterns in the
data logged information at IMCO Recycling Ltd. A numer-
ical model is developed to characterise the inputs and out-
puts of the process. It can be used to set up the environmental
cost function for each individual batch. The minimal envir-
onmental cost can be found by the use of numerical opti-
misation routines and the optimum suggested determine the
conditions under which the batch is processed.
Response surface methodology (RSM) is a collection of
mathematical and statistical techniques that are useful for
the modelling and analysis of problems in which a response
of interest is inuenced by several variables and the objec-
tive is to optimise this response [18]. The rst step in RSM is
to nd a suitable approximation for the true functional
relationship between response and the set of independent
variables. Usually, a low-order polynomial in some region of
the independent variables is employed. Almost, all RSM
problems utilise the rst-, or second-order, or both models.
The method of least squares is used to estimate the para-
meters in the approximating polynomials. The response
surface analysis is then done in terms of the tted surface.
In general, suppose that there are a number of inputs for
the aluminium processing parameters, such as load weight,
ux ratio, furnace temperature and furnace rotation, which
can be related to the recovery. The relationship between
these factors is characterised by a second-order polynomial
function using a least square method, as illustrated in Fig. 4.
These plots show how the second-order model can be tted
to nd the optimumset of operating conditions for these four
factors, and to characterise the nature of the response sur-
face, recovery. From these response surfaces obtained by
historical records of dross type material, it can be observed
that the optimumsetting of load weight, furnace temperature
and furnace rotation are the lowest levels, however, for ux
ratio the recovery improves as this factor increases tends to
the highest level.
6.2. Taguchis L18 orthogonal array
In the last section, the importance of using historical data
analysis have been emphasised for product and process
improvement. For the case study of the recycling of dross
material, it was decided to choose six control factors at a
time to optimise the process. These are load weight, ux
ratio, furnace temperature, furnace rotation, temperature
variation and the direction of furnace rotation, as listed in
Table 10. In order to study the effect of these control factors
simultaneously, a matrix experiment is planned using an
orthogonal array. In the recovery of dross material, with six
factors and each at three levels, standard L18 orthogonal
array was selected, as given in Table 11. The L18 array has
eight columns and 18 rows. The rst column is a 2-level
column, which has only two distinct entries, namely 1 or 2.
All the chosen six control factors have three levels. So,
column 1 was kept empty or unassigned. Fromthe remaining
seven 3-level columns, column 7 was arbitrarily designated
as an empty column, and factors AF were assigned,
respectively, to columns 26 and 8. It should be noted that
keeping one or more columns empty does not alter the
orthogonality property of the array.
The 18 rows of the L18 array represent the 18 experiments
to be conducted. However, for the proposed orthogonal
array, the matrix experiment was conducted using the results
of historical data analysis, illustrated in Section 3.1. In order
to estimate the value of recovery for each experiment, the
experimenters log sheet, given in Table 11, was compared
with the conditions of control factor levels in historical
records. Thus, the recovery for experiment 1 was obtained
based on the rst level of each of the six control factors by
using the response surfaces of recovery, given in Fig. 4. By
going from one experiment to the next, levels of several
control factors must be changed. This poses a considerable
amount of difculty to nd a historical record with the same
control factor levels. Failure to set the level of a factor
correctly could destroy the valuable property of orthogon-
ality, and consequently, conclusions from the experiment
could be erroneous.
After completing the experimenters log given in Table 11,
the next step in data analysis is to estimate the optimumlevel
of each control factor and to perform ANOVA. The optimum
A.R. Khoei et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 127 (2002) 96106 103
level for each factor is obtained by the average recovery for
each level, as shown in Table 12. It can be observed that
the optimum setting of load weight, furnace temperature
and temperature variation are the lowest levels. However,
for ux ratio and the direction of furnace rotation the
direction in which the recovery improve tend to the highest
levels. Also, it suggests that the lower or middle level of
Fig. 4. The 3D response surface plots of the recovery as a function of: (a) load weight and flux ratio, (b) load weight and furnace temperature, (c) load weight
and furnace rotation.
Table 10
Dross material, control factors and their levels
Factors Levels
1 2 3
A. Load weight (t) a 5 a a a 5 a 5 a 10
B. Flux ratio (%) b 4 b b b 4 b 4 b 8
C. Furnace
temperature (8C)
c 14 c c c 14 c 14 c 28
D. Furnace
rotation (rpm)
d 1:3 d d d 1:3 d 1:3 d 2:6
E. Temperature
variation
S Mid-S Non-S
F. Direction of
furnace rotation
C AC C AC
Table 11
Dross material, matrix experiment L18 orthogonal array and factor
assignment
Experiment
no.
Column numbers and factor assignment
a
Recovery
(%)
e A B C D E e F
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 r 7
2 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 r 14
3 1 1 3 3 3 3 3 3 r 27
4 1 2 1 1 2 2 3 3 r 37
5 1 2 2 2 3 3 1 1 r 8
6 1 2 3 3 1 1 2 2 r 39
7 1 3 1 2 1 3 2 3 r 14
8 1 3 2 3 2 1 3 1 r 7
9 1 3 3 1 3 2 1 2 r 29
10 2 1 1 3 3 2 2 1 r 8
11 2 1 2 1 1 3 3 2 r 37
12 2 1 3 2 2 1 1 3 r 37
13 2 2 1 2 3 1 3 2 r 38
14 2 2 2 3 1 2 1 3 r
15 2 2 3 1 2 3 2 1 r 30
16 2 3 1 3 2 3 1 2 r 6
17 2 3 2 1 3 1 2 3 r 37
18 2 3 3 2 1 2 3 1 r 35
a
Empty column is denoted by e.
104 A.R. Khoei et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 127 (2002) 96106
furnace rotation is most appropriate for higher recovery.
Thus, the optimum conditions chosen are A
1
B
3
C
1
D
1
E
1
F
3
or
A
1
B
3
C
1
D
2
E
1
F
3
. As expected, it shows a good agreement
between the optimum levels suggested by the S/N ratios and
those obtained from the response surfaces in Fig. 4. In order
to estimate the relative importance of the factors, an ANOVA
analysis is followed by estimating the sum of squares value
due to different factors, as indicated in Table 13. From this
table, it can be seen that ux ratio, furnace temperature and
the direction of furnace rotation, with 1320:1=3426:5
100 38:5%, 704:2=3426:5 100 20:6% and 259:3=
3426:5 100 7:6%, respectively, are responsible for a
large portion of the total variation of recovery in recycling of
dross material, whereas load weight, furnace rotation and
temperature variation together are responsible for only a
small portion, namely 1.4%, of the variation of recovery.
Also, an estimation of variance ratio in Table 13 points out
that the relative magnitude of the effect of these three
factors, i.e. ux ratio, furnace temperature and the direction
of furnace rotation, are quite large compared to the error
variance.
In order to verify that the optimum conditions suggested
by the matrix experiment give the projected improvement,
the additive model is used to predict the value of recovery
under these optimum conditions, as presented in Table 14.
In this table, the contribution of load weight, furnace rotation
and temperature variation are not included on the prediction
of recovery, since the sum of squares due to these three
factors were small and that these terms were included as
error. Thus, the predicted recovery for the additive model
becomes (r 46). It can be compared with the values of
recovery for each experiment, given in Table 11. The pre-
dicted value concludes that the additive model under optimum
conditions makes a good improvement in recovery.
7. Conclusion
In this paper, a robust design is presented for improving
productivity during an aluminium recycling process so that
high-quality products can be produced at low cost. The
orthogonal array technique was described for experimental
design as it reduces the number of experiments required to
investigate a set of parameters and to minimise time and
costs while performing experiments using a full-scale alu-
minium production plant. Experimental investigations into
the process parameter effects were presented to determine
the optimum conguration of design parameters for perfor-
mance, quality and cost at IMCO Recycling Ltd.
The trials on coated scrap material using an L4 ortho-
gonal array indicated that high level of load weight along
with low levels of furnace temperature and ux ratio make
the best levels of recovery, in which ux ratio is the most
effective factor in the total variation of recovery. The
experimental on class scrap material employing an L9
orthogonal array suggested that low level of load weight,
high level of furnace temperature and middle level of ux
ratio give the highest levels of recovery. It was also observed
that furnace temperature and load weight have the largest
contribution to the total sum of squares and correspondingly
have a major inuence on the total variation of recovery.
Acknowledgements
The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the
EPSRC and IMCO Recycling Ltd., particularly IMCO
Table 12
Dross material, average of S/N ratio
Factors Levels
1 2 3
Load weight (t) r 22
a
r 20 r 21
Flux ratio (%) r 13 r 17 r 33
a
Furnace temperature (8C) r 30
a
r 19 r 15
Furnace rotation (rpm) r 22
a
r 22
a
r 19
Temperature variation r 23
a
r 21 r 20
Direction of furnace rotation r 16 r 22 r 25
a
a
The optimum level, overall mean: 45.1.
Table 13
Dross material, ANOVA analysis for recovery
Factors Degrees of
freedom
Sum of
squares
Mean
square
Variance
ratio
Load weight (t) 2 4.5
a
2.2
Flux ratio (%) 2 1320.1 660.1 6.4
Furnace temperature (8C) 2 704.2 352.1 3.4
Furnace rotation (rpm) 2 25.1
a
12.6
Temperature variation 2 17.8
a
8.9
Direction of furnace rotation 2 259.3 129.7 1.2
Error 5 1095.5
a
219.1
Total 17 3426.5
(Error) (11) (1142.9) (103.9)
a
Sum of squares added together to estimate the pooled error sum of
squares indicated by parentheses.
Table 14
Dross material, prediction of recovery using the additive model
Factors Optimum condition
Setting Optimum
level
Contribution
a
A. Load weight (t) A
1
r 22 Not-significant
B. Flux ratio (%) B
3
r 33 12
C. Furnace temperature (8C) C
1
r 30 9
D. Furnace rotation (rpm) D
1
r 22 Not-significant
E. Temperature variation E
1
r 23 Not-significant
F. Direction of furnace rotation F
3
r 25 4
Overall mean r 21
Total r 46
a
By contribution we mean the deviation from the overall mean caused
by the particular factor level.
A.R. Khoei et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 127 (2002) 96106 105
Recycling Ltd. for assistance in the running of the experi-
mental program.
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