An Application of the Taguchi Method (Robust Design) to Environmental Engineering: Evaluating Advanced Oxidative Processes in Polyester-Resin Wastewater Treatment

Messias Borges Silva^1,2*, Livia Melo Carneiro¹, João Paulo Alves Silva¹, Ivy dos Santos Oliveira¹, Hélcio José Izário Filho¹, Carlos Roberto de Oliveira Almeida¹

¹Department of Chemical Engineering, School of Engineering of Lorena EEL, São Paulo University USP, Lorena, Brazil.
²Production Department, Universidade Estadual Paulista-Faculdade de Engenharia do campus de Guaratinguetá—UNESP, Guaratinguetá, Brazil.

DOI: 10.4236/ajac.2014.513092                

Abstract

This paper presents the Taguchi Method, a statistical design modelling for experiments applied in environmental engineering. This method was applied to optimize the treatment conditions of polyester-resin effluent by means of Advanced Oxidative Processes (AOPs) using chemical oxygen demand (COD) as response parameter. The influence of each independent parameter including respective interactions was evaluated by Taguchi Method, which allowed determining the most statistically significant variables and conditions to best fit the process. Results showed that Taguchi Method is a very useful tool for environmental engineering field and possible simplifications of analysis and calculations through commercially available software.

Keywords

Taguchi Method, Statistical Optimization, Advanced Oxidative Processes, Wastewater

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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